The "personal challenge" was originally created from several issues and cases
we had a person that did segments of Badwater in different years , then came to us saying the "did Badwater 146"
we also had a case where the runner was coming to do Badwater on the weekends. Then going back to work. Coming back the next weekend. So he finished Badwater146 over a whole summer. He/she did not mind if the "total time" would have been 60days.
then somebody raised the question of overall "time limit" for an older runner. How many miles a day, how many days in a row, total time ?
But .... NONE OF THESE felt they were in the spirit of Badwater146, where the idea is to push yourself, in one continuous uninterrupted effort ...so we had to create this very generic guideline ( continuous and interrupted are also relative terms )
If you have doubts, it is best to ask the Admins with your specific situation, WELL BEFORE you attempt Badwater ... so that the Admins could discuss it.
HERE ARE SOME RANDOM HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES ( that some of them i pushed to the extremes .... just examples )
What happens if 2 people share crews, thus going roughly at the same speed. How is the Personal Challenge applicable ?
If the speed and ability of both runners are ROUGHLY the same, i am guessing it would be ok.
What if one of the runners is 20yo, can do Badwater in 40hrs and another runner is 70yo and his time would be 200hrs?
that is a hard one since for the 20yo, this would definitely not be a "challenge". for the 20yo
Would the 20yo stay with the 70yo, thus enduring the heat in Death Valley and following all other guidelines? That seems like it would be ok.
What if i go with a slower person on purpose? For example i go with my mother, father, child ?
again , in theory it should be ok, as long as it is an uninterrupted continuous effort, a challenge for at least one, both people follow all the Guidelines
But PPPLLEEAAZZZZZEEE .... make sure you ask the Admins in advance so nobody would be taken by surprise