Victoria E. Freile

@vfreile

Thirty-four hours and 22 minutes after Brett Sobieraski set off on his longest run to date, he proudly carried an American flag across the finish line.

"It was incredibly hard," said Sobieraski, 50. "It was by far the hardest thing I've ever done."

And that's quite the statement from the man who completed four 100-milers in as many years, swam across Lake Ontario and completed a double Ironman distance triathlon.

The 24-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department on Wednesday completed Badwater, a 135-mile ultramarathon through Death Valley, within minutes of his goal time. That said, he admitted that he's kicking himself for not pushing a little harder to shave those final few minutes for a flat 34-hour finish.

Sobieraski, a Carlton, Orleans County, resident, said he was always intrigued by the race, which spans three mountain ranges. Runners set off Monday evening from Badwater, the lowest elevation in North America, and followed a route that spanned three mountain ranges for a total of 14,600 feet of vertical gain and 6,100 feet of descent before ending on a 13-mile ascent toward Mount Whitney, the highest summit in the contiguous United States.

Not to mention, he ran for hours in 120-degrees under blazing, sunny skies.

READ: RPD sergeant to run Badwater, 135-mile footrace

This race, "it's one and done," he said Wednesday afternoon. "I'm really glad I did it, but never again. Every fiber of my body hurts."

His feet are blistered, his teeth ache, his body is drained and the pain became overwhelming at times, particularly during the last 35 miles of the race, he said.

"Those little demons started creeping in and I started thinking there was no way I could finish," he said, adding that the incline was demoralizing at times. "I feel like the course stole part of my soul. I never had to dig this deep to finish something. But I didn't want to quit. So I didn't."

Sobieraski said his body stopped accepting solid food about 75 miles into the race, So he ran his last 60 miles fueled by Diet Coke, Gatorade and a sports drink called DripDrop.

As he ran, Sobieraski was assisted by a four-man support crew. The team, made up of three fellow Rochester police officers and a longtime friend, helped Sobieraski along the grueling course. The quartet took turns running beside him, offering food, drinks, clothing changes and fresh shoes.

Badwater participants are allowed 48 hours to complete the course, and according to unofficial results, Sobieraski finished 28th among the 97 participants. Race winner Pete Kostelnick, 28, of Nebraska finished the course in 21 hours and 56 minutes.

Despite his post-race exhaustion, Sobieraski said every second of the run was well worth the effort. Time will tell what challenge is next.

VFREILE@Gannett.com

RPD sergeant to run Badwater, a 135-mile footrace