Question For Middlebury Head Coach John Illig - July 5, 2011
DailySquashReport:
What is the difference between being squash-fit and Death Race-fit?
John Illig:
Battling through pain and fatigue on the squash court helps with dealing with pain and fatigue in the death race, but the death race is quite a gimmicky animal. In the death race, you need to deal with discomfort that includes sleep deprivation, bugs, wind, water and dirt. To be honest, what helped me most in the death race was my hiking experience, as on three different occasions (summers of '93, '99 and '05) I lived in the woods for many months at a time. I hiked through the mountains from Mexico to Canada twice (hiked Continental Divide Trail in '05, and Pacific Crest Trail in '99), and I hiked from Georgia to Maine (hiked Appalachian Trail in '93). It was those long-distance hikes and the experiences they gave me feeling comfortable in the dark, in the woods, in the dirt, in the trees, on rocks, in rivers and streams, which most helped me finish the death race.
John Illig's Personal Account of the 2010 Death Race
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