We posted last week a hypothesis of why we thought Death Valley National Park might have ceased giving permits to running and cycling races within the park without notice/warning/discussion.
Our story gained national attention and created a honest and, at times, hotly debated discussion as to why this might have happened.
We believed that after radiation readings in the park tested extremely high 4 weeks ago that it might have been enough to sound an alarm within the park chain of command to cease permits to look into it more closely.
Read our FULL STORY HERE!
Death Valley National Park superintendent Kathy Billings has finally and officially responded to her reasonings as to why she made her decision. You can read her full letter of explanation by clicking HERE.
She states over and over in the letter that it’s about safety and park safety. Billings says there has been several close calls with spectators and motor visitors to the park on the road and highways.
We, here at Run It Fast, believe that 1. radiation education and the high amounts since the Fukushima meltdown are very important and 2. that transparency from government agencies is extremely important.
We are glad that Billings finally came forward to at least provide an explanation for her decision. She might be late to explain her decision but finally we have some transparency from her as to why.
As we initially stated, transparency serves everyone best.
Do you believe her explanation? She speaks of close calls, but AdventureCORPS founder Chris Kostman, stated in his initial response to the park’s decision, that there had not been any deaths or close calls at his events including Badwater 135. (Read Kostman’s statement HERE)
If in fact Billings explanation is the true explanation then her decision will likely be overturned unless she has a pure vendetta against either AdventureCORPS, Kostman, or endurance sports.
Is her answer/explanation still too vague?
While we are still devastated by Billings decision, we are glad that she finally came forward to at least offer an explanation.
RELATED: Badwater 135 Race Director Chris Kostman replies to DVNP’s Kathy Billings
