‘There’s magic in misery’: ultramarathon runners cross Death Valley – in a drought

A hundred athletes are picked each year for the 135-mile race. This time the climate was especially brutal

In the Badwater Basin at the bottom of California's Death Valley, the air feels like a giant hair dryer and the pavement can melt the soles of your shoes.

Yet on Monday night, 100 of the world's top endurance runners set off on what has become known as the world's toughest foot race", carving 135 miles of terrain through one of the planet's most extreme climates at the most intense time of year.