Growing number of Danes seeking extreme sports to escape everyday boredom

For some, Ironman is not tough enough, and so they opt for even more challenging competitions

Lucie Rychla

Increasing numbers of Danes are seeking the excitement of extreme sports to escape the routine of everyday life and further push their limits.

These ‘adrenaline junkies’ often have a sedentary office job that does not fulfil their need for action, say experts.

READ MORE: Danish woman to attempt 30 Ironman competitions in 30 days

According to sports psychologists Christian Madsen and Kim Dietrichsen, many do extreme sports to feel alive and get recognition for their achievements.

“A few years ago, it was only elite triathletes and a very few geeky fitness buffs who threw themselves into an Ironman, but today it seems that even reasonably active people are taking up the challenge,” Madsen told Metroxpress.

READ MORE: Team Ninja Warrior competition coming to Denmark

Way of living
Michael Christensen, a 40-year-old policeman from Copenhagen, participates every year in Nordic Race, a military-inspired obstacle competition for extreme sports fanatics.

“You crawl under and over obstacles in lots of mud, swim and lift heavy things. And now they have added a current to swim against as an obstacle, which I think is really cool,” Christensen explained.

“For me, it’s almost a lifestyle now.”

READ MORE: Swede sets new record at Ironman race in Copenhagen

New challenges
Hans Henrik Heming, the race director at CHP: Triathlon, contends the people into extreme sports tend to have an insatiable appetite for new challenges.

This demand has, for instance, led to the launching of the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon, in which competitors are dropped off in the middle of a fjord after dark and then have to swim their way out, cycle up a mountain and run down it.

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