Human race … running a marathon takes commitment. Photo: Craig Golding'A plain old runner'' is how Pete Budnik, a 31-year-old Sydney teacher, describes himself in sporting terms. ''I don't have much technical ability, but I'm competitive,'' he says.
It is this competitive side that has spurred him on to seek ever-greater trials. He has run half and full marathons, and in 2012 he entered Sydney's first Tough Mudder event. The 18-kilometre military-style obstacle course had teams navigating flames, high walls, freezing water and, naturally, lots of mud. He plans to enter again this year.
The director of Vision Personal Training in North Sydney, Kiril Chevel, has seen an increase in people taking on these challenges. ''There is definitely a noticeable [number] of 'average Joes' entering extreme sports which I think is due to companies becoming a little more health conscious about their employees and entering these types of events,'' he says.
Budnik was one of 25,000 Sydney Tough Mudder entrants, a record for the company that has run events in Britain and US since 2010. More than 100,000 entries are expected this year for the five events scheduled throughout Australia; the next one is in Sydney in April.
Sydney Marathon entries have also surged since the first race in 2001, which had 1550 runners. Until 2008, that number stayed at less than 2000; last year, 4000 people filled the run to capacity.
Budnik's motivation for entering is simple: ''I do it because I don't want to be sedentary.''
A team event like Tough Mudder also breaks up the monotony of training. ''This was something a bit more fun and social to do on the side; being part of a group that want to get out of bed early on a Saturday or Sunday and do this rather than going to the pub,'' he says.
Taking on an extreme sport is not an overnight decision, Chevel says. ''For someone who has never run before, to complete a marathon could take anywhere from three to six months to prepare,'' he says. ''You also need to take into account your weight, age and health background.''
He says preparing for any sport ''requires continuous progression on a weekly basis'' until the appropriate level of fitness is achieved. It takes commitment.
Budnik did regular sessions of cross-training to prepare for Tough Mudder. Although the Australian Tough Mudder ambassador, Lee Campbell, says anyone can sign up, some preparation is helpful. ''If you got stuck into a bit of basic training you'd be all right,'' Campbell says.
An ultra-marathon runner and the author of Running to Extremes, Lisa Tamati, has competed in extreme races for 16 years. She finds it boosts confidence. ''If you run 100 kilometres, you come out the other side thinking you're the bee's knees, and then you can deal with other stuff in life,'' she says.
Tamati took to long-distance races after breaking up with a daredevil boyfriend. ''I wasn't a very talented runner; I was more into doing adventurous things like climbing mountains and trekking,'' she says. ''But then I did an expedition across the Libyan desert in 1997. We went 350 kilometres without any outside help and only two litres of water a day - just me and three guys. One was my partner at the time.''
Although her relationship didn't make it through the expedition, Tamati wanted to tackle similar events, and two years later entered her first official ultra-marathon.
''I hadn't run a marathon or anything like that but I signed up and it was the most amazing adventure of my life,'' she says.
While she's ''hooked on the adrenalin'', she has seen the consequences when others have entered a race they weren't ready for. ''A lot of races I've been to were sold too easily,'' she says. ''In a recent race in Nepal it was the first time it had been run and we were quite shocked about how hard it was. A lot of people were under-prepared. There were three helicopter rescues and two people nearly died. Things can and do happen.''
Running an ultra-marathon is a long-term goal for Budnik, but he already has his next dare lined up.
''I hate swimming in open water, but I'm going to do the Bondi to Bronte ocean swim in December,'' he says. ''It's like being afraid of heights and needing to approach the edge of a cliff to look down.''
