We’ve known about the Fulda Challenge now for about 6 weeks. The gracious people at Kia Motors and Rugby Canada asked Chantal and I if we wanted to be involved in the 2012 Fulda Challenge, the extreme Yukon adventure. Oddly enough, we said yes.
The Fulda Challenge is a 10 event winter decathlon which takes place in Whitehorse, Dawson City, Skagway (Alaska) and the surrounding areas. There are 8 teams (5 German, 1 Austrian, 1 Swiss and us the mighty Canadians), who compete in timed events to determine a winner in the male, female and a team categories. The events are meant to mimic some of the hardships that people in the north endure during winter life. They combine a variety of different skills, both physical and mental, that push the competitors to their limits.
The events include;
½ marathon, X country ski, snowshoe, sled pull, snowmobile race, driving course, lumberjack challenge, helicopter drop, canyon cross on a rope and skijoring (yes, skijoring). Between each event we get to enjoy the comforts of a tent… outside… in the middle of winter.
Our training started when I (Ryan) realized that my post 2011 Rugby World Cup regime of cigars, scotch and inactivity were not putting me in the best place for the endurance events. Chantal likes to maintain a very active lifestyle and counts running (or yogging – the “J” may be silent) as one of her pastimes. So for the first time in our lives, we were able to train together for a common goal. Which sounds pretty exciting, until your wife starts handing you your arse during training.
The 3 toughest portions of the 2012 Fulda (for us) are going to be the ½ marathon, the 20Km cross country ski race and snowshoe race. Luckily for us, those events are only worth double points (I wish they invented a sarcastic font).Normally, aerobic activity is outside of my anaerobic rugby-type training, so I’m just to going try and keep up while relying on Chantal for the win. The cross country ski will be solid TV viewing, as neither of us have any experience on the skinny blades. Our last training session at COP, with our 2010 Olympian friend Jason Myslicki, was one of the more humbling sporting endeavors we’ve done…imagine Bambi on ice, now replace Bambi with Chantal and I. Big shout out to Jason though, as we’ll probably just be able to scrape around the course without totally killing ourselves. And snowshoeing is basically like walking around with cinderblocks on your feet in deep snow, so no worries there right???
As far as the other events go, the training for them has been less than scientific. We’ve been doing a lot of doughnuts in parking lots and neighbourhoods around Calgary to get ready for the driving portions. We also had a chance to practice the saw cutting portion with some birch and pine logs provided by our friends Lorne and Lynette Simpson (thanks guys!!).
Don’t tell any of “Zee Germans”, but we were also spent today on snowmobiles in Whitehorse ripping around, so I’m pretty sure we’ve got that one in the bag ☺.
Looking back on the last two days, and we’ve really started to feel the buzz around the event. On Wednesday we boarded the plane in Calgary with our ‘mocha frappe-yuppie lattes’ in hand and quickly dozed off upon takeoff. Awakening, I peered out the window and thought to myself how barren and desolate the landscape looked…I was later informed that we were flying over Red Deer. Good luck us…
Since arriving in Yukon the people from Fulda have set us up with everything. Our gear comes complete with Parka, boots and bib pants. The temperatures today are a mere -5 C, but promise to hit -30 C and by Saturday -40 C in Dawson just in time for our arrival. With all our gear, we will hopefully be well suited!
On a positive note the heating systems works quite well in our brand new 2012 Kia Sportage EX Luxury provided by Kia Canada… unfortunately every other competitor gets one as well.
Competition starts tomorrow with the Snowmobile race followed by the sled pull. Stay tuned to our blog so you can follow us through out the challenge and track our progress.
Oh by the way did I mention Chantal and I are married?
Out!!
Ryan and Chantal
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