Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a journalist? I haven't, lol, but that's exactly the role I took last week when I was asked to interview Dan Tuffnell, the Director of Spartan UK (Spartan Races are seen as the world's leading obstacle course race series running events in 9 countries last year, 22 this year and 30-40 next year. This year they have 6 races UK wide, with an expected 25,000 runners taking part - so kind of a big deal then!!). When I first got a tweet asking me to get in touch with Dan's Director of PR and Media I had no idea what it was about, other than I had been looking at entering obstacle course races (OCRs) the previous day. When it was mentioned about doing an interview I thought to myself, "Wow! The Director of SpartanUK wants to interview me, I've really made it!!" Alas, I'm not that big a draw just yet, but the opportunity to interview Dan was exciting as I got to write the questions, I got to find out what I wanted to know. So what did I want to know? Well, I read all the previous interviews that had been done with Dan and looked at all Spartan websites and the like and it was clear where my angle was…I'm a psychologist at the end of the day, and a very sporty one at that, so my uniqueness would be asking about the psychology behind obstacle course racing, what motivated Dan to complete these events himself, what he, and thousands of Spartan Warriors, got from taking part in these challenging events. But what do I get out of this? Well for me, having my name out there publicised by Spartan UK in terms of my interview with Dan can only be a good thing for my private venture youcanyouwill performance psychology. I have an active Facebook page (youcanyouwill), and a website coming soon, but this opportunity gives me publicity to a previously untapped market - obstacle course racing, as well as broadening the publicity for Dan and Spartan UK races to readers that perhaps would not otherwise have heard of Dan and his races.
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| Dan Tuffnell: Epic Action Imagery photos |
It's a bit weird having never met a person before and then having a phone conversation with them where you're interviewing them, but it worked well and Dan struck me as a very down-to-earth and approachable guy. Even though I'm not a journalist I do get paid to "interview" and assess people every day as part of my job so i'm very used to being the questioner, the one having to think of things on the spot as part of the flow of the conversation. My style was very much a "semi-structured" interview…having questions prepared but allowing the conversation to flow and gain as much information as I could from the conversation rather than sticking rigidly to questions. Fourty-seven minutes later and I'm buzzed by all that i've learnt and thoroughly impressed by Dan. Ok, so I haven't spoken with the Directors of all the other OCR companies, but I've spoken with thousands of people as part of my job and I'd like to think I'm a decent judge of character, and Dan seemed pretty genuine and it was obvious how passionate he is about obstacle course racing itself, let alone his job as the Director of a company as big as Spartan UK.
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| OCR - a test of physical and mental endurance and ability?! Pix courtesy of Epic Action Imagery |
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| Overcoming a fire obstacle takes some mental strength I'd imagine? |
So it seems Dan's background is one of psychology and sport, much like my own! Dan told me that he grew up in Pembrokeshire which is an athlete's play ground! Dan studied a HND in Outdoor Pursuits and Sports Sciences, loving adventure, seeking that beloved adrenaline rush and he engaged in various sporting activities. Dan's mother is also a psychologist and Dan got into mentoring others and became a NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner himself because of his interest in how language can positively or negatively impact our behaviour and emotions. So it seems Dan spent time working in the Middle East and whilst there he saw the rise of obstacle course racing. Now I'd thought that triathlon was the fastest growing sport in the UK, but Dan informed me that OCR has been the fastest growing sport for the past five years! Apparently five years ago 500 athletes took part in a OCR in a field. Yet in 2013 there have been over a million athletes taking part in at least one of the 700, 000 across the world - how amazing is that!!
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| How on earth did her hair stay so clean?? |
I asked Dan what motivated him running these events as Director and it's clear that Dan is passionate about instilling in everyone from youngsters through to adults that exercise is fun, it beats sitting on the sofa eating too much, and it allows you to develop skills of not just a physical nature, but also believing in yourself that you can overcome that obstacle in front of you if you commit to it fully. Dan wants to foster a community spirit in events and he told me that he prepares for taking part in an event by thinking about all the new people he will meet out on the course and the camaraderie that will be built. This community spirit is enabled as well by ensuring that all the family can take part with kids' courses built using the same obstacles as the adults will use, just adjusted for their age/height, etc. I know that Ironkids is hugely popular within the triathlon world, so I'm sure the kids love nothing better than taking part in the same events as their parents (just at a different time and on a smaller scale!). Dan very much hopes that he can help tackle childhood obesity by making these events accessible for them as well as the parents.
Dan told me that for him the most challenging obstacles are the the spear throw and the monkey bars, describing them as his "nemesis"! With this in mind I asked Dan how he approaches these challenging obstacles, how does he prepare mentally? Dan, it seems, is a planner. He prepares by meticulously working out daily, and having a plan as to how he will tackle each obstacle thrown in his path. I guess he has an advantage about knowing what obstacles are coming in his races huh?? But I guess for Dan it's about knowing he's prepared as well as he can physically and then this giving him confidence mentally that he can overcome whatever situation he encounters. Dan likes finding the solution to the problem, breaking down the challenge in front of him and focusing on what he can achieve, not doubting himself and letting his thoughts become negative. Dan spoke of visualisation, seeing what he needs to do and then doing it, whilst focusing on the technique needed to achieve success on that obstacle. I can relate to all these things as I use mindfulness and imagery myself within my own training and racing so I know first hand it works! For Dan though, enjoyment is key. He knows, going out onto that course that he will meet new people, build new relationships, and he sees the '30 burpees for being unable to complete an obstacle' as another way of getting fitter, rather than as a punishment.
