Endurance events, whether it’s ultra-marathons, 24hr mountain bike races, obstacle courses or any other kind of extreme physical challenge, take a unique toll on the body and the mind. They also offer a lot to be gained by the individual in terms of building resilience and respecting what the human body is capable of… but at what cost?
With the cameras no longer rolling and the series being aired, Search4Hurt 2024 contestant, Lachlan Dansie has had time to reflect on his experience. We had the opportunity to ask Lachie about the lead up to the show, the experience of competing in back-to-back endurance events, and the impact training at this level had on other areas of his life. As a dedicated family man, professional firefighter and a seasoned personal trainer, 46 year old Lachie is used to juggling multiple demands. The physical, emotional and time commitment required to be involved in Search4Hurt, however, required a whole other level of resilience and determination. Lachie gives a raw and candid account of how he has overcome injuries, learnt some hard lessons, and ultimately landed in a place where he is very clear about his priorities and motivation for keeping physically fit.
A lifelong interest in fitness
Lachie found himself drawn to fitness training from a young age. “I remember first heading to the gym in my teens to lift weights with mates after school, no idea what we were doing, just copying the older blokes who looked like they had an idea. In my twenties I moved from the gym to the outdoors. I spent a lot of my twenties travelling, where keeping fit was just a side effect of hiking, climbing, cycling. Although I would run and ride everywhere, very little of what I did was geared towards a race or purpose – it was just something that I enjoyed doing”, he said.
After completing a uni degree that landed him in an accounting role following high school, Lachie soon realised that working in an office wasn’t where he wanted to be and instead spent a good chunk of his twenties travelling the world and working in a variety of roles. On his return to Australia, Lachie went about becoming qualified as a fitness instructor and personal trainer and at 33, he started his career as a professional firefighter with Fire & Rescue NSW.
“It wasn’t until my early 30’s that I really became involved in endurance style training and events,” said Lachie. “My first real endurance event would have been the inaugural North Face 100 back in 2008, a 100km trail run in the Blue Mountains, which was the precursor to the UTA100. I only signed up for that race of couple of weeks beforehand, and had no idea what I was doing. I remember getting to the 80km mark in about 10 hours, and which point I decided to empty most of my hydration out of my pack thinking it was just extra weight slowing me down. Soon after, I hit the wall hard, and spent the next 3 hours dragging myself the 10km up Kedumba Pass. I ended up grabbing a couple of sticks from the bush, and using them like walking sticks to keep myself moving. It wasn’t until someone gave me a flat bottle of Coke that I got my second wind, eventually finishing in around 15 hours. I definitely learnt a lot on that one.”
Competing in endurance events at different stages of life:
The television series Search4Hurt ran for three seasons between 2014 and 2016, before taking a pause when the producer, Adam McDonald experienced his own health issues. Seven years passed before Adam decided it was time to bring Season 4 to our screens. The first stage of Search4Hurt is a gruelling full day event known as Hurt Camp, from which the finalists who will feature on the show are selected. Lachie competed in the first ever Hurt Camp back in 2014, along with his sister, Leah. Lachie missed out on selection on this occasion, although Leah did end up on the show as a contestant.
“When I participated in Search4Hurt 10 years ago, I was at my peak fitness level,” said Lachie. “I was involved in the first Hurt Camp, which involved a 21km Row, 42km Run, and 100km indoor cycle, interspersed with various Crossfit-style WODS every hour. It was right up my alley, and I was one of only 2 to complete the workout. Although it was a tough challenge, it didn’t really test my limits, and at that point I was probably too fit for the show.”
This time around, Lachie found himself in a completely different life stage. “10 years pass, and I am no longer a single man, training 2-3 hours every day. I am now in a different stage of life. A couple of kids, a lot more debt, the word “training” no longer refers to running and lifting weights, but rather building Thomas the Tank Engine tracks with my boys. It’s something squeezed in between family and work commitments. I thought that my Search4Hurt journey was well and truly done and dusted, but when the online qualifiers popped up, I was curious to see how I would now go on a reduced training schedule.”
