The longer an adventure career is, the more an extra couple of years becomes an advantage; that is, if you are in a race of twelve hours or more, a few gray hairs can be your secret weapon. At a certain point in adventure racing, the muscle known as the brain becomes more important than any rippling muscles that might be found in the young male’s chest and legs. Take multi-day expedition races as an example, the average age of the best participants is 35-45 years.
There are various theories as to why younger and typically stronger athletes do not have an advantage in these extreme physical events. It’s mostly a little thing that comes with age; wisdom through experience.
Lots of younger adventure racers [http://www.wwadventurerace.com] fall into traps like getting caught up in the excitement of the start of the race. The younger runner will often run at the front of the pack, wasting valuable energy, missing the beat, and burning out prematurely. Experience will tell you when you need to rest, walk for a while, or make some gear changes. Two blisters later is not the time to decide that you should have changed your socks at the last checkpoint.
The experienced individual advances at a measured pace, does not panic, and ensures that he is progressing at all times toward the ultimate goal of finishing. They will take the time to double check that they have plotted the coordinates correctly or are reading the map correctly before proceeding. Many younger riders or teams fail to exercise the patience necessary for adventure racing and instead plunge toward self-destruction.
An adventure race will push the limits of an individual’s physical, mental and even emotional limits. Perhaps these are limits that a twenty-year-old has not challenged. When you’ve had to deal with the stress of a job, raising kids, maintaining a home, or even a partner, the extremes of an adventurous career don’t seem so bad. Time is what people in their thirties, forties, or fifties have on their side, and time has given them the maturity to handle what comes their way and move on.
A mature individual has experienced the ups and downs of life and knows that the pain, exhaustion, and this damn race will eventually end like everything else. Don’t be surprised at the end of the day when that guy you thought was a dad cheering you on in an outdated spandex suit ends up three hours before you do.