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There have been many introspective moments in my
life, staring out the window at the world, wondering, am I making the most out
of my life and the opportunities that I have been given? Legitimate questions such
as these linger, persist, questions concerning what it means to live, to die and what is my legacy?
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These thoughts evoke emotions that pluck at my heart
strings. Yet, for all of my good intentions what do I find to be true? That, even the best intentions are often
reasoned away by the logic that my brain employs to defend against
the risks that come with change, the risks that come from a desire to be exposed to things I don’t fully understand. Is it only by chance that these moments in
contemplation are spent staring out the window into nature? Or, are there more
powerful forces at work? Whether by fate, happenstance, or a bit of both, it is
safe to say that the great outdoors poses many opportunities that allow humans
to fill the void that is longing create by wonder.
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Of those looking to fill the void left behind by
their wonder and curiosity, some decide to take an extreme journey to the
unknown. The Patagonian Expedition Race® is known as “The
Adventure at the End of the World” (NIGSA). The event is designed to be “a true
expedition that takes teams of four through lands previously unknown to the
human eye. Racers receive minimal
assistance as they traverse…by means of trekking, climbing and related rope
work, kayaking, mountain biking, and backcountry navigation. They often cover
hundreds of kilometers without seeing a soul” (NIGSA). The amazing photos and
video footage captured during the expedition are breath taking. The landscape
which nature provides its visitor is sheer effortless perfection, an obvious
distraction that would seem to make the act of racing near impossible. Inspired and humbled by the natural, raw, untouched
obstacles presented through the entirety of the race, each racer is pushed to
their limit and beyond. Creating new boundaries and fresh perspective on the
world in which they are a part of.
The Patagonian Expedition Race® is not the
only extreme race/expedition our there for seekers of such pain and distress. The
Barkley Marathons touts that it is “The
Race That Eats Its Young” (qtd. in Jamison 92). Its participants find purity in
the dysfunction of the experience, in other words extreme races/expeditions become
an addiction of sorts. As one runner states, “In a sense, Barkley does
precisely this: forces its runners into an appreciation of what they might not
otherwise have known or noticed…” (qtd. in Jamison 109). Or, consider yet another
perspective as stated by a different participant of the Barkley, “he wants to
achieve a complete insular system of accountability, one that doesn’t depend on
external feedback. He wants to run a hundred miles when no one knows he’s
running, so that the desire to impress people, or the shame of quitting, won’t
constitute his sources of motivation” (qtd. in Jamison 103).
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Regardless of your current position on what the real
value is in participating in one of these extreme events, there is no denying
that they have a deep and profound impact on those who decide to participate. In
closing, I have this hope for you. May you always find what you are looking
for when you decide to do more than simply stare out your window.
Peace
be with you on your journey, extreme or otherwise.
Justin
R. Strain
Works
Cited
Jamison,
Leslie. The Empathy Exams: Essays. Minneapolis:
Graywolf Press, 2014. Print.
NIGSA.
Events & Expeditions. Patagonian
Expedition Race. NIGSA, 2 Apr. 2017. Web. 4 May.
2017. < http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/>.
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