LOS ANGELES (AP) — Death Valley National Park is putting the brakes on ultramarathons and other extreme sports events that involve running and cycling until rangers can determine how safe it is to hold those competitions in a place that records the hottest temperatures on Earth.
A timetable for the safety review’s completion hasn’t been given. But until it is done, park officials say they will accept no new applications for cycling or running competitions in the park.
Park spokeswoman Cheryl Chipman said Monday that one previously scheduled event will go ahead as planned.
The suspension means the popular Badwater 135 ultramarathon that takes runners from the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere to the trailhead of the highest peak in the contiguous United States will have to make a detour.