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| Enjoyment seems to be a given in these events! |
When it comes to Dan's motivation to take part in the events himself Dan spoke of that adrenaline rush all us athletes love and crave, but he also spoke about how being out in nature, exercising and pushing himself is a break from the hectic life he leads as the Director of such a massive company, but it also allows him to connect with himself, almost grounding himself I guess and there was definitely an element of mindfulness in the way Dan was describing his relation with the outdoors. When Dan is training he sees it as an opportunity to learn. It seems Dan is an avid reader, he just doesn't have the time to read (much like me some of the time), so instead he listens to audiobooks and other audio material rather than music when he's working out. For Dan, it seems he's very disciplined, and I guess when time is limited and you have a job as busy and potentially stressful as Dan's, then it's vital to have goals, to have routines, as otherwise time would just pass him by.
I then asked Dan about Spartan races rather than other OCRs and how they designed their obstacles, what did they have in mind in terms of design. Dan spoke of Spartan being unique in having three different distances available for people to enter, the achievable Sprint (5k, 15 obstacles), the Super (13k, 20 obstacles) and the Beast (20+k, 25 obstacles). This tiered race system allows people to challenge themselves at different levels, or progress through the different distances, and the ultimate is to achieve the Tribeca medal - completing one race of each distance in a season. Coming soon is a European Tribeca, where the races can be completed in different european countries to then achieve a special european Tribeca medal. When you look at what you get for your money too it favours well to triathlon. True, the entry prices are about the same, but you get a medal, you get HD photos included in your race entry and downloadable within 24 hours, and i'm sure you get other goodies in the bag too - i'm hoping for a t-shirt, gotta love a t-shirt!! Another thing that might make OCRs more favourable over a sport such as triathlon is the cost of kit - in tri you need a bike, trainers, swimming costume, googles, trisuit, wetsuit, helmet, and nutrition as a minimum, not including bike spares. But if you upgrade then you're looking at bike shoes, gadgets such as garmin watches, swimming aids, different types of trainers for different surfaces, different clothes for running and biking depending on weather, in a word, triathlon is expensive! Howver, for obstacle course racing you'll need a good pair of trainers, and shorts/t-shirt but after that I can't see what other essentials you need! So, a very accessible sport, especially when training wise, all you need is the great outdoors, trail running, using obstacles in the natural environment to train on, etc. so it's a win win really! It's also encouraging to hear that 45% of participants are women which is a great stat to hear as I know from my own perspective that anything a man can do women can also do!
Dan likes to think that Spartan races are achievable but no doubt they are tough and they are challenging! He wants people to finish and be inspired by what they have accomplished and then be motivated to train more and return to try and improve on their times. Dan also spoke of the family atmosphere within the race set up, that the marshals, "burpee police", and fellow Spartan Warriors are all supportive, all encouraging each other, even if there are competitive spirits out there, especially the elite racers running for prize money. From Dan's point of view Spartan races feel different from your other OCRs with Dan having experienced a lot of different obstacle course races across the world and from different OCR companies, and he puts this down to the community spirit that is fostered within Spartan races.
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| A tad cold?? |
The last question that I put to Dan was about the preparation offered by Spartan UK. On their website you can sign up to taster days in various spots around the country in the build up to the events, as well as accessing personal training by Spartan approved trainers. However, I didn't see anything about mental preparation, other than the book I mentioned in my last blog "Spartan Up!" and I wondered whether this was a gap that might need feeling - hint, hint ;) Needless to say, Dan has it covered! This is something Dan has been working on with his team this year so in the near future there might be more advice on their site about how to prepare mentally not just physically as for some people these obstacles might really challenge their sticking power, mental toughness, and they'll need to train their minds as well as their bodies to be successful. Dan is interested in mindfulness, about being present in the moment and focusing completely on just one thing in that moment. Naturally, being a NLP practitioner, Dan is also passionate about empowering people to equip themselves to achieve, just by adapting the language that they use, thinking from a positive mindset and not allowing negative thoughts to creep into one's mindset and undermine their efforts. Dan believes that everything in life is a choice, and that choice is freedom!
Well for me, my choice is to get on this Spartan bandwagon and try for myself Dan's Spartan family…on 21st September I'll be making my long awaited (remember, childhood dream here!) obstacle course race debut in Edinburgh and I really can't wait!! I've never been this excited about triathlon before, usually because I'm anxious about the mass swim, so I really feel that obstacle course racing might just be my ideal sport!
Now, as Dan wants to share his love for all things obstacle course racing, and Spartan UK races in particular, he has kindly offered you lovely readers a promotional discount code for the races this year in the UK. If you're keen to try a race and see whether you agree with Dan then head to http://uk.spartanrace.com and use the promo code youcanyouwill and you'll get 10% off your entry fee. See how I've used my motto as the promo code ;) well after all, I want to get my name out there too so that I can help people overcome any doubts or fears that they might so that they might achieve their goals and fulfil their potential.
When I put my motto to Dan he loved it, being a linguist un all that! So say to yourself "I can, I will", truly mean it and you will achieve!!
So for now I'm signing off as I need to get my beauty sleep ready for an early morning training session as if I'm going to become a Spartan Warrior next month then I need to get my ass in serious shape!! #AROO
Yours truly,
Hayles,
AKA Dr Griffiths, Clinical & Performance Psychologist
Twitter: @DrHPsych
Facebook: Youcanyouwill
www: youcanyouwill.co.uk
I can't wait to get my paws on one of these beauties!!
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| Fostering a community atmosphere is Dan's goal in his races All photos courtesy of Epic Action Imagery |