“I guess the main change between then and now, was 10 years ago I lived to train, and now I train to live. 10 years ago, I was training to not just complete races, but to win them, whereas now I train to be able to keep up with my kids.”
Staying fit in his forties
Despite a change in his priorities, Lachie still likes to keep fit. “To be honest, with young children it really is a constant challenge to balance training with family time and relaxation. Gone are the days where I would go out for a 3 or 4 hour training session. Training sessions are now a lot shorter, which just means I have to up the intensity to get the same results.”
So, how do you squeeze a fitness routine in around work and kids? “To make sure I get training in, I usually start around 4 or 5, training early in the morning before work and before the kids are up. It’s the only time where I know I can get a session in without interruptions,” he said.
“I try to get the kids involved in training as much as I can. I’ve clocked up plenty of kms dragging them along in a wagon or hiking with them in a pack. When I head to the park, I will be that weirdo doing chin ups on the monkey bars while the kids are playing, I will be running around with a sandbag while they are riding their bikes, or throwing in a burpee between pushes of the swing. I have a bike seat fitted on both the front and back of my bike, so can fit both my three-year-old and five-year-old on my bike. Pushing an extra 40kg uphill on the bike definitely burns the legs.”
Lachie’s work keeps him accountable as well. Not only does he stay active in order to lead group exercise classes and work with personal training clients, his role as a firefighter makes staying fit and healthy a priority as well.
“One of my go-to training sessions is to take a couple of kettlebells and just run up and down hills until my arms are about to fall off. Not only does it build all over strength, but it really spikes the heart rate, and is great for conditioning. As a firefighter there have been several instances where I have been required to help carry out someone from deep and rugged bushland. The faster we are able to get the casualty to safety, the greater their chances of a quick recovery, and having the conditioning to hold on to and carry a stretcher has been of great benefit.”
Deciding to enter Search4Hurt 2024
“I’ve always enjoyed a bit of a challenge, so when the online qualifiers popped up on social media, I had to have a crack,” he said. “I didn’t take it too seriously, but I managed to post a competitive time in the Burpees and HYROX PFT. For the 5km run, I clocked around 18 minutes, which whilst good for me, was 2 to 3 minutes slower than the top guys. I managed to finish the qualifiers in 8th or 9th place, which I didn’t think would be enough to make Hurt Camp, so once again was thinking my Search4Hurt journey was done.”
But that was not to be… fast forward a couple of months later, and Lachie received the news that a couple of the top contenders can’t attend Hurt Camp, and by default he scraped into the top 6. (there are 6 male and 6 female spots available).
“Conveniently, at the same time, over in the desert of Saudi Arabia they were putting together the biggest prize pool in Obstacle Course Racing history. Based on my results in the OCR World Champs and Toughest Mudder years earlier, I had been invited, so was currently in the middle of a training block and was feeling fit. Hurt camp, at the very least, would be a good training session… so up the highway I drove,” said Lachie.
“Hurt Camp came and went. There was plenty of sledging from the young blokes about me being at least 10 years older than them all, but despite tripping up on the Strong Man Farmers Carry and over running the turn on the Obstacle Course Sandbag Carry, I managed to hold my own, winning a few events, and on average finishing higher than any of the other competitors. A week or two later I got the call up to see if I wanted to be on the show.”
Listening to your body and learning hard lessons
With the Saudi OCR being his focus, Lachie was training hard, but his big takeaway from Hurt Camp, was that his 5km speed was way off all the other Hurt Campers, so he decided to add some extra speed work into his Saudi training. “This is where the regret kicks in, because in retrospect trying to improve my 5km time makes no sense for an 8 hour obstacle course race in the desert.”
As part of his plan to gain some speed, Lachie started sprint training and competing in a weekly 5km track race. “A few extra track sessions, and I was starting to see some speed improvements, but as much as I don’t like to admit it, a 46 year old body, does not recover as well as a 36 year old body.”
