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SUMMIT COUNTY - Think about clawing through a thick jungle, riding a bike, kayaking and trekking through rivers and sludge as fast as possible for at least a week without sleep. Then, picture spending the following weeks laid up in bed or in a hospital, struck down by some injury, illness or disease.
It's not quite the same as daily life for most Summit County athletes. But there are a handful of local individuals - Danelle Ballengee, Monique Merrill, Tim Pearson and Hal Clark - who recently returned from competing in the 2002 Eco-Challenge in Fiji, where life is as hard as it gets.
The Eco-Challenge is billed as "the world's toughest expedition race," and takes place in a different part of the world each year. The event is the brainchild of Mark Burnett, who is also the mastermind behind CBS's popular "Survivor" TV series. The Fiji race, which began Oct. 11 and ended Oct. 21, took competitors over, across and through 500 kilometers of mountains, rivers, canyons, reefs, cliffs and jungles. Of the 81 teams from 23 different countries that entered the race, only nine finished. When event organizers cut a portion of the course, 14 more teams made it across the finish line. A team from New Zealand won the race, finishing in six days and 23 hours. Ballengee, who lives in Summit Cove and who holds the distinction being the only woman to run up and down all of Colorado's 14,000-foot-plus peaks in 14 days, 14 hours and 49 minutes in 1999, took second place. Her team, which also included Eco-Challenge veterans Mike Kloser of Vail and Ian Adamson of Boulder, plus Michael Tobin of Idaho, finished in seven days, five hours and eight minutes.
"This was by far the hardest Eco-Challenge," Ballengee said. "It was probably the highest DNF (did not finish) ratio and the longest course. It was a lot of really difficult navigation and rugged terrain. I'd say the most difficult part was the de-worming medicine I took at the end. It really messed me up."
The aftermath
When Ballengee, 31, returned to Summit County, she took her de-worming medication to prevent elephantiasis, a disease that causes muscles and limbs to swell to monstrous proportions, and became so ill she couldn't leave her bed for three days.
"It hit me about 20 minutes after I took it," she said. "I couldn't even make it to the bathroom. I had to lay in the hallway for about four hours until I finally made it to the bed. It was like a really bad flu. I felt so weak and achy."
Merrill also underwent a spell of bed-ridden illness when she returned to Breckenridge, and Clark could barely walk upon returning to Keystone because of an infection he contracted from a cut in his leg.
"I don't think I'll do another race in the jungle again," Clark said. "There are so many funguses, diseases and viruses you can get."
Clark, 27, who won several of the local Summit Mountain Challenge bike races last summer, had never done any sort of adventure racing previous to the Eco-Challenge. He still managed to finish 13th with his team, which also included Pearson. They crossed the finish line in nine days and 9 hours.
"It was a little over-the-top," Clark said of the experience. "I'm a mountain biker. Adventure races are psycho. We started out the first day with no sleep because we drove out on a bus on gnarly dirt roads. After that, sleep was non-existent for me. It was straight into the water. Then we were soaking wet, bushwhacking through the jungle. There were a couple days of hypothermia. My hands were little balloons from swelling and little cuts all over them. My knees were really sore from carrying so much heavy stuff. I just told myself to keep going. They made a shorter course because they didn't think anyone would finish."
Ballengee said her team might have won if not for countless mistakes and wrong turns. Still, they were not discouraged.
"It was definitely a test of teamwork," she said. "We were making unbelievable mistakes. We forgot mandatory gear, we were making wrong turns. We ran out of food. We ran out of water. We got 10 hours of sleep in seven days. We wasted energy by doing extra distance. Then, we were having to bust through the jungles, moving at such a slow rate, using machetes because the trees and bush were so thick. When the Kiwis came along, we had already cut the trail. It ended up being a great strategy for them."
What keeps them going
One of the highlights of the race for Ballengee was being greeted by villagers in communities along the course. Previous to the event, Eco-Challenge crews had to get permission from local government to conduct the event, and organizers visited the 100 villages along the course with videos and information about the event.
"I'll tell you what, the people of Fiji were so cool," Ballengee said. "They were so welcoming, they even had these feasts laid out for us. They had made fresh tortillas with steak, papaya ... They were singing and dancing and giving us hugs and kisses. It was so motivating. It would totally give us energy to carry on. You don't see it in many places around here, where people bring you into their house like that. They don't expect anything for it. They would hike along with us for a while. They just thought it was cool. They wanted to help. Here were these poor souls out there torturing themselves by choice."
Changing disciplines also helped keep racers awake, alert, and motivated, according to Ballengee and Clark. Clark said he was thrilled every time he got on his bike, and Ballengee rejuvenated with every check-point and every change of terrain. Besides that, the raw drive of competition is what fueled teams that crossed the finish line.
"You know, we're out there to race," Ballengee said. "Getting to a check-point is really exciting, because you've made it that much farther. Changing disciplines is exciting. When I was laying there in bed and sick the other day, I was wondering how I got the motivation to go seven days without any sleep. That's what makes us athletes - you're definitely in a zone. You start the race, you're out there to finish it. You ignore a lot of the things your body is telling you. You ignore the fatigue. You ignore the pain. Because, you've told yourself you're going to finish this thing."
