'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji': Will adventure racing legend Mark Macy slow down due to Alzheimer's?
'Eco-Challenge' has finally made its way back on the air after a 16-year-long hiatus with 'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji'. 66 teams from 30 countries all over the world descended on the tropical islands of Fiji to be a part of this historic adventure. One among them was Team Endurance from the USA. This team comprised of adventure race legend Mark Macy and his son Travis Macy. Initially, Mark was supposed to take part in this iconic race with Team Stray Dogs and against his son who is also the captain of 'Endurance'. However, he got diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's and this cognitive disorder led to this shuffle.
In the introductory video, Travis spoke about his dad who had been racing since 1995 and participated in the first-ever 'eco-challenge'. Mark continued doing so till 2001 but didn't participate in 2002 after which the show went on an indefinite break. Travis also mentioned his dad's plans to race with the team he'd been participating with since the start, however, the news of his diagnosis hit them really hard. He said that as things progressed it didn't seem like a good fit for his father to race with the other team if he considered all the additional support that he was going to need to make it through the challenge.
Another reason for Travis to do this with his father was that he knew that this was going to be a priceless, once-in-a-lifetime experience for them and he was far more excited to race with his father. He was prepared to move slower than the rest of the teams but was determined to make it through to the very end. Travis was aware that his team had a lot of unknowns related to his father's cognitive function and also of the fact that they'd have to sleep a lot more than they have in the previous races. Sleeping more means losing time and they knew this would be a huge disadvantage in a race where the clock is continuously ticking away.
The team also comprised of Danelle Ballengee and Shane Sigle. Speaking about Mark, shortly before completing the first leg of the competition, Sigle noted that tackling Alzheimer's was the biggest challenge for them, a disorder that took a lot away from the highly experienced and intelligent racer. "He can't zip his jacket, can't tie his shoelaces, or put on a pair of gloves. Taking those moments when it's pouring to zip his jacket or feed him is a hard part." Sigle believed that their team was making a difference by supporting Mark and Travis and the path they were on and considered it an honor.
Watch Team Endurance zip through the challenges on 'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji' all episodes of which are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.