Almost one year ago, I was 215 pounds and out of shape, but worked out non-stop. I once was a good college athlete who loved the competitive nature of college athletics as well as the camaraderie of being the part of a team. After leaving college, I lost both the competition and the camaraderie as year after year teammates grew up, moved farther away, and eventually lost contact. A year ago, I began a journey to regain all that had been lost throughout the years. I missed the competition, I missed my fellow teammates, and I missed the traveling. I loved being in shape, I loved the strenuous workouts that we thought we never would make it through. I began looking back and remembering year after year, I would make a commitment to working out and finding something that would help me to regain that competitive force that drove me to be a better person, and a better teammate. Year after year, I failed to find that “thing” that would help me to regain all of the things that I missed.

A year ago, I began to sign up for adventure racing starting with the Mount Snow Tough Mudder. I began to ask friends and colleagues to join my team and just have a great time while completing a grueling adventure race. After completing this race, I began to enter more and more races. I looked local, and found half marathons, and 5 and 4 mile sprint races. I entered and finished in the top 10% each time with what all of my friends called horrible running techniques (standing to straight up, strides were to long, started to fast etc.). I began to become more and more competitive with myself for each race. While I did well and enjoyed the racing, they were a bit boring. At this time, I decided to enter my first triathlon without owning a racing bike and being a beginning swimmer; I finished 84 out of 1,500, but still felt it was boring. At this time I decided to enter The Beast at Killington Vermont. It was at Killington that I realized a love for a sport beyond any other I have played or competed in before. Killington had it all, mountains, water, ropes, and most of all a rugged toughness required to complete that not any athlete can do. At Killington, I felt I did a good job, but at the end, I felt I could have done much better. I felt that while I trained normally for this race, I waited for a teammate on a few occasions, because, after all I did drag him out her for a race that may have been over his head. This feeling of not doing as well as I personally wanted to lead me to search for more Spartan competitions. The next race I found was the Super Spartan in Staten Island NY. Again, dragging a friend with me, a week prior I received the Hurricane Heater offer. I thought for 10 minutes about racing twice in one day, but after 10 minutes I knew that I not only had to but, I wanted to, and needed to. I had to prove to myself that I could do it, and do it at a high level. The email looked more like a dare or a challenge than an offer. I looked for 10 minutes and I remember thinking only a small percentage of people in the athletic world would be crazy enough or excited enough to do this, I knew I had to.

After racing the first race, I felt great, waking up at 4am and running through mud, woods, and beach sand, was truly a great feeling. For the first race, I was a part of a great team that worked our asses off for 3 hours, and when it was finished I couldn’t wait to do it again. After the second race, I realized I needed more, more obstacles, more competition and more challenges. I did very well in both races leading me to search again for another race. After Staten Island, hockey began for me, and it too has become boring and “easy”. I thought that the winter would bring some tiredness from racing, and an excitement for the beginning hockey season, but I had to search for more. After Staten Island, I looked for racing and traveling, and landed in Dade City Florida for The Tough Mudder. Racing through the Tough Mudder, I thought that this was too easy, and after finishing I knew it in deed, was too easy. I needed something tougher, something, more competitive, I looked online again and specifically for the Death Race. I found the Death Race and immediately contacted Andy. I have researched everything about the Death Race, and I am setting out on a personal journey to prove to myself that I am tough enough mentally and physically to complete one of the toughest races on earth.

In a little less than a year, I have changed my life. In a little less than a year, I feel that I have become a more complete person. In a little less than a year I have achieved personal goals that I thought were done years ago. In a little less than a year I have challenged myself to keep doing better, to find the toughest race. I not only plan to compete in the Death Race, I plan to have the biggest smile on my face when I cross the finish line. While I am highly competitive, I have fun doing everything I do. If I did not think I was having fun, I wouldn’t be doing this. I have indeed become more and more competitive, but with each race I am having more and more fun, pushing myself beyond my normal comfort level, and feeling a sense of accomplishment that very few go out and get, and bring into their lives.