Bataan Memorial Death March: Review and Costs

This weekend, I participated in the 30th annual Bataan Memorial Death March. This is a major marathon (or as the tagline says “More Than Just A Marathon”) but there aren’t actually many reviews about it online, so it was hard to find good info. I decided to write one up! That way you and future readers can learn about the March and what to expect.

I already explained what the March is on Twitter, so here’s that thread. Read through this real quick to learn why the March is important, then I’ll get into what I experienced this weekend.

It has come to my attention that maybe some of you aren’t familiar with the story of the Bataan Death March, and thus may not understand why the Bataan Memorial Death March (that I’m participating in this weekend) is important. Really important.

Thread#BataanMemorialDeathMarch

— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

You’ve all met PF-minded, food loving MilDollar. Now it’s time to meet military history MilDollar.

April 1942. Phillipines. The 3-month Battle of Bataan has ended. This was a last stand for the Allies, as the Japanese have taken over much of southeast Asia.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

I’m not going to get into too much detail about the Battle, because that’s not what the March is about. But the gist:

Gen Douglas MacArthur is in charge of the US & Filipino forces charged with defending the Bataan peninsula. It’s December 1941 – we’ve JUST entered the war.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

10 Dec 41 – 3 days after Pearl Harbor. The Japanese start to land on Luzon, the island where ~87k* US and Filipino Army troops are waiting to protect Manila Bay.

*Every number I quote in this thread is estimated *and* contested in various docs. Go with it.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

At first MacArthur didn’t fight back, because the Japanese weren’t moving on Manila. The battle doesn’t officially start until 7 Jan 42. There were skirmishes though – this was the first time the US and Japan ground troops fought in WWII.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

3 months later, ~10k US/Filipino troops had perished in the Battle. The survivors are battle-worn, weak, and starving. On 9 Apr, Gen King, senior US commander remaining on Bataan, negotiated a surrender. It is the largest surrender in US military history.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

Suddenly there were ~11k US and ~64k Filipino POWs, and Japanese Lieutenant General Homma wanted them out of the way. So he decided to move them north to Capas. But there weren’t enough trucks…so the weak and starving troops were forced to march.

About 65 miles.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

Something like a 65 mile walk through the jungle in the Phillipines, in April (intense heat), while emaciated. And they weren’t given much food or water or medical treatment during the hike. And oh yeah, some were beaten. Or shot. Or bayoneted. This went on for five days.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

Eventually they were loaded into train boxcars, where they were packed so tightly that those who perished in the sweltering cars didn’t even fall.

Counts vary widely, but somewhere between 5k-19k US and Filipino (by far mostly Filipino) troops died during the Death March.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

But their pain wasn’t over. At the end of the March was Camp O’Donnell, a Prisoner of War camp. Between Apr 42 and Jan 43, another 20k Filipino and 1.5k US troops died, of disease and starvation and torture.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

In Jan 43 the Filipinos were paroled…the US troops were sent to another camp. The US POWs remained POWs until 1945, when the US recaptured the Phillipines from the Japanese.

Of the US survivors, about another 1/3 later died of complications from their time in the camp.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

In 1989, the ROTC detachment at New Mexico State University began sponsoring a Bataan Memorial Death March. It is a 26.2 mile hike through the NM desert, meant to give participants a taste of the hardship the US and Filipino troops experienced in the Death March.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

The first year (1989) about 100 people participated. This year, the 30th anniversary of the Memorial March and the 77th anniversary of the Death March, 8631 have registered.

We will walk to honor the dead and the few remaining survivors of this war crime.

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— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

I’m hoping some of those survivors are there on Sunday, so I can thank them. So I can shake their hands and give them hugs and be grateful that they gave so much for their country and the world during such a horrific time.

That’s why this March is really fucking important.

/fin

— Military Dollar (@Military_Dollar) March 15, 2019

Bataan Memorial Death March Overview

And a little more info: the March is held on White Sands Missile Range, an Army installation in New Mexico. Non-military people are granted access to the base in the days leading up to the March, so if you aren’t in the military that’s okay! You can still participate, provided you meet the requirements to get on base. You can learn more about the March in general on their website.

Bataan By The Numbers

Distance: 26.2 miles for the full hike through the desert. 14.2 miles for the Honorary March. I actually think it was about 14.4 miles for the Honorary, if the signs were accurately placed 🤔

2019 participants: 8,690 as of writing this (the number keeps creeping up)

Survivors present at the race: 5

Hours to complete the race: about 13 officially. Unofficially the last person crossed the finish line nearly 14 hours in

Mile by Mile Review

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go over every 55,000+ steps. But here’s a quick recap for anybody who might want to do the Bataan Memorial Death March in the future.

