Words: ZCMC Media
The organizers of the Warrior Series have set themselves a challenge. They want athletes to be tested to their limit every time they compete in a Warrior event.
After all, if you are not prepared to overcome your fears, you cannot claim to be a true Warrior. But the idea is that, even while an athlete is struggling to cross his personal ‘Rubicon’, he should enjoy himself and have fun.
This is why it is important for the organizers of the Warrior Series to listen to what the athletes have to say after each event.
At the last Warrior Event at the Red Stone Estate at Hartbeespoort Dam the Taser obstacle was introduced, which required athletes to run through a construction that is 12 metres long and six metres wide.
However, it was much trickier than it seemed because of live electric wires that were hanging from the construction. One touch and you received a 10 000 volt jolt.
It required some real courage from the athletes to go through and there were very few of them who could boast that they managed to get through unscathed.
Even though no athlete was in real danger, it would seem that the athletes did not really appreciate receiving electric shocks while competing.
Pieter Swart, Warrior Race Director, therefore decided that at the next event (from 3 to 4 August at Ballito in KwaZulu-Natal) the Taser will be an optional obstacle.
“Athletes who compete can decide for themselves whether or not they feel up to dodging live electrical wires. Those who don’t want to go through the Taser, will not be penalized with burpees.
On the contrary, we are considering to reward every athlete who is brave enough to go through the Taser. However, no decision has yet been made about what will be done.
“Personally I don’t think the Taser is so bad. While we were setting up the Taser for the first time Dietrich, one of my assistants, went through it 20 times in one day to test each wire to make sure that it was working.
“At the end he was still laughing.”
According to Swart those ‘brave of hearts’ who are considering doing the Black Ops (20km – 30 obstacles) in Ballito, will be in for a very tough challenge.
“Seeing that the terrain through which the athletes will have to go is challenging even without any obstacles, I think this will be the toughest Black Ops so far. The terrain is quite hilly and the athletes will be running up and down the whole time.
To make it even worse, some of the climbs are really steep.
“Because the mud is very sticky, the ‘Mud Monster’ will also be an awesome challenge this time. For the first time we had to use an excavator to dig the ditches for the Mud Monster.
But even so, we still had to battle because the mud kept clinging to the excavator’s power shovels.
I expect, therefore, that quite a few of the athletes will get stuck in the Mud Monster.”
As has become the norm by now, Swart has again come up with a new challenge which he calls The Eliminator.
He reckons that it could be the undoing of some of the athletes.
What makes The Eliminator such a big challenge, is that the athletes will have to work their way forward by swinging on chains over and under wooden platforms.
