This extreme sports saga, part Plimptonesque narrative, part spiritual journey, explores the limits of personal endurance as a determined journalist takes on a 135-mile Death Valley marathon.

Journalist Kirk Johnson knows pain—mind-numbing, bodywracking pain. When his beloved older brother commits suicide, Kirk starts running— running to escape, running to understand, running straight into the hell of Badwater, the ultimate test of endurance equal to five consecutive marathons. From the inferno of Death Valley to the freezing summit of Mt. Whitney, alongside a group of dreamers, fanatics, and virtual running machines, Kirk will stare down his limitations and his fears on a journey inward—a journey that just might offer the redemption of his deepest and most personal loss.