The phone beeps, message received. A short but simple message from someone I haven't heard from in a while.
"Hey Michael, still keen on XPD? I have an offer to buy a team entry". Momentary excitement leads to a quick response, "YES!". I'd been dreaming about entering this a few months earlier, but a serious knee injury, relationship difficulties and a general lack of direction in life had led to me watching the entry cut off date fly past.
A few more messages back and forth, and then he calls. Three significant things are mentioned: 110% commitment required, $2000.00 entry fee, and a decision is required there and then, cos he'd be buying the entry that evening. There's a brief moment of serious indecision, but then something comes over me and I think, "what the hell, yes!".
So, two days later, I find myself very suddenly committed to what must surely be one of the most demanding sporting events in the world, XPD, which this year will also be combined with the adventure race world championship.
Most of you will be unfamiliar with the race, so I'll sum it up by saying that it will be a week and a half of non-stop trekking, mountain biking and kayaking, most likely with some other exciting adventure activities thrown into the mix. When I say non-stop, I mean NON-STOP. The top teams will barely sleep and cover the course in around 4-5 days. The course is 700km long, which doesn't sound like much until you see it drawn on a map of Tasmania, on which it covers most of the state. Tasmania's hardly renowned for being flat either.
Most teams will be just aiming to finish within the 10 day cut off, as will ours. I'm not sure it's possible to stay awake that long, so we'll definitely be sleeping at least a little bit at some point, but it's definitely not going to be easy.
http://www.xpd.com.au/
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