By Julian MITCHELL

Running across Death Valley – not the everyday man’s version of fun. Even for John Radich, an Army veteran and seasoned ultra-marathon runner, the 135-mile trek is still one of the most “challenging places in the world to run.”

He’s only made the run 10 times, after all.

Radich, 64, developed a passion for running while a student at Rosemead High School. He heard about runners making the journey from Santa Monica to the East Coast and had asked his cross-country coach about the sport. He was immediately instructed to pump the brakes.

“He told me to ‘run for a cause’ which, at 15, I didn’t quite understand,” recalled Radich.

Since then, Radich has discovered exactly what his high school coach meant and runs with The Way to Happiness Foundation. The Way to Happiness Foundation is a Glendale-based non-profit organization that simply seeks to help others. Radich has been a supporter since the late ’80s.

The group works with other charities and has done a lot to support children, particularly in the area of bullying, according to Radich. He has helped by gaining sponsorships for his races with proceeds dedicated to the charitable work of The Way to Happiness.

“God gave me a gift and I’m going to do something good with it,” said Radich.

Radich began taking running to higher levels after his service ended, first running in the San Francisco Marathon after returning stateside. His passion for running has given him opportunities to run across parts of Europe and Australia, as well as completing his initial dream of running across the continental United States.

In August, Radich began training once  again  for the Badwater 135, a 135-mile race that starts at Badwater Basin and finishes at Mt. Whitney. With both start and finish lines being in the lowest and highest places, respectively, in the continental United States, the race sees an elevation change of well over 8,000 feet.

In preparation for his 15th Badwater 135, Radich and his 89-pound baby buggy of provisions made the journey, spanning the full racecourse in only 61 hours. Unbelievably, during the official Badwater 135 race the pace is increased, according to Radich. The fastest time ever to complete the race was just under 22 hours, according to the Badwater 135 website.

“There are three major mountain ranges and, pushing a stroller up a 20% grade [is like] – no pun intended – baby steps,” said Radich.

Radich said that the most difficult part of the journey comes around Towne Pass, in which the 13-mile trek upward on a winding road leads to cool temperatures but unfortunately drops runners right back into 126-degree weather once they make the 18 mile journey back down.

Radich had been preparing for a 100-mile race that was coming up later in the month, and said that training has come harder with age. But, although he may be slowing down, it seems that there is no stopping John Radich once he is on the run.

  Julian MITCHELL