No obstacle is too big for this ultimate warrior
Obstacles are a part of daily life and sometimes one needs a warrior's instinct to overcome them.
Some people tackle their obstacles literally, as they climb, jump, swing and run over them in search of becoming the ultimate warrior at South Africa’s premier obstacle-course race.
Warrior Race is an obstacle-course race which is not for the faint-hearted. It involves kilometres upon kilometres of gruelling timed racing on a challenging obstacle-ridden course that tests physical and mental ability.
Lowvelder Oan de Waal (22) is one of the top obstacle-course racers in South Africa and is currently second in the overall standings in the men’s elite Black Ops category. This has enabled him to qualify for the inaugural Obstacle Course Race World Championship (OCRWC) in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the USA from October 25 to 26. Unfortunately the current fourth-year engineering student at the University of Pretoria has an obstacle in the form of an empty wallet, which is derailing his plans of competing at this event. “I am seeking financial assistance to help me go to Ohio.
I do not have the funds but I believe I can do really well if I am given the opportunity to compete.”
De Waal grew up on a banana farm in Kiepersol and matriculated at Hoërskool Nelspruit in 2009 where he stayed in the school hostel.
Since then he has taken a liking to putting his body through these punishing events and has dragged his tired soul through mud and scaled walls to get to the top.
“One of my goals is to go to the USA and show the world that South Africans can compete in any sporting arena, not just rugby or cricket.
“It’s about putting your name on the map,” said De Waal.
There are four different categories that vary according to length and difficulty – Rookie (5-6km with 15 obstacles), Commando (10-12km with 20 obstacles), Black Ops (16-21km with 30 obstacles) and Black Ops Elite (16-21km with 30 obstacles).
Obstacle racing is a combination of off-road trails, hand-built and natural obstacles that have to be overcome to complete a race, especially in the Black Ops elite category.
“I only compete in Black Ops Elite as it is the only category that can gain you entry into the World Championships and where you can win prize money,” said De Waal.
According to him the Black Ops and Black Ops Elite are replicas of the course but with an extra challenge that takes competitors to their limits.
“The difference between the Black Ops and the Black Ops Elite is that in Elite all the obstacles have to be completed. If a normal Black Ops competitor cannot complete an obstacle, he can do 30 burpees (push-ups and star jumps) and continue with the race. With Black Ops Elite, if you cannot complete an obstacle, you forfeit the race as an Elite.”
The Black Ops Elite race is only for the extremely fit and brave competitors with race organisers recommending full medical clearance. Obstacles include a variety of different punishing apparatus such as rope climbs, log flipping, sand-bag carrying, and dangerous mud-paved barbed wire crawls, to name but a few.
“I’m relatively good at obstacles but running is the most difficult part as you need to conserve energy, but still keep a steady pace,” he said.
Race winners in the Black Ops category walk away with R1 000 with the best athlete getting R100 000 over the course of eight races during the year.
“Points get accumulated throughout the season, with your top-five results counting.
I personally try to compete at all eight events on the calendar.” If anyone would like to assist him, he can be contacted via email onOan.dewaal@gmail.com.
