Max Jolliffe and Carmen Maria Perez both broke course records this week at Badwater 135, the 135-mile (217 km) ultra held through California’s Death Valley, where runners race from the lowest point in North America to the trailhead below Mount Whitney. Death Valley is famous for being the hottest place on Earth, with the official world-record air temperature of 56.7 C recorded at Furnace Creek in 1913. Two records, one raceThe Badwater 135 course runs from Badwater Basin at 85 metres below sea level to Whitney Portal, near Mount Whitney, at 2529.84 metres. Ashley Paulson of the U.S., the former women’s record-holder, was the second woman in 24:59:36, and fellow American Micah Morgan was third woman in 26:32:45. The race started Monday night and continues through Wednesday, with the remaining runners still working toward the Whitney Portal finish.