Adventurethon - Braver Than You Believe

In his poem If, Rudyard Kipling writes:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim

Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone & challenge ourselves - physically, mentally & spiritually, extending our dreams & what we think about ourselves, making the ordinary, extraordinary.

Taking on new challenges & experiences requires bravery, as well as an ability & willingness to improve our capacity to change.  Managing change, has in my experience, either enabled or disabled one's willingness to accept a challenge, to be tenacious & extend & expand their horizons & personal growth.

On Sunday I was witness to some phenomenal displays of bravery & capacity building. Over 200 athletes took part in the annual Townsville Adventurethon at Pallarenda, pitting mind against body & their souls against the elements & the clock (http://www.adventurethon.com.au/cms2/).

Many of Sunday's competitors (over half) were Adventurethon virgins, yet they were willing to challenge themselves & their bodies to an amazing new experience.  Age, gender & disability appear to know no boundaries when the mind is willing to accept change & the heart desires a chance to grow.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!

I am extremely proud to say I was one of these virgins, competing as a team with a friend from Bootcamp. Tanya & I paddled, rode & ran our way to sixth place in the Taste of Adventure (1km paddle, 16km ride, 4km run).

At the last minute we found ourselves a team member down. The result? I had to step out of my comfort zone big time & challenge what I knew about myself & my physical & mental abilities.

Many, many profanities were expleted as we prepared for the start of the race!

Profanities aside, I decided that if an 8 year old, a returned soldier severely injured in Afghanistan, a mother who has lost over 90kg & a 60 year old can all successfully challenge themselves, then surely I could do 1km?  And do it I did & in a great time too, considering I had no idea what I was doing.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

All I kept thinking was 'Thank God we box at Bootcamp' (two very different sports, boxing & paddling, but both do amazing things for shoulders & arms). Falling in was a no go zone thanks to my fear of crocodiles - those buggers can hide super well.

Tanya did an amazing job, with minimal training, riding 16km over ever changing terrain & came back to transition in just over an hour.

The run, while along the beach & then steep & with stairs, was no longer daunting & I  did it in a great time (for me).

Yet, while scary to us, our challenge was small compared to others & we all marvelled as the ultra & enduro competitors came in to finish their races. 

Our fellow Bootcampers all did amazingly well in their separate races & personal challenges:

• Natalie & Claire took on the challenge of the Ednuro Race, each completing the 7.5km paddle, 29km mountain bike ride & 6km trail run.

• Hannah, Sam & Cathryn came fourth in the Taste of Adventure (& yes Catherine, your 11min paddle was extraordinary!).

• Tracey did the Taste of Adventure on her own & did it extremely well, setting herself mini-challenges along the way.

• And finally Matt, our trainer, came third in the Masters Division of the Dirty Duo (6km run, 29km mountain bike run, 4km run).  Matt also worked tirelessly making sure we were all ready for our own races, even missing the start of his own race & then found enough fuel in the tank to help run us all into the finish line.

Sunday was an amazing journey of personal growth for me.  I now know that I have all of the camaraderie, love & support to help me accept & full fill any challenge I set myself. 

Young or old, male or female, runner or rider or paddler, veteran or virgin, always remember the very wise words of Christopher Robin to Pooh, "You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, And smarter than you think" (A.A Milne).