Durban North family shows ‘Warrior’ spirit at obstacle course race

THERE is no obstacle too big for Durban North family Trish and Claude Eksteen, and their son Dan Bahlmann, literally.

The trio compete in the sport of Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) which features a course laden with obstacle stations—which requires you to regularly crawl, lift and swing through obstacles in the fastest time.

They recently took part in The Warrior Race in Olifantsfontein with each of them triumphing in their respective categories.

Trish and Claude competed in the Black Ops Elite category, winning the men’s and women’s races while Dan competed in the Rookie Elite category, winning the U12 race and the overall category.

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For Claude and Trish, who run Adventure Obstacle Training (AOT) in La Lucia, the experience was made especially sweeter by seeing people they train obtain their best finishes.

This was also the first obstacle course racing event in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I was a little nervous going in because we hadn’t raced competitively in so long. I was also recovering from an Achilles tendon operation so that was something I was mindful of,” explained Claude. “The more obstacle racing you do, the more race fitness you pick up so I was pleased with my performance. There were things I knew I could control out on the course, and I did that which helped me focus on finishing in the best time.”

For Trish, who like Claude, competes in the Black Ops Elite category, which sees competitors take on 30 obstacles over a 15-kilometre course, the event was a resounding success.

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“I would say I was less prepared than Claude, obstacle-course-racing wise. I’ve been concentrating on my running and shifted more to long-distance trail running. While some of the course was still familiar to me, I must admit, I doubted myself over the big rig, the main breaking point obstacle. I was very chuffed with all of our performances but especially for the people we train with. It was just incredible watching their progress,” Trish said.

Eleven year-old Dan took each obstacle in his stride and said his aim going into the competition was to finish on the podium.

“My parents are huge inspirations for me, especially as they’ve excelled in the sport. When I got to the end of the course, I was filled with happiness and a lot of emotions. I started in the sport at the age of five, and I’ve never looked back. I love challenging myself and trying out new apparatuses. One of the other fun aspects for me is the teamwork where people rally behind you to help boost your spirit to overcome a particularly hard apparatus. I train at Adventure Obstacle Training (AOT), and everyone who trains there is awesome and always willing to help you when you’re struggling,” he said.