'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji': Mark Macy says it was 'strange' to not race with team Stray Dogs
'Eco-Challenge' returned to television after a hiatus of a decade and a half with the Fiji edition. 'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji' dropped on Amazon Prime a week ago. The show featured a total of 66 teams from across 30 countries who signed up to battle the punishing Fijian terrains, jungles, and rivers in this "expedition with a stopwatch." However, one team stood out more than the rest, Team Endure from the USA. Featuring on the team was captain Travis Macy, Danelle Ballengee, Shane Sigle, team support at the camps Andrew Speers and adventure racing legend, and Travis's dad Mark Macy. In an exclusive interview with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW), Mark tells us that it was "strange" to not race with his team 'Stray Dogs' and choosing to embark on what possibly is the last race of his life due to his early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis.
Team Stray Dogs, from the USA comprised of Marshall Ulrich (captain), Dr Bob Hough, Adrian Crane, Nancy Bristow and Heather Ulrich (team support). This was the only team in the challenge with all members over the age of 60. 'Stray Dogs' is the only team that participated in all eco-challenges that took place between 1995-2002 after which the show went on a hiatus. The team was originally formed in 1995, with Marshall, Bob, Adrian, and Mark. The latter was about to participate in the Fiji edition with his original team but couldn't do so after he was diagnosed with the progressive disease that started to affect his cognitive functions. There was no way that Mark was giving up on his participation and that's when a decision was made that he would do so but with his son Travis Macy's team who he was originally going to compete against with Team Stray Dogs.
Regarding his experience racing with his son, Mark says, "It was great racing with Travis, Shane, and Nellie on Team Endure, but also it was strange not racing with Stray Dogs. My world is different now with Alzheimer’s, and I have to adapt to that." During the episodes, we saw Mark had a lot of trouble as the race became more challenging, particularly with his back. We asked him how he recovered from everything he had endured during the race, to which he responded saying, "I’ve been adventure racing and running a hundred milers for years and so this is not unusual for me." But he did mention what gave him the most grief in Fiji saying, "The difficult part for me was my back giving out which is a long-standing issue for me."
Mark is an inspiration to many when it comes to adventure racing. As a word for advice for aspiring racers, he says, "I encourage people to train hard during the day and watch old 'Eco-Challenge' episodes on YouTube at night for motivation. Try to find short adventure races to participate in for practice; they are also tons of fun."
'World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji' is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.