The March starts with a lengthy opening ceremony that includes the playing of the Phillipine and US national anthems, remembrance of the Bataan Death March, and some speeches. We had to be in the starting area no later than 6am (staying on base helps!) and the opening ceremony started at 6:35am.

If you’ve never heard the phrase “hurry up and wait,” welcome to the military.

Opening ceremony ended at about 7am and we immediately started moving. The course begins on a road, and everybody starts to spread out a bit. Runners are at the very front so they can take off if they want, but in the March, most people walk most of the way. This is not a fast marathon for most people – it’s a remembrance and a challenge.

In less than a mile, we moved off the road into kind of a…field? It wasn’t a trail. We were walking over uneven ground, dirt and plants, as we made our way back towards the road. This part didn’t last long, thankfully. It appeared to be a detour just for this year. We were back on the road again until about mile 2.

Around mile 2 we transitioned to the type of path we’d spend most of the trail on – a wide, dirt trail. You can watch a nice 7-minute video of the entire course to see what I’m talking about. From mile 2 to mile 8, it was pretty much this same, easy dirt trail.

Up Up Up, Down Down Down

Right after the mile 8 water point, you get back on a road again for a while. Except this road is going up…and up…and up. In all, you spend the next 5 or so miles heading uphill, partly but not entirely on a paved road. It wasn’t too bad since the ground was easy to navigate, but it was a slog.

Around mile 13, the course starts to head back downhill for the next 7 miles. It’s not all downhill – there are some stretches of down with a few ups mixed in. This was probably the hardest part for me, because downhills can be hard on knees and toes. I actually welcomed the short up portions a few times because it gave my knees some relief. Strange how 16 miles of walking can leave you grateful for an uphill stretch!

Into the Sandpit

After mile 20, you enter into an area known as the Sandpit. In normal years, this is apparently a long stretch (a mile or so) of ankle deep sand. We were lucky in that White Sands had experienced rain (there was also some snow!) the day before the March, so the sand was tamped down. It was a bit loose, but nothing as bad as what I’d been told to expect.

Mile 21, then, is pretty rocky. There were some hazards to avoid. It was during this stretch, along with similarly rocky terrain in mile 17, where I accidentally kicked a rock. Normally that’s not great, but it was a particularly not fun experience when I’d been hiking that long and my feet were already quite sore. Oh well. Here’s your warning – miles 17 and 21 have a lot of rocks!

Almost there…

After hitting mile 22, there are some more ups and downs but overall at this point it’s just some long hiking through the desert. You are close to the military housing, and you even pass by some old military buildings. But you’ve been hiking for hours at this point and you are tired and sore and just want to be done. I couldn’t really describe the course better than to say it felt like it wasn’t going to end.

But it does! The last half mile has you passing by houses and even a park where you can see kids playing. You start to hear the sounds of the finish line and seeing wellwishers – something noticeably absent on this course, unlike most marathons. Throughout the course the only people you see are the volunteers at the water/medical stations and the other hikers, so seeing the crowds at the end was a nice change.

And then you finish, and you get your finishers medal, and you get some food, and if you are dumb like me and most everybody else you sit down and then the pain starts, hahahaha.

Overall Impressions

The March was very well run. There are water stations every 2-3 miles offering free water, sports drink, oranges, and bananas. Sometimes the volunteers also had a special treat like small chocolates or Starbursts. There were also multiple places with free squirts or sprays of sunblock, which is extremely important when you are spending 4-12 hours exposed to the desert sun! Luckily I only saw a few people with sunburn at the end, most seemed to take them up on the offer of free sunblock.

There are also medical set ups at many of the water stations and roaming patrols by military police, border patrol, and others making sure everyone is okay. They were almost TOO attentive. I stopped twice to change my socks and while I felt it was obvious what I was doing, I was asked repeatedly each stop if I was okay, do I need help, etc. I understand why, though – historically about 25% of participants are injured doing the Bataan Memorial Death March. There are over 1000 volunteers and I’m sure they are highly encouraged to keep an eye on everybody.

Overall I was very impressed. The March was well run and I really appreciated the volunteers. Plus, obviously, it was much more meaningful than your average marathon! I’m disappointed that I never got a chance to meet any of the survivors, but still very happy I went.

