Editor's note: This is the first part in a series of stories following Granite Bay ultrarunner Greg Bomhoff's preparation for the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley on July 11.

Outside, the cold wind bayed like a lonesome hound, tree branches shuddered in aggressive complaint and rain pelted the saturated ground with the ferocity of tiny jackhammers.

This was no day to be outdoors, not even for someone 3 1/2 months away from an epic endurance race some say is the ultimate test of man vs. the elements. Of course, the meteorological challenges Greg Bomhoff will face come July will be the antithesis of the late-March storm that pounded his Granite Bay home.

Bomhoff, a 43-year-old property-management executive, is one of 100 runners (three from the Sacramento area; Ray Sanchez and Brian Recore are the others) selected to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race through Death Valley and up Mount Whitney in temperatures that can reach 130 degrees.

Heat training is what will be needed, given the extremes that await these extreme ultrarunners. But Bomhoff knows there will be time enough for all sorts of crazy acclimation workouts: running in five layers of wool and Gortex, sitting for hours in a 180-degree sauna, cranking the heater as high as it will go in his Dodge Dakota pickup as he makes the workday rounds.

For now, though, he is content to put in the miles for three hours each morning on a treadmill - or, for a change of pace, a bike attached to a stationary wind trainer - in a workout room attached to the family's basement. On weekends, he'll venture out for long trail runs in Folsom and Auburn. This is merely the "base" training, methodically accumulated over the months, that will lay the foundation for the extraordinary feat he will attempt. Soon, he'll blend in shorter, speedier training before the dreaded June heat acclimation.

No passing fancy

To watch Bomhoff metronomically grind it out on the treadmill, his footfalls seemingly in syncopation with the concussive sound of hard rain on the back deck, is to see a man laser- focused and dead serious about the task at hand.

No need to ask his motivation; proof hangs right there on the wall next to the treadmill. It's a framed photograph of a smiling Bomhoff, surrounded by appreciative students after he completed a 24-hour run (128.75 miles) around the track at Franklin Elementary School in Loomis. His feat of the feet raised nearly $30,000 to offset budget cuts that would have affected the school's programs.

And here it is, another spring, and another round of budget belt-tightening looms for the school his two sons (Garret, 11, and Gavin, 9) attend. Bomhoff knew he would need to top himself, to do something even more extreme, to bring in donations and draw attention this time around.

"If I was to just run any other ultra around here," he said, "it wouldn't have the same excitement."

Then a wide grin spread across his face, as he leaned in slightly for emphasis.

"But Badwater, you know? Just the name: Badwater. It's a draw for people. Right now, we're designing the logo and T-shirts for the school and I told the (Franklin Elementary) people, 'Just make BADWATER really big.' This is really going to help the school again."

Yet it would be a mistake to dismiss this as merely a well-intentioned stunt for the school. Bomhoff thrives on tests of will and muscle, lives for challenges.

As his wife, Sheri, who has known Greg since the sixth grade, said, "He loves something that keeps him motivated, loves the whole planning of it as much as the execution. He's got to have something out there on the horizon to shoot for."

The horizon, this time, is the heat-wave shimmers of the Death Valley floor, which has reduced ultra- runners far more experienced than Bomhoff into quivering, prostrate husks of their normally fit selves.

But neither Sheri nor Greg's dad, Ron, say they worry about health issues or even the specter of him not finishing. They've seen Greg in extremis, seen him power through ultramarathons in 90- and 100-degree heat that made others wilt. They also know him well enough not to waste breath trying to dissuade him.

"He's been thinking about Badwater for a while," Ron Bomhoff said. "Early last year, he mentioned it to me in passing. Now, I've been down there (in Death Valley) a few times. I told him, 'You know how hot it gets?' I was a little surprised. It was the same shock I had back (in 2005) when he said he was going to run his first 50-miler. I was incredulous. But whenever he starts talking about something, I figure eventually it'll be on his schedule."

Not always 'on,' but ...

Perhaps what really stretches credulity is Bomhoff's relatively laid-back approach to endurance sports. His Badwater plans notwithstanding, he may be the least-obsessive ultrarunner in a region rife with these exotic sports specimens.

"I don't live it," he said. "I truly don't. In fact, I don't even love running. I started running when I was 37 with the sole intent of (competing in the) Western States (100 Mile Endurance Run). I was at Squaw Valley the weekend after Western States. I hiked out to the top of the mountain, looked out at Auburn, and it captured me."

Until that time, Bomhoff had expended his recreational sports time playing soccer (in junior college) and then as a professional trick water skier (at venues such as Sea World) for 10 years. But at 5-foot-9, 155 pounds and with just 6 percent body fat on his chiseled frame, Bomhoff is the type of natural athlete who can succeed in many endeavors.

No one who knew him was surprised that, in his first 50-mile race in 2005, he qualified to enter the Western States lottery. Nor was it surprising that, after getting the luck of the lottery draw, he finished the 2006 Western States in 23 hours and 31 minutes.

"I got my silver buckle and literally hung up my shoes for 1 1/2 years," he said. "I didn't run again."

Bomhoff's children were younger and he wanted to be there for them. But once the boys grew and got more self-sufficient, the lure of the running challenge hooked him.

"I liked having that goal to chase after," he said. "I like having a big race to set your sights on, something that'll make you get up at 4 in the morning. If I don't have it, I won't run. My training is either on or off. But when it's on, it's very intense. When the task is done, I'm ready for a break from running."

Good thing for a résumé

Competitors probably wish Bomhoff took more breaks. Since 2008, he has won six races (including the Rio del Lago 100 Mile Race, twice), with four of those victories coming with temperatures hovering over 90.

His ability to thrive - and hydrate and fuel well - in the heat made Bomhoff believe he could handle the fiery furnace that is Badwater.

The trick was in convincing Badwater race organizers of that. Hundreds apply, but the race selects only 100 runners a year. The selection committee puts great weight behind runners who have already completed the race or who have "crewed" (meaning assisted as a pacer or water and food handler) for other Badwater runners. Bomhoff had done neither, but he did have an impressive résumé of running in hot conditions. And he was planning to race for charity - the kids' school - which holds sway with organizers.

In November, in filling out a Badwater application form that was as comprehensive as a college-admissions package, essay included, Bomhoff wrote: "I pride myself on the fact that I am honest with my abilities and I do my homework on the big races I enter. I've finished every race I've started and have always been able to execute a plan and accurately predict my finish time. Living in the Sacramento Valley in California I am accustomed to warm weather and have always run well, relative to others, when conditions are hot."

He painstakingly chronicled the races he won, such as the 2008 Pony Express 100K in 98-degree weather, the Hotter Than Hell 12 Hour Run, with a high of 99 degrees, and last year's Rio Del Lago 100 miler in 92-degree conditions. Then he mailed in the application and waited for Feb. 18 and the email that would give him either the thumbs-up or -down.

All that day, he waited. He surfed the Web and read on another runner's blog that the runner had received his confirmation email at 9 p.m. Then, at 9:04 - Bomhoff remembers looking at the clock - his cellphone buzzed twice in quick succession, meaning a new email had arrived.

"There it was," he said. "The first word said, 'Congratulations.' "

Then the thought struck him, "What now?"

He smiled and said, "I literally flipped the switch right then."

In the past two months, he has ramped up his training, put together his crew, mulled hydration and calorie-consumption options and given vague thoughts about heat training in the final month before July's race. In June, he and his father will take a road trip to Badwater and drive the course to get the lay of the land.

"Death Valley," he said, smiling, "I hear it's an awful place."

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