Obstacle course race builtoncamaraderie
RyanMacDonald didn’t know if he was lying on his deathbed two years ago when he started watching videos of obstacle course races and decided that, if he got healthy again, he would try one.
He got better and raced 12 of them in 2016, including his favourite, the XWarrior Challenge in Calgary.
“I did four laps andmy goal was three,” he says. “I collapsed after three because I was exhausted. Eight minutes later, I was back on the course doing the fourth lap. I didn’t want to be average. I wanted to seehowfar I could pushmyself.”
This year he’s going to do at least the 22 races he’s already signed up for and has a goal of competing at the OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) World Championships in Blue Mountain, Ont., and the World’s Toughest Mudder, a 24-hour event in Las Vegas, Nev., in November that he says is “pure hell.”
This is a guy who was given a 60/40 chance of surviving tongue cancer two years ago, endured 33 radiation treatments on each side of his neck and basically had to rebuild his body when it was all done.
“I had a feeding tube for six weeks and I had no muscle left whatsoever,” says the 44-year-old Calgary real estate agent.
“One day after treatment, I was sitting in the hot tub and I was talking about getting a gym membership and my wife said, ‘ What is that?’ I looked down and it was the skin of my quad just floating in the water. I had no muscle left in my leg. So, to do what I do now compared to then is amazing.”
The X Warrior is a highlight on MacDonald’s racing calendar because it is local, so he can run it with a lot of friends. And, he adds, it is phenomenally run.
The X Warrior will take over Stampede Park for the second year on Saturday, May 13, with a multievent schedule. It features the Stadium Sprint — a five-kilometre course featuring 20-plus obstacles that’s run 80 per cent on pavement, stairs and concrete. The event also includes the Titan race in which participants have six hours to complete asmany laps as possible.
New this year are two new heats for children — the Little Warriors Race run over a half- kilometre course and a Junior Warriors event on a full course with limited obstacles. Also added is the Heroes Challenge, an event exclusively for first responders and members of the military, plus a Charity Heat that will raise funds for KidSport Calgary.
The event is open to anyone wanting to give obstacle course racing a try. For those looking to start training, XWarrior Challenge runs free boot camps each Saturday morning leading up to the big days. Details on those workouts and registration information are available at xwarriorchallenge.com.
Creator Darcy Chalifoux got the idea to start the Calgary event after taking part in obstacle course races in the United States. He has plans to expand X Warrior challenge to other communities in Canada.
“I fell in love with the whole community sense around these events,” Chalifoux says. “If you go to an average running event and you go to an obstacle course event you will notice a drastic difference in the whole sense of community. It’s incredible.”
The challenge attracts plenty of elite athletes who train hard and compete all over the world, people like Calgary psychologist Caelin White, one of the country’s top endurance racers. He took part in the inaugural XWarrior Challenge and is planning to race again in May.
White says elite athletes not only push each other, but they help each other, and XWarrior Challenge has that vibe.
“It is a core feature of obstacle course racing — the camaraderie and helping each other during the race,” he says. “Even in the world championships you see people helping each other. It is quite a distinct feature of obstacle course racing and it sets it apart from other sports like triathlon and marathons.
“Helping people through obstacles is not just common, it’s expected. It’s part of the culture.”
The lure of these races, according to White, is the same for elite athletes and those who don’t train and compete all season.
“People really want to see what they can do and the only way you can know your limit is to really push it,” he says. “That’s a common variable for racers in these events, going out there and seeing what you can accomplish. These events are reallymade to do that.”
That sense of camaraderie might have cost Josh Stryde — a professional OCR competitor — a chance at winning the inaugural Stampede Sprint title in 2016. A couple days before the race he invited his buddy Kristian Wieclawek — another top competitor — to practise axe throwing with him in anticipation of the final challenge on the course. When race day came, Wieclawek succeeded on his first attempt while Stryde needed two tries. Missing the first throw meant Stryde had to complete 15 burpees before moving on. It was the difference in the race.
“I probably shouldn’t have invited him to come axe throwing with me,” he says, joking.
Stryde loves the fact that X Warrior has no mud, making for a quicker course. He also is a big fan of the stadium concept, where people can watch the action unfold right in front of them, cheering loudly, which he says helps motivate everyone down on the course. Spectators are admitted at no charge.
“I hope Darcy really expands this series because it’s cool to have a fast-paced obstacle course racing series that is kind of short course,” he says.
“There’s lots of fun, fast obstacles that you can really blow through.”
ForMacDonald, obstacle course races such as XWarrior Challenge allow him to push himself to his limits and socializewith his friends.
“Inmy circle of friends there’s 30 of us who now do this,” he says. “It started with, ‘If the cancer kid can do it we can do it.’ I guilted them basically into doing it and it keeps growing.
“That’s why the obstacle course community keeps growing. It’s adults playing on a playground with no stress,” says MacDonald. “You have some laughs with your friends and see what you can do. You help a friend and you help a stranger and they help you. That’s the coolest thing.”
For more information, visit XWarriorChallenge.com.