You know when you get sent a message by a friend and you stupidly ignore it because you have 'more important' things to do. Well that happened to me this week. Big style. I had ignored a video a good friend had sent me many months back. And it was only after I embarked on a mass Facebook messenger cull did I notice it. So I took the 13.54 seconds out of my morning to watch it. Boy did I not regret it.
Let me briefly give you the background - In 2014, heading into the Adventure Racing World Championships, Team Peak Performance for Sweden -- Mikael and Helena Lindnord, Simon Niemi, Karen Lundgren and Staffan Björklund -- was one of the best squads. The course that year was particularly difficult: 435 miles, reaching about 15,000 feet in elevation and spanning 13 different climate zones across Ecuador.
A marginal sport in America but popular globally, its contests are cultlike in their following. Races, covering hundreds of miles across uncharted courses, feature some of the most extreme conditions in the world.
The races and rules are simple.
A team climbs, treks, cycles and kayaks across the arena of Earth. Races can last up to 10 days, with competitors sleeping an hour a night, or less -- all while sticking together, orienteering through climate zones, rationing food and water, and pushing their collective wills to the limit.
The team must cross the finish line together in order to win.
Watch the full film here or by clicking on the image above.