Hop, Skip and Jump in the Himalayas!

Participating in this adventure race was such a life-changing experience for this 40-year-old, she is now prepping her teenage daughter to join her this year

On his 40th birthday, my marathon-running husband was presented with the chance to participate in the Himalayan Adventure Challenge (HAC). I watched him struggle up steep slopes, nearly fall off cliffs on his bike, and freeze on his raft. It looked beyond my worst nightmare. And then his team won.

So maybe it wasn’t that tough. Which was why, when I turned 40, I decided to enter the HAC with a just-as-crazy as me friend as the first and so far, only, an all-woman team in the HAC. We called ourselves Team Pink Fluff. HAC requires a 25km hike, followed by a 30km bike ride, with, finally, an excruciating 28km raft down the Ganges. And I did not know how to cycle. So the training programmes started, complete with nutrition advice (not from the spouse), and then some shopping for gear.