MILL CREEK — The first hint that this race would be a little different was the list of required items for each participant — a post hole digger, a pocket knife, $50 worth of pennies, a 10-pound bag of onions and a book on the ancient Greek language.
Actually, the list was maybe the second hint. The first hint had to be the name, The Death Race. Also the motto, “You May Die.”
And any logical person would surely ask, these are selling points?
Well, yes, to the dozens of enthusiasts who show up for this annual event in Pittsfield, Vt., with all of them apparently deciding that two days of painful, grueling, sleep-deprived punishment comes under the heading of good fun.
They are people like 41-year-old Mark Harrison of Bothell, an otherwise sensible U.S. Navy reservist who also works as a project manager for an application development company. Harrison, a 1988 graduate of Lynnwood’s Meadowdale High School, participated in The Death Race a year ago, but failed to finish because of schedule constraints — he had to quit early to return to a reservist obligation in Virginia — and so he is headed back to Vermont to compete in, and hopefully survive, the June 25 event.
The obvious question, of course, is why?
“I guess the challenge of it,” he said, smiling almost sheepishly. “I enjoy challenges, and this is a chance to push yourself and see how far you can go. It’s also an adventure race, and one of the things that appeals to me is the unique nature. A triathlon is very challenging, but it’s also more common. But not too many people run death races.
“It’s a little quirky, a little unique, and for that reason it’s kind of fun.”
At last year’s race, 87 competitors started out and only about 20 ended up finishing. The weekend began at 8 p.m. on a Friday night with lots of hiking and tasks (mostly trail improvement projects in the hills outside Pittsfield) basically designed to tire everyone out.
The actual race began at 4 a.m. the next morning. There was more hiking and more tasks, and after finishing competitors would then move on to the next.
“Wood splitting has been a recurring theme,” Harrison said. “It seems like every year they do some wood splitting. And even though they haven’t listed the events for this year, I can probably predict there will be more wood splitting.”
For everyone, Harrison confirmed, fatigue comes quickly in The Death Race. Followed by exhaustion and then whatever comes after exhaustion.
“It’s very physical,” Harrison said, “but it’s also extremely mental. (Race organizers) keep throwing twists and curves at you to try to break you mentally. And they tell you up front that one of your best tools for finishing the race is a positive mental attitude, because if you get down on things you’re doomed.”
The required objects are heavy and sometimes awkward to carry, but are usually included for a reason. The pennies, for example, could be to purchase shortcuts on certain tasks (last year, Harrison “rented” a wheelbarrow to move some of the wood he chopped). Some of the onions were eaten. The pocket knife was useful at different times and the book of ancient Greek was necessary to decipher clues along the way.
And the post hole diggers? No purpose whatsoever, except to amuse race organizers.
“We were carrying them the whole time and never actually used them,” Harrison said. “The organizers do have a strong sense of irony.” He laughed and added, “A twisted sense of irony.”
So who enters an event like this? Mostly they are people who enjoy doing difficult things. Some are triathletes or long-distance runners like Harrison, who has run two marathons. And a woman he befriended last year was a world-class mountain climber and ultra-marathoner.
All of them are drawn by a desire “to achieve a significant feat,” Harrison said.
So he is going back this year, and he will once again sign the waiver required of all participants in case, well, they die.
Assuming he does not perish, Harrison said his primary aim this year “is to finish. For me, that’s the biggest thing. Since I didn’t finish last time, I have unfinished business.
“But even if I’d finished last year, I would still enjoy the challenge,” he said. “Because in a twisted sense, there’s an enjoyment for achieving that challenge. There’s the sense of accomplishment for completing this very extreme race.”
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