Practicing obstacles at X: ‘I thought I’d feel like a complete noob’

What do a rider, a monkey, and a patch of brush have in common? All three lend their names to obstacles located at the rear section of sports and cultural centre X. The Spanish Rider, the Monkey Hang, and the Hurdle Bush were all built by the student outdoor sports association Slopend. Over the next three hours, these obstacles serve as training material for both seasoned survival runners and complete beginners. All of them are preparing for SurvivalStrijd, the survival run that Slopend is organising on campus for the twelfth time this year.

“Has everyone taken off their jewelry?” After thirty TU students and staff do a final check, they are split into two groups: beginners and advanced. As both groups get ready to go for a run, five people come hurrying in. “We’re hard to find for people training with us for the first time, so we almost always have late arrivals,” says Slopend chair Scott van Hien.

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Upside down on a rope

Once the beginners’ group, including the latecomers, has completed a fifteen-minute warm-up, it’s time to get acquainted with Karakter, Slopend’s survival run course. Divided into smaller groups of ten, participants learn step by step how to move upside down along a horizontally suspended rope (Monkey Hang), climb up a slanted beam (Spanish Rider), and climb a rope before swinging themselves over a bar (rig with swing-over). “These techniques come back during the 6-kilometer run. They’re really the basics,” Scott explains.

A few meters away from Het Karakter, dozens of wooden beams lie neatly lined up. On 9 May, they will form the obstacles of SurvivalStrijd. Each beam is marked with a colour code and letter indicating thickness and length. “That way we’ll know which beam to use for which obstacle.” In addition to an individual and group 6-kilometer run for beginners, there is also a 9-kilometer distance, divided into three different competitive categories.

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No noobs

During the group run, participants are allowed to help each other overcome obstacles; in the other distances, that’s not permitted. “Though you can still encourage each other,” says former TU alumnus Ruben, who has participated in SurvivalStrijd before. After years of trying, he has finally convinced his brother Govert and their mutual friend Robin to sign up for the group run. They are enjoying the training session. “I thought I’d feel like a complete noob,” Robin says. “But the atmosphere is great. I get frustrated when I don’t manage an obstacle properly, but everyone is so relaxed about it that you quickly feel better again.”

The beginners’ group is guided by three certified trainers, leaving plenty of room for personal attention. Trainer Niels stands next to a participant working on the Monkey Hang. “Try to hang more fully extended so you have more room to move your arms and legs,” he advises. At the rig, another participant is told to focus on her breathing. “Otherwise you’ll never make it to the top of that rope.”

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‘Ouch! I just landed right on my balls’

Scott: “That personal guidance is really necessary, because survival running is a high-risk sport.” Anyone who participates in SurvivalStrijd and is not yet a member of the Survivalrunbond Nederland is therefore required to take out a one-day insurance policy with the same federation. The insurance costs €5. Although the entry level of the training is low, it’s not entirely without risk, even for experienced runners. “Ouch! I just landed right on my balls,” says a Slopend member while hanging at the rig.

Múria is joining the training sessions for the first time this year and will be at the start of the group run for the second time. “Last year I wanted to train too, but I was on vacation.” She loves the group run—not only because she runs it with friends, but also because the course takes her all across the campus of her alma mater. “I run past all kinds of memories from my master’s. How great is that?”