Ballengee will spend the next two weeks recovering until she leaves for a 24-hour adventure race in Los Angeles. From there, she will fly to Malaysia for the seven-day Outdoor Quest.
It's not quite the same as daily life for most Summit County athletes. But there are a handful of local individuals - Danelle Ballengee, Monique Merrill, Tim Pearson and Hal Clark - who recently returned from competing in the 2002 Eco-Challenge in Fiji, where life is as hard as it gets.
The Eco-Challenge is billed as "the world's toughest expedition race," and takes place in a different part of the world each year. The event is the brainchild of Mark Burnett, who is also the mastermind behind CBS's popular "Survivor" TV series. The Fiji race, which began Oct. 11 and ended Oct. 21, took competitors over, across and through 500 kilometers of mountains, rivers, canyons, reefs, cliffs and jungles. Of the 81 teams from 23 different countries that entered the race, only nine finished. When event organizers cut a portion of the course, 14 more teams made it across the finish line. A team from New Zealand won the race, finishing in six days and 23 hours. Ballengee, who lives in Summit Cove and who holds the distinction being the only woman to run up and down all of Colorado's 14,000-foot-plus peaks in 14 days, 14 hours and 49 minutes in 1999, took second place. Her team, which also included Eco-Challenge veterans Mike Kloser of Vail and Ian Adamson of Boulder, plus Michael Tobin of Idaho, finished in seven days, five hours and eight minutes.
"This was by far the hardest Eco-Challenge," Ballengee said. "It was probably the highest DNF (did not finish) ratio and the longest course. It was a lot of really difficult navigation and rugged terrain. I'd say the most difficult part was the de-worming medicine I took at the end. It really messed me up."
The aftermath
When Ballengee, 31, returned to Summit County, she took her de-worming medication to prevent elephantiasis, a disease that causes muscles and limbs to swell to monstrous proportions, and became so ill she couldn't leave her bed for three days.
"It hit me about 20 minutes after I took it," she said. "I couldn't even make it to the bathroom. I had to lay in the hallway for about four hours until I finally made it to the bed. It was like a really bad flu. I felt so weak and achy."
Merrill also underwent a spell of bed-ridden illness when she returned to Breckenridge, and Clark could barely walk upon returning to Keystone because of an infection he contracted from a cut in his leg.
"I don't think I'll do another race in the jungle again," Clark said. "There are so many funguses, diseases and viruses you can get."
Clark, 27, who won several of the local Summit Mountain Challenge bike races last summer, had never done any sort of adventure racing previous to the Eco-Challenge. He still managed to finish 13th with his team, which also included Pearson. They crossed the finish line in nine days and 9 hours.
"It was a little over-the-top," Clark said of the experience. "I'm a mountain biker. Adventure races are psycho. We started out the first day with no sleep because we drove out on a bus on gnarly dirt roads. After that, sleep was non-existent for me. It was straight into the water. Then we were soaking wet, bushwhacking through the jungle. There were a couple days of hypothermia. My hands were little balloons from swelling and little cuts all over them. My knees were really sore from carrying so much heavy stuff. I just told myself to keep going. They made a shorter course because they didn't think anyone would finish."
Ballengee said her team might have won if not for countless mistakes and wrong turns. Still, they were not discouraged.
"It was definitely a test of teamwork," she said. "We were making unbelievable mistakes. We forgot mandatory gear, we were making wrong turns. We ran out of food. We ran out of water. We got 10 hours of sleep in seven days. We wasted energy by doing extra distance. Then, we were having to bust through the jungles, moving at such a slow rate, using machetes because the trees and bush were so thick. When the Kiwis came along, we had already cut the trail. It ended up being a great strategy for them."
What keeps them going
One of the highlights of the race for Ballengee was being greeted by villagers in communities along the course. Previous to the event, Eco-Challenge crews had to get permission from local government to conduct the event, and organizers visited the 100 villages along the course with videos and information about the event.
"I'll tell you what, the people of Fiji were so cool," Ballengee said. "They were so welcoming, they even had these feasts laid out for us. They had made fresh tortillas with steak, papaya ... They were singing and dancing and giving us hugs and kisses. It was so motivating. It would totally give us energy to carry on. You don't see it in many places around here, where people bring you into their house like that. They don't expect anything for it. They would hike along with us for a while. They just thought it was cool. They wanted to help. Here were these poor souls out there torturing themselves by choice."
Changing disciplines also helped keep racers awake, alert, and motivated, according to Ballengee and Clark. Clark said he was thrilled every time he got on his bike, and Ballengee rejuvenated with every check-point and every change of terrain. Besides that, the raw drive of competition is what fueled teams that crossed the finish line.
"You know, we're out there to race," Ballengee said. "Getting to a check-point is really exciting, because you've made it that much farther. Changing disciplines is exciting. When I was laying there in bed and sick the other day, I was wondering how I got the motivation to go seven days without any sleep. That's what makes us athletes - you're definitely in a zone. You start the race, you're out there to finish it. You ignore a lot of the things your body is telling you. You ignore the fatigue. You ignore the pain. Because, you've told yourself you're going to finish this thing."
Ballengee will spend the next two weeks recovering until she leaves for a 24-hour adventure race in Los Angeles. From there, she will fly to Malaysia for the seven-day Outdoor Quest.