About a month before the Saudi race, despite heavy fatigue, Lachie raced in a local 5km track race, where his left Achilles started to flare up. Soon after this, he had the first Search4Hurt training camp, including a 6 hour adventure race, and the Achilles was starting to become a distraction. “1 week before Saudi, I still wanted to do my last planned run session, which was a flat fast 30km race in Western Sydney,” said Lachie. “My plan for this race was to try and finish in 2 hours, so I was wearing carbon plated racing shoes (terrible for the Achilles). 20kms in, I had moved into the race lead and was on track to finish in my goal time, when once again the Achilles started to flare up. It was a nothing race, a training run. I should have pulled out straight away, but I was in the lead and stupidity took over. I kept running hoping the pain would go away. It didn’t, and I just made my Achilles worse. Stubbornness at its worst.”
A week later, Lachie found himself in Saudi Arabia. “This was my A Race, but the damage had been done,” he said. “On the very first lap, the Achilles flared up. I had come a long way and I thought I could still win some age group money (and I am an idiot), so I limped around the desert for the next 8 hours to eventually miss out on the prize money by a couple of minutes anyway. About 5 or 6 hours in I also slipped on a set of monkey bars. I managed to catch myself, but popped my shoulder in the process, beginning a bout of shoulder bursitis that hung around for the next few months.”
Back in Australia, the Search4Hurt season began. From here, Lachie grappled between wanting to compete and do well (taking advantage of an opportunity that had been 10 years in the making), but to also manage injuries that just wouldn’t go away. Over the course of the season, his shoulder bursitis was managed with a cortisone injection, but his Achilles remained problematic. What started out as tendonitis progressed to an actual tear of the Achilles tendon. “A course of PRP injections and Shockwave therapy helped, but an event every month just wasn’t allowing my body the required time to heal,” said Lachie. “As someone who needs to be fit for their livelihood, I couldn’t risk turning that tear into a full rupture, and so I couldn’t give my all for the last few events.”
Being fit for firefighting:
While firefighters don’t need to be superhuman, a certain degree of fitness is important, both for being effective at what they do, but also to make sure they get home safely each day and for the safety of their crew members. We asked Lachie how training for endurance events helps him carry out his role as a firefighter effectively;
“For every event I train for there is always an element of strength, metabolic conditioning, endurance and mobility,” said Lachie. “It’s the perfect complement to firefighting where, although every job is different, you can be guaranteed that there will always be some physical challenge encountered. We need strength for tasks such as forcing entry, raising ladders, or advancing a charged hose lines. We need cardiovascular fitness and endurance for tasks such as climbing stairs, conducting search and rescue, or carrying a casualty out of remote areas. We need good mobility to stay low and crawl in smoke filled environments, and all of this needs to be done whilst wearing heavy protective gear and breathing equipment.”
On the flip side, there are skills and disciplines developed as a firefighter, which Lachie says help with how he handles endurance events. “At FRNSW, we are trained is to identify critical factors and communicate using a CAN report, which stands for Conditions, Actions, and Needs. Describe the conditions present and what critical factors are you still dealing with, what actions are you doing to control the critical factors, and what further support is needed,” he explained. “This is easily translated into an endurance event where you may be communicating with your pit crew. For example, at Backyard Ultra the conditions were hot. To control this, I would need a big hat, reflective white shirt and sunscreen. Further support needed would be salt tablets and extra hydration.”
Reflecting on Search4Hurt Season 4:
Lachie describes a mix of emotions when he reflects on his experience competing in the television series. “Search4Hurt is different to other reality shows in that we aren’t competing for a prize and we don’t get paid. The show is simply about the everyday athlete – the weekend warrior, looking to test themselves in different competitions,” said Lachie. “The name of the show is Search4Hurt, but the hurt that comes from being injured is not the hurt I was looking for. At the end of the day, I still have a mortgage to pay and a family to support, so my role at Fire & Rescue NSW is my priority. I need to be able to turn up to work confident that I can safely complete any job that I am tasked with, not putting myself or others at risk. It’s been a challenging journey that has involved much more than healing tendons and tissues. It’s been a battle of the mind just as much as the body. I think it always is with an injury, no matter who you are.”
