Running 30 miles from Gates Pass to Redington Pass on Sunday, Bruce Gungle pours water on his head to cool down. Gungle is training for the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon later this month in Death Valley, Calif.

Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

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That drenched jogger running midday while heat waves radiate from the sidewalk is no desert mirage.

Tucson's seasonal fever is a training tool for some athletes.

The scorching pavement, the sun beating down your hat and of course, the sweat — all of that is an attraction for some athletes who participate in heat training — running, swimming, biking in the heat of the day.

"When the heat's really cranked up, that's when I go out," said Tucson ultramarathoner Bruce Gungle, 47.

On a sweltering summer afternoon when you grip your steering wheel with hot pads, Gungle is starting a five-mile run.

He is preparing for his second Badwater Ultramarathon on July 24-26 by heat training, which consists of exercising in the oven of a Tucson afternoon to acclimate one's body to the climate.

The heat can be helpful if you plan on running a race where the Fahrenheit nearly mirrors the length: 135 miles or so in 130-degree weather in Death Valley, Calif. The 19-year-old Badwater is recognized as one of the toughest races on the planet, beginning in Death Valley and ending in Mount Whitney, Calif. The top runners will complete the challenge in about 25 hours, with the stragglers crossing the line in about 60.

"I think it makes you strong," Karin Bivens, 62, said. She and her husband, Rodger Bivens, 65, have been preparing this summer for Kärnten Ironman Austria. The Ironman distance includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112 miles on the bike followed by running a marathon (26.2 miles).

Karin Bivens, a Saddlebrook resident, said she has been cycling sometimes seven or eight hours a day to prepare, often in the engulfing heat.

"At least on the bike you get a breeze," she said. "That breeze can be a blast furnace some days."

Still, Karin Bivens said she thinks the heat gives her a mental edge — knowing she can endure more since she has trained in such conditions.

"The heat gives people in our neck of the woods a great advantage," Gungle said.

He last ran Badwater in 2004, and it took him 42 hours on 12 minutes of sleep. He finished 26th out of 72 participants, earning a belt buckle for his effort. It might be difficult to understand why someone would willingly run Badwater without the promise of a Swiss bank account or a Powerbar endorsement.

"It just kind of goes deeper into who we are and where we came from," Gungle said.

Two-time Badwater winner Pam Reed said when she started heat training in Tucson about 20 years ago, it was rare to find a running mate.

"People would stop and say, 'Are you nuts?'" she said.

Now, heat training is pretty common, she said. Reed often breaks up her runs over the course of a day — doing a six-miler here and there.

Angie Lyons, 28, a local public-involvement coordinator, ran an ultramarathon in June and prepared five days a week with heat training, including one 20-mile Sabino Canyon "epic run" in May when temperatures hovered around 100 degrees.

"It's something you really have to build into," Lyons said.

If a person has trained consistently outside in Tucson since January and has acclimated his or her body into the June weather, heat training can be done, said Randy Cohen, University of Arizona assistant director of athletics for medical services.

"The problem is trying to do too much too quick," he said.

Dangers include dehydration, heat exhaustion and stroke, Cohen said.

Cohen advises incoming freshmen athletes to start off by spending some time outside before moving onto some low-level activity in the mornings.

Despite the lack of UA sporting events in the summer, Cohen said at least half the athletes are here in the summer training outside, including athletes in football, baseball, cross country, and track and field.

If an athlete has to compete in intense weather conditions, his or her body should be comfortable with the climate, Cohen said.

Reed said she enjoys heat training as it makes her muscles feel warm all the time. Lyons has found it to be something that benefits her in other areas of her life, from making it easier to brave the sun during grocery store trips to boosting stamina.

Besides, in Tucson everyone endures some sort of heat training.

"When is it even really cooler in the desert?" Cohen said.