Dreams Come Alive

At the Dusit Thani and met with several other competitors. What a bunch of chamnpions. Looking at the competitor profiles, everyone seems to fall into one of three categories. There are the high achievers in business and career, with managing partners, CFO’s, venture capitalists and company directors making a presence. Then there are high achievers in the sporting arena, with past race winners, seven summiters, adventurers, Ironman triathletes and ultra endurance racers making an impact. And there are the high achievers in life: a 73-year old Badwater veteran and a blind man among the list of notable individuals.

There is an air of respect and mutual support that everyone holds here. I do suppose endurance racing is such a niche sport, and it is a sport where everyone goes through pain and suffering. Voluntarily. Which means we all have fast track entry into an asylum. But it is that pain and suffering that pulls everyone together. The true measure of a team mentality is when the mind and body is under stress, not when the team is winning. What do you do when you are being beaten? How do you think when you are being broken?

Ask me again in a week’s time. Right now I just can’t wait to get started. We had a briefing this morning and were told the temperature out there is 51 degrees centigrade. No danger of frostbite then.