Sutton, a Dunedin joiner, admitted he was cut up emotionally when he finally reached the end of the race, described as the world's toughest running race.
The Dunedin joiner recorded 39hr 54min for the 217km, which starts in the lowest place in the United States and finishes on Whitney Portal, the trailhead to the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States.
The race crosses three mountain ranges, with nearly three times as much climbing as descending, and is done in stifling heat.
Sutton started well but admitted the last stages of the race were very tough.
"I was just bawling my eyes out when I crossed the line. Just having done the whole race, having my family there with me, all the people that have helped," he said yesterday.
"It was really cool to have them there and be able to share the experience of it all. Not many people get to line up and run in a a race like this."
Sutton (45) started at 9.30pm at night on Monday (American time) and finished just before 1.30pm on Wednesday.
The temperature was not as bad as last year where it got up to an unofficial 58degC at one stage.
In this year's race it dropped down on the first night to 13degC. But that was a short reprieve. As Sutton continued into the second half of the race, the heat ramped up to 45degC.
"This is the hottest place in the world and the toughest foot race in the world. It is the heat that gets to you, not the distance. It is running in the environment. The heat, there is nothing else like it.
"I never really hit the wall, never thought I was going to give up. I'm that sort of person.
"Will always give 110%. But it was sort of wearing me down on that last climb. You just wanted to finish. It was so bloody hot.
"The last seven hours felt really hard. These sort of races don't come around too often and they are hard, very, very hard."
He had plenty of blisters on his toes and a few toenails had come off but apart from that he was in good spirits.
Unofficially he finished 72nd. Sutton and his family and supporters were off to Las Vegas to help wind down and celebrate competing in the race.
He has a 200-mile race in Naseby next month.
He is the only New Zealander to have competed and finished the race three times.
Of the 100 starters this year, 14 pulled out and another five did not make the finish line.
Sutton celebrated with a beer after crossing the line and, with this race being the slowest, he was asked whether it was time to put a full stop on his Badwater experience.
"You can never say never. Who knows? I'm very lucky to be able to compete."
