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Local thinks he's got the moxie for adventure challenge |
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Feb. 20, 2012
By Katelyn Gendron
katelyn@thereminder.com
SPRINGFIELD — The website, www.youmaydie.com, should be a deterrent in itself but athletes still sign up to participate in the Spartan Death Race in Pittsfield, Vt., each year.
Jason Donaldson, 37, a father of three from Springfield, thinks he's got the moxie to complete the two-day 40-mile course in June, which requires participants to complete 15 to 20 physical and mental challenges. Each race, which only 15 percent of participants finish, is kept top secret by organizers but past challenges have included chopping wood for two hours, carrying a 20-pound tree stump for two hours or reciting Bible verses after hiking to the top of a mountain with an 80-pound backpack.
"I've reached out to some of the folks who've done it before and a common theme is cold and sleep deprivation and the exhaustion from carrying an 80-pound backpack. I'm not a big risk taker. I just want to challenge my body," Donaldson said, noting that he's completed other adventure-style races such as Tough Mudder.
He began lobbying his body to do more after suffering a spiral fracture in his lower left leg four years ago, which rendered him "grossly out of shape." Surgeons at Baystate Medical Center inserted two plates and 14 screws into his leg and Donaldson completed five months of physical therapy but still walked with a limp.
"He [the surgeon] said I might not be the same," Donaldson recalled. "Most people leave the plates and screws in their legs but after two years I had them removed. I felt like a million dollars right away."
He credits his wife and three children with helping him through that difficult time.
"Because he's such an active guy it was really hard on him to stay sedentary for so long," Brenda Donaldson, Jason's wife, said. "He did everything that he could [to get better] ... It was definitely a tough road."
When asked what her first reaction was to her husband competing in the Spartan Death Race, Brenda replied with a laugh, "I thought he was crazy!"
"He's come so far [since breaking his leg] and this will be the ultimate test for him personally. He loves to be challenged and if anyone is perfect for this, it's him," she said, noting that she has even convinced Jason to wear his 50-pound training vest while vacuuming the house.
"I was able to get it to work in my favor too," Brenda added with a chuckle.
Jason doesn't just wear the vest around the house but also to the grocery store and on other errands. "I get a few odd looks," he said.
As part of his training, he spends two and a half hours working out six days a week, mimicking the conditions of the race by chopping wood, running outside in bad weather or in the dark with a head lamp on, weight training and participating in "boot camps" at local gyms.
He must also complete various tasks prior to the race including working off the $900 entry fee and getting a newspaper article written about him. Had this article not been published, Jason noted that he would've been forced to swim 12 miles before the race even starts on June 15.
When asked if he's concerned about being injured or even dying during this seemingly impossible race, Jason replied that he's just excited to challenge his mind and body and hopes to be one of the 15 percent who cross the finish before curfew.
"Some day I'd also like to climb Mount Everest. That might be the last item on my bucket list," he said.
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