Motivation

For obstacle races, we understand that preparation is always the key. However, you can never prepare enough to be 100% sure how one will react when faced with that first ‘game-changer’ of a hurdle. For example the adrenaline rush you experience at the countdown to the starter hooter. Or being driven on by the sudden stampede of excitement stricken waves of bright colours. All of which propels you into the initial hurdles. You clear the first few introductory obstacles before you then start to feel the ground beneath your feet again. Immediately you remember where you are, and that this is just the beginning of a long road to the finish line. You hope the excitement will last long enough to carry you through.

Largest Obstacle Course In The World

When you think of the word ‘adventure’, what springs to mind? Is it crawling in a backstroke manner in a cage filled with muddy water? Do you imagine dragging your body inside a pitch-black hole? Or is it an entire stretch of 20 miles, 200 obstacles, in the countryside amidst a company of people just as bold and borderline crazy as you are? What would you do with a spare 6 hours or so? Well, our team accomplished all the above and then some, at the Rat Race Dirty Weekender. This was set on the fields of Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire on Saturday 7^th May.

Growth Outside The Comfort Zone

FitFun, from its inception, has always held to the philosophy that growth occurs outside the comfort zone. While that includes navigating physical barriers; the greatest growth is internal. It’s the part of you nobody sees but they feel. They experience your growth. Your evolution can become infectious energy; a force that cannot be denied. It enables you and gives others permission also to ‘live the dream’. This personal development is about taking the steps towards a life free of limitations, and one that transcends your very being.

Character Building

We have come to understand that it’s the pressure cooker moments in life that often define who we are at heart. What will pressure reveal in you? How do you cope when you are gripped with anxiety in front of a queue of tired, impatient racers waiting on you to take that leap so they can have their turn? Fear can exude so much tension in an individual that it can almost cripple momentarily. But if you are not challenged, you will never change. If you are not tested you can never have a testimony. How do we know our true strengths if we stay in our comfort zone? Let’s use the analogy of how Lobsters grow. They are a soft mushy animal living in a rigid shell. That rigid shell does not expand. As the Lobster grows, it feels confined and under pressure. In order to survive, the Lobster has no choice but to cast off that shell to produce another one in its place.

Annual FitFun Challenge

This is what the yearly FitFun team challenges are about. For us to prepare our cohort for the magnitude of the tasks that lay ahead, all aspects of Rat Race training had to push boundaries- physical, psychological, and emotional. Over the 4 months in which we trained between January and April, the team had to overcome a number of injuries and illnesses that were legitimate enough reasons to pull out of the event as a result of hampered preparations. But collectively we held one another up. In our experience, we know that strong bonds are formed through difficult times. We look forward to these situations because they are opportunities to take our FitFun community to the next level.

Training Schedule

Our four scheduled monthly group training sessions were to complement and enhance the individual in preparing for the event. It is said ‘You are only as strong as your weakest person’, but for us, it was not about weaknesses, but identifying strengths which we as individuals bring to the collective goal. Training as a team and being accountable to the group gave us a clear picture of where we were in relation to the demands of the assault course on the historical grounds of Burghley House would present.

Frenzied Start

From the frenzy at the start, it’s not long into the race that you feel the uneven terrain begin to sap energy from every stride you take. Perhaps the most consistent stumbling block along the vast, open land is the very ground you are running on, which you can easily ignore to your peril while keeping your eyes focussed on what impediments the organisers have conjured up ahead. And then you reach the first point of extreme apprehension. You feared it would come. You can see the looks on faces around you. It’s usually something involving standing, what appears to be a 100m above the ground, staring at the freezing cold water the masses are about to jump into. “Can you push me please?” were the quiet words spoken before a loud scream and a splash!

Sink Or Swim

Challenges often bring out the vulnerabilities in our character. We either decide to swim or we give in to the pull beneath us and resign to that sinking feeling. But swim we definitely did. We put our bodies on the line; climbing nets, ladders, and ropes; leaping up walls, rolling under wire cages, carrying logs and sandbags uphill, crawling along black holes, and did I mention jumping into freezing cold water from great heights? Plus not forgetting the cheek of an obstacle sneaking in elements of a boot camp routine- squats, burpees and press-ups along the way, as though our limbs didn’t have enough to contend with. The stop-start nature of obstacle races eventually takes its toll on the body; just like the constant changing of gears in a car eats up petrol, likewise is the effect on your energy system. The pit stops for food and drinks were a life source, literally.

Society And The Rat Race

Funnily enough, society generally understands the ‘Rat Race’ to be an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit, linked to the race of getting ahead financially; like rats chasing the big cheese. This image is far removed from the working ethos of the Rat Race Weekender, which is fundamentally tied to the FitFun ethos of inclusion and cohesiveness. We all shared a common goal. We also had one mutual enemy- muscle cramps. It was no respecter of persons; whether you were a trainer, a client, male or female; along the fields, there was usually one or 2 individuals lying on the floor needing a helping hand to stretch (usually the hamstrings and calves). This is what makes these events so great that no matter which team you represent, we are all ‘Muckers’ ready to help a fellow Mucker.

Badge Of Honour

It’s a real badge of honour to complete the world’s biggest assault course, and we are extremely proud of the way our team coped with the demands. A number of individuals were able to prove to themselves that they are more than capable of rising to the occasion. When the going got tough we kept pressing on. The negative internal voices were there but we were able to draw energy from one another. This was a stamina test with a difference; not your typical weekend walk in the countryside by miles. Where else will you be faced with over 100m of monkey bars? Having pushed yourself over 13 miles prior, you now have to hold your body weight up as you swing from one handle to another, for a 100m! Then when completed we still had another 7 miles to go. Every muscle fibre is exhausted. Cramp appears in your neck muscles; how on earth did that happen?

Lasting Memories

The promise of chicken curry and a beer, for some, became the motivating factor to shift another gear. Certainly, the quicker we finish the sooner we can celebrate. Also, the knowledge that the event was going to culminate in an awesome after-party. For those who still had the energy, a Glastonbury style rave. Nevertheless, visualising waves of arms held aloft in relief more than anything, but also in celebration of a tremendous achievement seemed yet miles away. However what a comforting sight to see familiar faces as we approached the final furlong.

 

This is our family- the FitFun Family. Two little girls cried out “Mummy” as a team-mate picked herself up off the water slide yards from the finish line. They were her daughters. The joy on their faces was worth her agony. Her husband filmed the last triumphant steps. Her family were there to witness her achievement; perhaps having travelled the entire 20 miles with her in spirit keeping her going. These are the memories we create. These are the moments we capture that will stay with us, and the life-transforming experiences that make us better people.

Click here to see images from the event