Hardship & harmony

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2020 (1859 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Before the reality series Survivor dominated the airwaves, television gave us a deep dive into gruelling, mettle-testing, nature-defying competition in the form of a TV series titled Eco-Challenge, which aired from 1995 to 2002. It pitted teams against each other in an arduous race through far-flung destinations around the globe. 

In its 1999 season, a couple of Winnipeggers — Alex Man and Philip Roadley — were part of a four-person team calling themselves Team True North. They participated in an adventure in Argentina in which they proved their worth by being the only Canadian team to finish the race that year.

When producer Mark Burnett decided to bring the series back to Amazon Prime last year, those same two men opted to return with their own two kids, Becca Aysan-Man and Logan Roadley, to form an all new, all-Winnipeg Team True North along with assistant crew member Jayson Gillespie.

The World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji, now streaming on Amazon Prime, gives us 10 episodes following 66 teams from 30 countries racing non-stop for 11 straight days, through 671 kilometres of jungle, ocean, stream, swamp and mountain terrain.

The experience brought to vivid life the challenge of the race for Becca and Logan, both 19, who were just 18 years old when the episodes were filmed in the fall of 2019.

When the older men competed in that 1999 race, “neither of us were alive yet,” says Becca Aysan-Man in a Zoom interview alongside Logan.

“It was something that we heard about growing up but it wasn’t something I had a memory of,” she says. “It was kind of cool to see it all happen and to understand what I’ve been talked to about while we were growing up.”

But at least family history gave her an idea of what to expect.

“I was definitely prepared for it to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done and it definitely lived up to that,” Aysan-Man says. “But it was also the most fun and coolest thing I’ve ever done.

“There was a good balance of: this is stupid and insane and so hard and so amazing and so cool and I’m seeing things that very few people are ever going to get to see in person.”

Logan, who works with his father at Bikes and Beyond on Henderson Highway, says he came into the experience already primed for adventure.

“I just came off a six-week-long canoe trip through northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and then a week later flew to Fiji,” he says. “It was a continuation off of that but it was a very different atmosphere.

“It was a gruelling canoe trip but fairly relaxed because you have that much time,“ he says. “But then going into a much more fast-paced race. It’s quite a bit of a change. It was incredibly difficult and there were a lot of challenges to it, but I think it felt less hard than I thought it would be… just because of how much fun was happening.”

“Fun” is not necessarily the word that would come to mind after watching the first episode, when some of the 330 competitors are suffering exhaustion and sunstroke on the first day.

Roadley says the body accommodates for physical hardship.

“The adrenaline is pumping in the painkillers,” he says. Aysan-Man concurs: “Constant adrenaline, so you don’t feel it until after.”

Indeed, once she got home, she says she was struck with chronic fatigue syndrome.

“It turns out I’d raced with mono,” she says.

“I got two separate skin infections, a week and a half and two weeks after I got home,” Roadley shrugs.

But during the heat of the race, the team stayed harmonious, Aysan-Man says.

“Honestly, I don’t think there was a single fight in the whole race,” she says.

“We had a pretty good chat before and we decided we’re teammates first,” Aysan-Man says, sharing that the dads told them: “You’re also our kids, but we’re teammates. If you do need us as dad, let us know, but otherwise we’re going to be teammates once we’re there.”

“It worked out pretty well. There were no major falling out or dramatic fights or screaming or yelling or anything like that,” she says. “It was all pretty fun. It pretty much went as well as could be hoped for.

“We had a very good team dynamic,” Roadley says. “We worked well together and picked up each other’s slack. If one of us is lacking at some point, another of us will help bring them up.

“We heard stories from some teams where they did not work as well as we did.”

Hardship notwithstanding, Aysan-man says she can’t wait to return to Fiji.

“I would say Fiji is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been,” she says. “The people who live there are some of the nicest, most welcoming people you will ever meet.

“I would definitely go back there again,” she says, and she doesn’t mean having mai tais on the beach. “I don’t think I’d want to see Fiji any other way than how we did it. You see things that you’re not going to see when you’re a tourist.”

randall.king@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @FreepKing