Defeat every obstacle

Ahead of the 40th and the last obstacle we stopped for a few seconds. We formed a circle, gave each other a big hug, said a few encouraging words, roared loudly and then gave full attention on the black giant ramp that we would run up on.

Team Katrinebergs PT, consisting of the prospective personal trainers Toste Danielsson, Adde Hammarberg, Oscar Detmer and I, Erika Nilsson Waara, were now ready to accept the challenge and defeat everything that came in our way. This is about Toughest and about being tough, brave and bringing out the stubborn bull in you.

Toughest is a competition on tour, this time in Gothenburg with about 2500 participants, which means that you run a distance of eight kilometers, while you’ll pass 40 different obstacles along the way. It is about obstacles such as climbing, using your arms and legs in various forms, crawling, tires rolling, carrying sacks and trees, balance obstacles, jumping, rolling and much more than that. Our start time was set at noon 2:40 and one of today’s finest moments was the reunion with my sister Linnea. We started at the exact same time as her team, aventyrsledarna.se, from Älvdalen. That we for once were in different teams didn’t actually really matter, as we urged, supported and helped each other on some obstacles. It was a very happy reunion, because it was about two months ago since we saw each other. In other words, there was room for a lot of love in all of the competition hysteria.

So how did it go with the final obstacle? Our bodies were now covered in smelly mud up to the stomach area. The shoes and gloves were totally soaked. The number tags had fallen off. Face and hair appeared to have had significant sand and mud pack. Not a dry or clean stain could be seen on the body. Suddenly thoughts flew off to the film The Fantastic Four. The crowd around us cheered intensely. The music pounded in rhythm of techno. We lined up and made us ready for the next battle. The stage is ours! Thirty-nine obstacles we’re completed. One remained. One by one we took off. We gave everything we had in the run-up and completely flew up the ramp. The adrenaline was pumping wildly and joy completely spread throughout our bodies. The Fantastic Four was standing on top and just roared straight out! We had conquered every obstacle. We had done it together, as a team, methodically and with toughness, passion and joy. All of us had grown a bit inside and no doubt we would all do it again!