An Adventure in Racing
http://www.setthestageforsuccess.com/articles/11288/1/An-Adventure-in-Racing/Page1.html
Natalie Hustad
Natalie is a board certified exercise
physiologist and has been in the health and fitness field for almost 10
years. She has a masters degree in Exercise Physiology from Long Beach
State and a Bachelors in kinesiology from San Francisco State. Natalie
is currently working on her Masters Degree in Physical Therapy and
plans to concurrently enroll in a program to complete a PHd in
neurokinetics. For more information visit Bonne Vie Fitness.
By Natalie Hustad
Published on 07/4/2008
When I was 16 I was sitting at home flipping through channels and came
across a documentary on the national geographic channel about a 10 day
race which spanned two continents. Not in a car, but on foot, bike,
kayak, horse, or whatever else was available. Each team consisted of
four people and more then half of those who began dropped out in the
first three days. It was the most thrilling thing I had ever seen. I
decided by the end of the documentary that I wanted to participate in
this challenge. I knew it would take years but I wanted to do it.
When I was 16 I was sitting at home flipping through channels and came across a documentary on the national geographic channel about a 10 day race which spanned two continents. Not in a car, but on foot, bike, kayak, horse, or whatever else was available. Each team consisted of four people and more then half of those who began dropped out in the first three days. It was the most thrilling thing I had ever seen. I decided by the end of the documentary that I wanted to participate in this challenge. I knew it would take years but I wanted to do it.
The name of that race was the Eco Challenge, and it was created by Mark Burnett. Unfortunately I will never get to run the eco challenge as it made its last run in 2002. Around the time that another one of Mark Burnett’s other projects was taking off (you may have heard of it, it’s a little game show called “Survivor"). No one has since been able to match the intensity, the public status and the drama that Burnett created, and so no one has created or purchased the rights since then to the Eco Challenge.
The race that was the precursor to the lights and glitz of the Eco Challenge was the Raid Gaulioses. This race was created by Geralf Fusil. Before Eco came along it was the most grueling thing anyone had seen. There was not a lot of money to put this race on, so the teams did not have nearly the support crews they have today. It was the first adventure race, created in 1989, through a series of name changes, course rules, etc. It is now called the Raid World Championships. The Raid still has a hard time drumming up sponsors and getting enough racers. Mostly because it is not as well publicized as other adventure races and could never capture the media drama that the Ironman and other raced have. Running a race of this caliber is my ultimate dream. Yeah, I wanted to be a trainer and open businesses and do a lot of “stuff” but nothing to me is as soul searing as running this race.
Now there are a lot of adventure races out there today, one big one is called Primal Quest. But what had made the Raid and the Eco Challenge so “ultimate” is their length (10 days) and their distance (over 6,000 miles), their international appeal and the fact that the races cross countries, states, etc. The difficulty in putting a race of the magnitude together is tremendous, and without corporate sponsors and media coverage to bring in money, it leaves the race open only to the wealthiest people who could afford the entrance fee.
So as those high up in the field seek out Nike, and Jeep and Patagonia to sponsor and get the race going again, I lie in wait, training often, waiting for the day the race comes back to life again. Once it does I will be one of thousands of other racers wanting to compete. Oh yes, we are a small and hidden community of crazy thrill seekers, who actually find it exhilarating to challenge our bodies, mind and spirit to race of this caliber.
You might call me crazy when you see me spending my Sundays on 5 hour walk/runs in the hills of Laguna Beach or rising at 5 am in the summer to swim in the ocean for an hour. But that's okay. I'll be prepared for race day.
The name of that race was the Eco Challenge, and it was created by Mark Burnett. Unfortunately I will never get to run the eco challenge as it made its last run in 2002. Around the time that another one of Mark Burnett’s other projects was taking off (you may have heard of it, it’s a little game show called “Survivor"). No one has since been able to match the intensity, the public status and the drama that Burnett created, and so no one has created or purchased the rights since then to the Eco Challenge.
The race that was the precursor to the lights and glitz of the Eco Challenge was the Raid Gaulioses. This race was created by Geralf Fusil. Before Eco came along it was the most grueling thing anyone had seen. There was not a lot of money to put this race on, so the teams did not have nearly the support crews they have today. It was the first adventure race, created in 1989, through a series of name changes, course rules, etc. It is now called the Raid World Championships. The Raid still has a hard time drumming up sponsors and getting enough racers. Mostly because it is not as well publicized as other adventure races and could never capture the media drama that the Ironman and other raced have. Running a race of this caliber is my ultimate dream. Yeah, I wanted to be a trainer and open businesses and do a lot of “stuff” but nothing to me is as soul searing as running this race.
Now there are a lot of adventure races out there today, one big one is called Primal Quest. But what had made the Raid and the Eco Challenge so “ultimate” is their length (10 days) and their distance (over 6,000 miles), their international appeal and the fact that the races cross countries, states, etc. The difficulty in putting a race of the magnitude together is tremendous, and without corporate sponsors and media coverage to bring in money, it leaves the race open only to the wealthiest people who could afford the entrance fee.
So as those high up in the field seek out Nike, and Jeep and Patagonia to sponsor and get the race going again, I lie in wait, training often, waiting for the day the race comes back to life again. Once it does I will be one of thousands of other racers wanting to compete. Oh yes, we are a small and hidden community of crazy thrill seekers, who actually find it exhilarating to challenge our bodies, mind and spirit to race of this caliber.
You might call me crazy when you see me spending my Sundays on 5 hour walk/runs in the hills of Laguna Beach or rising at 5 am in the summer to swim in the ocean for an hour. But that's okay. I'll be prepared for race day.