217 kilometres of running in temperatures exceeding 50 degrees. That might sound extreme. It is, because that's exactly what it is. A race where survival matters just as much as reaching the finish line.

To understand how he got there, we need to rewind a few years. In 2019, Simen lost his wife to cancer. His father suffered a heart attack, and Simen realised he was putting himself at risk too. He had been eating and living a little too well. Too much food off the grill, too many beers.

"There were several things that shook me. I simply had to take hold of my life, to live as long as possible, to be present for the people still around me, and at the same time work through the things that were hard," says the father of two.

Simen realised he had to make a change. He started running. More and more, further and further. What began as a step towards better health became a lifestyle, an obsession, and an athletic career.

"Running felt good, both mentally and physically. Being able to run long distances was absolutely necessary to sort through my thoughts and find energy. I could have found other substitutes, like drinking a lot of alcohol, overeating, or other things. Running is simple. You don't really need anything other than a pair of shoes, and honestly, not even that."

“At first I was chasing seconds in a marathon, but it quickly started to feel a bit pointless. I found more joy in going back to something primal and running extremely long distances. That's where humans come from, genetically speaking. The energy you get from running enormous distances is incredible, and it triggers something very specific in me.

Today, Simen Holvik is one of Norway's leading ultra-runners. He has run the length of Norway, completed numerous ultramarathons, and in the summer of 2023 he set his sights on what many describe as the world's toughest ultra-race: Badwater 135, for the first time.

Two years of preparation

By that point he had already run many extreme races, but the 48-year-old wanted more. More kilometres on his legs, under even more extreme conditions. He set his sights on Badwater as a major goal.

“I wanted to find a race where finishing wasn't guaranteed. Where you're constantly right on the edge of what's safe. That drives me absolutely wild. It's not just seriously long, it's also scorching hot, so you genuinely might not survive. You're fighting the elements. There's something raw and primal about it. I find that incredibly compelling.”

Simen prepared specifically for Badwater over two years. Only 100 athletes get to stand on the start line each year. To be considered, you must submit a comprehensive application and have documented experience at ultra distances in demanding terrain.

"I spent two years preparing, first of all to complete the races I needed in order to be eligible to apply. After that it was about finding sponsors and putting in all the necessary training," he explains.

To have any hope of finishing at all, training in extreme heat is essential.

"Running in a climate like that makes it incredibly easy to fail. If something goes wrong, it can end in heatstroke, or in the worst case, death," he says seriously.

Simen spent hours sitting in an infrared sauna, watching TV, to get his body used to the heat.

"But that's not enough. You have to travel somewhere with a similar climate. I went to Dubai and ran there in 40 to 45 degrees. If you've never done it before, you have no idea what it actually involves."

Shockingly hot

In July 2024, he is back in the US to run Badwater for the second time. He knew what was coming. In 2023, he stunned everyone by winning the men's category at Badwater on his very first attempt. The heat in Las Vegas hits him like a wall as Simen steps off the plane.

"When you walk out of the plane in Las Vegas, the heat is shocking," he says.

"Think of the blast of heat when you open an oven door on a full roast. You get cooked, and everything slows right down. When you run, your pace drops, your heart rate climbs, and your body gradually starts shutting everything down. You have to be extremely careful about what you eat, because your body doesn't really want to digest anything. It just wants to survive. It becomes an extreme battle between you and your own body. A relentless fight where you want to keep pushing, while your body is trying to shut you down the entire time."

Now he was back. Not just to win again, but to set a new course record. To squeeze that little bit more out of his body, if it was even possible.

The race starts in the evening, after the sun has gone down, but it is still extremely hot. Simen starts in the final wave, alongside the best runners.

“When you're out there in the desert, you just run. You run and run and run. It's as if something inside you switches off.

"There are signs along the course warning drivers not to stop. It is no place for a human being. There is no sign of life anywhere," Simen says.

Simen is in the zone. He feels good, and at one point is on track to both win the race and set a new course record.

"I went out taking extreme risks and felt completely invincible. I got a bit caught up in my own hubris, because you're always balanced on such a fine knife's edge. It takes so little before you suddenly hit the ground."

With him is his support crew in a follow vehicle. Their job is to make sure he gets water and nutrition, and stays as cool as possible. After 180 kilometres, with 40 kilometres left to the finish line, the support crew calls a stop. Simen had started to stagger and couldn't run in a straight line.

"I got a bit too eager and too high on myself. After 180 kilometres my body said stop, and the support crew advised me to pull out, simply to avoid risking my life."

"They could see I was staggering, and this is along a motorway with lorries. They were genuinely worried, and they could see I was heading into heatstroke."

The temperature pushes the body into full survival mode.

"You get stomach problems, diarrhoea, and lose a lot of fluid. Your kidneys and liver take an enormous hit. You need to take in extreme amounts of salt, possibly up to two or three grams per hour. At that point you're playing with your internal organs. That's what you feel after these races: that above everything else, your kidneys are exhausted," he explains.

Miles from the nearest hospital, knowing when to stop is the only option.

"It was an enormous low point, but it was probably the right call. You never know how it could have gone. I'm a single father of two, so I can't die in the California desert."

Were you afraid of dying?

"Honestly, I haven't really felt the fear of death during Badwater. But when I was running alone in Greece and dogs started coming at me from all directions trying to get me, I felt real, gut-level fear. I've also had moments where I was completely exhausted, starving, thirsty, with a nosebleed pouring down my face because I was utterly dehydrated. But then you just have to calm down and pull yourself together,” says Simen.

Back in 2025

For most people, an experience like that would be frightening enough to never try again. But that's not how the 48-year-old works. In July 2025, he is once again on the start line in Death Valley.

"I'm incredibly hungry for it, and that's exactly what I love about these races: the fact that finishing is never guaranteed. The stakes are high and the risk is real."

"I'm going to go out hard and all in, just like last year, but a bit smarter about it. Either it ends in a course record and first place, or I fall flat on my face again. I'm not interested in a middle ground. Either it works, or it goes completely sideways," he says with conviction.

Simen says he is in good shape ahead of this summer's Badwater. Walking away from running is not an option.

“I don't run because I want to. I run because I have to, he concludes.