The Betrayal Has Begun

When I signed up for the Death Race back in December, I remember talking to a previous Death Race finisher and asking about the race.

"What is it?" I inquired.

"A complete mindfuck," he said.

The beautiful Amee Farm in Pittsfield, VT. Who would
think it can be a place of so much..."fun"??

Fast forward to today. Death Race 2012: The Year of Betrayal, is barreling towards us with a Friday start time of...noon? 9am? 10am? 6pm? Oh RIGHT. WE DON'T KNOW WHEN IT STARTS.

We also don't know when it finishes, but that's a given. (hence why my flight back to Chicago isn't until Tuesday. I'm gearing up for 60 hours of goodness--anything less will be extra post-race nap and beer time)

As of now, we don't even know the gear list. Pink bathing cap? Bonsai tree clipping? Axe? Knitting needles? Or is it chopsticks and just a regular needle and thread? I believe there's a life jacket and maybe dress shoes in there as well.

My apartment currently looks like a war zone: covered with packs and clothes and gear and food and tools. 5 pairs of shoes/boots. Clothes ranging from heat gear tanks to winter gloves to various levels of compression tights for various temperatures. A smattering of wetsuits. Neoprene socks and gloves. Vaseline. Paracord. Gold bond. Waterproof matches. Cases of handwarmers, cases of Clif bars, and enough 5-hr energy to give Jabba the Hut a heart attack. Varying sizes of Camelbaks and bladders. A leatherman that I'm still figuring out how to use. Swim goggles. And a very confused Amelia trying to fit this all into suitcases to fly halfway across the country.

And in the back of your mind, you ask yourself the question over and over again "why am I paying to do this?" In fact, it's a question that we asked repeatedly during the Winter Death Race, and I'm sure I'll utter dozens of times this upcoming weekend. 

But, when it comes down to it, we do it because it's "fun." As one of my favs, M. Petrizzo has on his Twitter handle, "my idea of fun is not your idea of fun." Right on, sir. Our idea of fun is pushing ourselves to the limits: mentally, physically and emotionally. And it's everything I expect the Death Race to do.

It's easy to get bogged down in the minutiae. In the mind games and the drama and the rumors leading up the race. Will we be carrying logs up a mountain? or rocks? Do we have to swim with our rucks? Does "Sunday at midnight" mean Sunday night or Monday night? The more you agonize over these things, the more Joe and Andy (hi guys!!) are already winning the game.

WDR Fun-having. Do it again.

It's a race: there are winners. And I'm a competitive (as I've been not-so-gently reminded before, sometimes way TOO competitive-to-a-fault) person. But I need to remind myself that when you lose the fun from the Death Race, there's really no point in doing it. We aren't professional athletes: we are a bunch of idiots with a warped idea of fun going out to Vermont to climb some mountains, chop some wood, and have a good time with our fellow crazies. I need to remind myself to ignore the bullshit, stay out of my head, and run my race.

So bring the cryptic emails, ciphered codes, changing gears lists and all the mind games you want. It's game time, and things are about to get REALLY fun. Can't wait to see you soon, Pittsfield. xoxo

Et tu, Brute?