Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the Spartan Race, Desert Warrior, Tough Mudder, Sandstorm Marmoum or Wadi Adventure Race, to name a few. They are called obstacle races’ and I’ve encouraged people of all fitness levels to take part ever since the first one made its UAE debut two years ago.
You can be forgiven if you think these races are extreme. Because to some extent, they are. Here, you push your limits, physically and mentally. You go beyond your comfort zone and achieve a renewed connection with your body. You cross the finish and come out a stronger person.
So, what do individuals or groups do in obstacle races anyway?
I could write a book detailing its mechanics, but to keep the answer short, and even though I’m not doing the experience justice, I’ll summarise with the following: walk, run, crawl, roll, jump, lift, carry, swing, grab, slide, fall, climb, squeeze through, get wet, get dirty, help someone, face and conquer your fears. Just reviewing what I wrote gets me pumped, but I also realise it isn’t to everyone’s liking. Risk and danger are always present, but so does driving along a highway. Anything can happen if you aren’t careful or trained.
The demands in obstacle races can be taxing on the body, it requires your maximum efforts. Depending on your fitness level and how determined you are to push yourself through adversity, you may even contemplate on quitting. But more than its intense physicality, mental toughness is a necessity. In fact, your mentality is what determines your success here. It all seems like a huge undertaking, and it is. It’s a challenge, but a challenge you can prepare and train for.
And training is a metaphor of life. When you practice overcoming weights in the gym, or obstacles outdoors, you’re actually overcoming your limitations and conditioning your mind to better overcome problems life throws at you. You aim not to be better than others but to be a better version of yourself, mind and body. And that’s the beauty in participating in obstacle races.
I read an article by Julien Cayla of the South China Morning Post back in January titled The surprising reasons why people pay to enter gruelling challenges like the Tough Mudder and Spartan Race. Here are excerpts f which attempt to encompass the experience:
“The narrative is crafted as one where they have explored a new dimension of their humanity through their body and thus have lived a little more.”
“Even as participants return to work, the sense of achievement from having overcome their own physical limits serves as powerful evidence that they have lived a life filled with worthy experiences, and that their life is fuller and richer as a result.”
The above words are telling, but they still don’t do an obstacle race experience justice. Because here, you will know who you truly are when you confront your fears. Every finish line you cross reveals a part of yourself you haven’t discovered before. Pain in places you never knew existed in you. And you build a stronger character from there. You break mental barriers with every rope climb, with every swing on the rings or monkey bars. With each daunting obstacle, whether fully submerging in ice or sprinting up a slippery slope, you learn to believe what YOU CAN achieve. It’s a race and you may not win first place, but you win in life. It’s a realisation that I, on behalf of all who dared and bested themselves, can attest to.
Now, it’s your turn.