Bataan Memorial Death March Expenses

This is a personal finance blog, right? So it’s fitting that I’m going to share all of my Bataan Memorial Death March expenses with you. If you are looking to participate in future years, this will give you an idea of what you should expect to spend.

Ticket

I spent $118.10 on my ticket. That’s $110 for the ticket and $8.10 in fees. The ticket price does change as the March gets closer, so the earlier you buy the cheaper it will be. I bought my ticket 5 or 6 weeks before registration closed, on the last day of the middle price. If you bought them early the ticket was $95 ($15 cheaper) and if you waited until the end it was $125 ($15 more expensive).

I’m not a marathoner by any means, but from what I can tell those prices are fairly normal. Included in the price was not only participation, but also a T-shirt, a finishers meal (pictured below), a finishers medal, water/sports drink/snacks throughout the course, and a bag to carry stuff in.

White Sands also allows Bataan Memorial Death March participants to stay on property for several days to prepare for the race. If you grab some real estate in the gym, the camp ground, or the RV park the stay is free. That’s pretty sweet! A ton of people chose this option, including me (more below).

Travel Expenses

I live close enough to White Sands that I was able to drive there, so my travel expenses were just some gas. I arrived Saturday night. The March is on Sunday so that worked for me, although some people start showing up as early as Thursday. I brought a bunch of food I made at home, so I didn’t “need” to buy any food on the trip, although I did buy a little which I’ll cover in the food expenses section. And like I said staying at White Sands was free for Marchers! So minimal travel expenses for me.

The staying on base options were:

• the base hotel (an IHG) for regular cost, whatever that was
• staying at the base gym. This was space limited, first come first served, and from what I could tell it filled up quickly. Don’t rely on this option. They do have cots available, though, which is nice!
• RV parking – there are full hookups available, but they filled quickly (reservations required). They also had free dry camping. That may be a good option if I decide to do this when I’m retired, since I want to buy an RV!
• camping – there were tons of campers. They used a bathroom and pavilion in a park area as necessary. If you are going with this option, make sure you bring a tent and associated gear. Sadly using my car camper was not a valid option.

Lots of people also stay off base, but doing so means you are in El Paso or Las Cruces. This means you have to (probably) pay for lodging, and maybe more importantly you have to drive to White Sands at 3:30 in the morning (!) to be in line at the gate no later than 4:30am. I was not a fan of that idea. I’d much rather sleep on base so I can wake up at 4:30am or 5am (already super early!)

Food

Like I said, I brought most of my food from home. I can’t stomach a lot of the runners gels/chews, so my food was actually pretty cheap. My main food was 1 PB&J and 2 PB&honey sandwiches to eat during the hike. I also brought trail mix, beef jerky, and a Belvita cookie thing. Plus food for Saturday. I spent about $15 on food I brought from home. I also received the “free” finishers meal (which was pretty good) and paid $3 for a hamburger at mile 11 or so.

That hamburger was about as good as you’d expect from a $3 burger cooked by a bunch of college kids on a dirt trail. I won’t buy it again if I redo this race, but I’d probably donate some money – the burgers were cooked as a fundraiser for the Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment that started the Bataan Memorial Death March!

The March also includes a bunch of water stations throughout the course (every 2-3 miles) so I had lots of “free” sports drink and some oranges and bananas. I also snagged some chocolate from a station that was handing out Hershey’s Nuggets and Starbursts. That was nice!

Miscellaneous Expenses

Because I already had hiking gear, there wasn’t too much else I needed to buy. The main thing was I picked up some gaiters from REI, but actually they weren’t great and I plan to return them. Don’t get me wrong, I think gaiters are great for hiking! Especially through sandpits. But this particular pair was loose around my ankles and I’d prefer a pair that doesn’t have a strap underneath the shoe.

I also spent $7.50 on a new discovery, Combat Ready tape. I’m not normally one to gush over spending $7.50 on 3 feet of tape, but this stuff was incredible. It’s basically kinesio tape that is pre-cut for specific needs. They have a bunch of packs available for things like knees, shin splints, lower pack, shoulder pain, etc. I used some on my back and some on my feet. After 26.2 miles I didn’t have a moment of back pain and I didn’t have a single blister or hot spot. I’m telling you, this stuff is incredible. Highly recommended.

So that’s my story of the Bataan Memorial Death March. Have you ever participated? What did you think? Share your experience in the comments!