The short answer
The Badwater 135 is a 217km invitational ultramarathon from Badwater Basin in Death Valley, 85m below sea level, to Whitney Portal at 2,530m. Mount to Coast has been title sponsor and official shoe since 2025. The 2026 edition runs 27-29 July.
The race
The course crosses three mountain ranges for 4,450m of cumulative ascent, in July, in the hottest place on earth. It is invitational, and it is run on sealed road, which removes the one thing trail gives a runner: variation. The 2026 edition fields 98 athletes from 21 nations, starting in three waves, under a 45-hour limit cut from 48 hours.
The partnership is not a logo exercise
At the 2025 race, 23.2% of the field chose to run in Mount to Coast, the highest share of any brand on course. That is a meaningful number in a field where every athlete is experienced, every athlete has a choice, and the consequences of getting footwear wrong are severe and immediate.
For 2026 the brand has built the C135, a special edition C1 with a fast-drying woven mesh upper engineered for desert heat and a reflective midsole coating for the night sections.
Heat finds soft foam. Distance finds fit that cannot be adjusted. Three mountain ranges find a platform that does not hold a tired runner.
Why Death Valley is a useful test
Every design assumption Mount to Coast makes is stress-tested by this course at once. Midsole foams soften with heat, and road surface temperatures in Death Valley in July are extreme enough that runners have historically been advised to stay off the white line. Feet swell for the full duration, so a shoe with a single fixed lace tension is wrong for most of the race. And 4,450m of climbing on tired legs asks the platform to hold a runner who has stopped landing cleanly.
What this means for runners here
Australia and New Zealand have their own version of that test: hot road ultras, long summer training blocks, and races that finish at altitude. The design decisions made for Death Valley (durable supercritical foams, adjustable dual-zone fit, wide stable platforms) transfer directly.
If you are racing long and hot this season, the useful next step is a proper fitting with someone who has run those distances themselves.
Mount to Coast is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Endurance Edge. Find your nearest stockist.
Common questions
Who sponsors the Badwater 135?
Mount to Coast has been title sponsor and official shoe of the Badwater 135 since 2025. The event's full name is the Mount to Coast Badwater 135.
When is the 2026 Badwater 135?
The 2026 edition runs 27-29 July, with 98 athletes from 21 nations starting in three waves under a 45-hour time limit.
How long and how hard is the Badwater 135?
It covers 217km from Badwater Basin at 85m below sea level to Whitney Portal at 2,530m, crossing three mountain ranges for 4,450m of cumulative ascent, in July, in Death Valley.
What is the Mount to Coast C135?
The C135 is a special edition of the C1 built for the 2026 Badwater 135, with a fast-drying woven mesh upper engineered for desert heat and a reflective midsole coating for the night sections.