Almost every athlete will sustain some type of injury at some point, especially when pushing one’s boundaries like Lachie did. “Many people have been quick to remind me that I am not as young as I use to be, and that perhaps these injuries should be taken as sign to slow down. At times this has made me angry that they would even suggest it, but being injured can shake your faith in your body’s ability and so at other times I have thought that maybe they are right.”
Despite being angry and frustrated with his injuries and disappointed that he couldn’t give it his all, Lachie is proud of what he was able to accomplish despite the setbacks. “I completed more laps than the other three competitors combined at the Backyard Ultra, I finished the Xterra Triathlon 30 minutes in front, despite my injury I still completed over 50kms at Race the Sun and managed to come second in my age group at HYROX. It’s been exciting to travel to different destinations and take on these different events. An opportunity I am very thankful for.”
And he should be proud. Despite not prioritising training like he used to, Lachie could still match it with guys 10 years or more his junior at Hurt Camp. On average, he finished higher than any of the other competitors, even winning a couple of the events.
“The stand out memories for me will be the time that I have spent with the other athletes. Pete’s passion and energy, Laura’s strength and resilience, Sammy’s compassion and motivation to learn and improve – I have learnt a lot. Pete, Laura and Sammy are not just incredible athletes, but are incredible people. The same must be said for Phil and Blaine who joined us in Racing the Sun. It has been an honour and privilege to share this journey with them. Adam the producer, Chris the camera man, Matt the host – they have also gone out of their way to make this a memorable experience and for that I thank them.”
Recovery and finding balance:
“Now the cameras are off, there will be plenty of hours of hard work, to rehab and bulletproof the body,” said Lachie. “I have been doing these events and trying to test my limits for such a long time that it is actually a part of who I am. Having an event or goal to train for provides so many benefits in terms of motivation that I recommend signing up to everyone.”
Lachie is crystal clear about his motivation for looking after himself. “I think the key to finding balance, is to first identify what’s most important in your life at that particular point in time. Once you understand what it is that makes you happy, it’s easier to find the ideal balance. At the moment, my kids are young. Not only do they have the time, but they enjoy hanging out with me. I’m under no illusion that that will last, so for me family time is a priority at the moment,” said Lachie.
Balancing physical and mental health, as well as juggling the demands of work and family responsibilities is no easy feat. Lachie incorporates meditation and breathwork into his routine as part of his self care. “For many years now, I have taught a class called LesMills Body Balance, a new generation yoga class with elements of Tai Chi and Pilates. Guided meditations and breathing control are built into every class, and over the years it has helped me develop techniques to focus my mind and create a sense of wellbeing and calm.”
Fire & Rescue NSW offer several resources for firefighters to assist in managing their mental welfare, including having a dedicated Wellbeing Team within their Health & Safety Directorate. We asked Lachie about strategies he uses to help balance out the different areas of his life; “While it may sound a little cold, I actually schedule family time as well as my training sessions and work obligations. I try to minimise time on unessential activities such as browsing social media. One of the great things about my job at Fire Rescue is that I don’t need to take my work home with me. I am able to establish a clear boundary between personal life and work,” he said.
“I want to be fit and able to run around with my kids, but they don’t care if I win a race or not. They want me home to play Lego, build train tracks, and go bike riding at the park. With a young family, at times I’ve felt incredibly selfish taking off to do these events. I have to thank my partner Naomi for all she has done in my absence (and in my presence). When I am training and competing in something I know am not the most fun person to be around.”
So, what’s next for Lachlan Dansie?
“I do have some unfinished business with a couple of the events from the show. I would like to tackle another Backyard Ultra, ideally local so the kids can visit, and really push to see how far I can go. I would also like to break the 45-49 age group world record for HYROX which currently sits at 1:01:20,” he said.
We think every forty-something out there has been rooting for Lachie & will be excited to see what he does in the future.
You can follow Lachie’s latest challenges via Instagram @lachlandansie.
If a career in FRNSW is calling, you can find out more about firefighter recruitment via the FRNSW website.
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