Customer Reviews

Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There is a message in this book much greater than that of finishing the Raid Gauloises. It's the journey that's important, not so much the finish.

If your looking for a how-to book on adventure racing, this may not be for you. However, if your looking to read the story of one man's accomplishments and how those accomplishments relate to adventure racing, this is certainly a book to read.

The author takes us through his experiences of adventure racing both on and off the course, sharing the essence of his human spirit.

It's a story of dreams that became a reality. A story of teamwork, discipline and friendship. A story of love for one's family and a passion for life.

Thanks Marty and enough with the ibuprofen, that stuff will kill you.

This book is really two stories within one. The author starts by telling how he changed his life by taking a chance and pursuing a dream. It is a story of a corporate professional who grows disillusioned with his job, and spends his days daydreaming about a more exciting and fulfilling life. Taking a leap of faith, with the support of his wife, the author decides finally to pursue his dream as a free lance writer. We follow the author's adventure first as a correspondent for a new sport, and then listen as the author is drawn into the sport as a participant. The author is very informative when it comes to describing the adventure race experience. If you have ever wondered what an adventure race entails, and what motivates people to undertake such an endeavor, this book is for you. If you are stuck in a deadend job and dream of doing something different, then you may want to read this book as well. The editing could be better (I often times wondered if the author used the same editor on "Survivor"), but this is only a small distraction from the material contained in the book.

This was a book I looked at several times before I bought it, but I am glad I finally did. I think its an excellent description of adventure racing, and Dugard's description of his own attempts to form a team point out some serious considerations for anyone else thinking about it. The ability of a group of people to work together in pursuit of a common goal is going to be compromised when faced with conditions like those in adventure racing. Fear, exhaustion, uncertainty, hunger, stress...All of those things serve to magnify the little differences of opinion that might otherwise never be remarked upon. Dugard does a great job of being honest and open with what happens with his, and others', teams.

Dugard's writing left me with the overall feeling that you didn't have to be superhuman to finish an even like the Raid, or the Eco-challenge. All you have to be is dedicated. And maybe a little lucky.

A friend gave me this book just 2 weeks after we had completed our first adventure race and I quickly blew through it. It was a real joy to read. Dugard takes the reader along for the ride and attempts to give some insite to, not only the races, but why someone would actually want to attempt one, and how the race dominates the participant's life.

Assuming the reader is interested in the sport, the information contained within is tremendously valuable, because the vantage point is not that of a Discovery Channel commentator or a Race Spokesman, but a participant, slogging through the ordeal.

I just want to say that I think this is a great book. I like to adventure race and I probably wouldn't have hear of this book if it wasn't for Survivor. I'm glad I did. It was uplifting, motivating, and about far more than just adventure racing. I was interested to find out Dugard and Mark Burnett had such a long history together, which is catalogued in the book. It's like the Survivor story actually begins with this book, with the show as the next generation of outdoor survival.

I've done a few Raids and Eco's. I know what it's like to compete and finish, and to compete and fail. This book captures both sentiments. The feeling is raw and pure and I felt like I was back in it. Excellent, exciting.

This is a wonderful story of someone who actually had the guts to follow his dreams. Mr. Dugard proves that if you put your mind and heart into something you can accomplish pretty much anything. While I may never have the opportunity to participate in an adventure race like the ones he describes, it certainly is fun thinking about it and encourages me to keep pushing myself physically and mentally to accomplish my goals. Thanks for a great book, Mr. Dugard!

Surviving The Toughest race on Earth -This is the first real information source on adventure racing a sport that began in 1989.This offers the perspective from a freelance writer who has covered many of the different Adventure races in all parts of the most difficult terrain the world has to offer. Writer Martin Dugard also describes the process from the perspective of a racer having finished One of these events.The Information on personalities,perserverance,team-dynamics,and the mind numbing difficulty level of andventure racing is brought out in it's truest form.The descriptions of the people,places and emotion bring adventure racing to life. If you are a multi-sport athlete this will peak your interest in adventure racing.

I was boiling with anticipation to read this. It seems I can't get enough of Adventure Racing whether it's watching the Eco Challenge, reading about the Raid Gaulioses or participating in the Hi Tec Series. However, most of my anticipation was destroyed during the first part of this book. I'm happy for Mr Dugard in that he was able to escape corporate America and do what he dreamed of doing. But he beat the issue to death. Factor in his story on the Concorde and he has no right calling this book what he did. It's the classic bait and switch. I wanted a first hand account on what it's like to train, participate in and then finish an Eco Challenge and/or Raid. I just didn't get that. In the end he finally did give me a little taste of what I was after when he described his experiences with Team Lestra Sport. But it just wasn't enough. I do give him credit there as he did finish the race even after the rest of Lestra Sport was forced to drop out.

Brilliant writer and accomplished athlete Martin Dugard covers the Raid Gauloises first as a journalist when the Raid was in Madagascar/ Borneo, then as a participant, when the Raid was in Patagonia where he didn't finish and again in Argentina, when he did finish the race.
He prefaces the book by describing the modern day fascination with adventure racing. "...There is a new kind of athlete, participating in a new kind of sport. This new athlete competes not for fame, or money, or career, but simply for the adventure and for the experience of living- if only for the span of the event -at the very brink of human strength and endurance." We not only witness Dugard's confounding eight day race through hell, we're also treated to the evolution of Adventure Racing, the psychology of the adventure-warrior and the history of man's fascination with exploring the unknown whether as an explorer, an extreme athlete or an historian.