“A race like this takes you to really cool places that almost no one ever reaches,” tells Jacco Pereboom full of happy anticipation from a car en route to the Czech Republic. With his team Dutch Direction, he is taking on the physical and mental challenge of using just a map and compass to find all the checkpoints in 72 hours.

Pereboom, a master's student of Construction Management and Engineering, and a member of student climbing and mountain sports association ESAC, is taking part in a race of this length for the first time. He has previously won the NK Adventure Race and in 2019 was chosen by the ESSF as student sportsman of the year thanks to this achievement. The team he is now travelling with was formed after this and alongside Pereboom comprises Jop Hage, Mike Fafieanie and Nicole Clerx.

Challenges

Just imagine: 300 kilometers of mountain biking, 85 kilometers of walking, 20 kilometers of navigating, 33 kilometers of kayaking and in between all that, climbing and descending using ropes. The route covers some 8,000 vertical meters. That is not only physically challenging, it's also mentally demanding, especially when you consider that the race lasts three days.

The biggest challenge facing the team, however, is the fact that this is the first time they are doing such a long race together. That and finding enough drinking water. They each have three liters of water with them. “Take the kayaking, for example, it may take seven hours, so you have to make sure you find water collection points.”

Sleep break

The team has been training and preparing for the race for at least the past six months. What equipment do you have to take, what food, how do you plan the race, when do you sleep? Because without sleep you won't last the course, they know that from experience. “At a certain point you start to hallucinate a little - the body can't last very long without rest. So we have planned for two hours' sleep,” says Pereboom. Not that the word ‘sleep’ should give you any thoughts of putting up a little tent with an airbed and a sleeping bag. It will simply be a question of improvising on the spot. Eyes closed and sleep. That's it.

The team will be taking as little as possible with them in their backpacks. “At the start of the race we can give the organizers a big bag to keep for us, full of clean clothes and food. Midway through the race you can change your clothes and stock up on food.” That backpack will be mostly full of ‘long-distance food’, as Pereboom calls it. “Think of Snickers and those special bars that give you instant energy. After fifty hours you are sick and tired of those bars, but you have to keep eating.”

Start together, finish together

All stages must be completed by the entire team. Everyone has their own role in the team. “Mike is good at navigating, he has a lot of experience with this kind of long race, says Pereboom. “Jop is the team manager; he makes sure everyone eats and drinks enough. I am physically strong, so if a team member is finding the going tough, I can help.” That can range from carrying their backpack to towing them by bike. This is why all mountain bikes have a dog leash under the saddle. “If you have an energy dip, you can spend a while being pulled along, eating a little and recovering so that you're able to carry on.”