At the 2017 Grazathlon event, WILD employees teamed up to test their pain thresholds and face an unconventional sporting challenge.

The 10-kilometre route of what is probably the world’s toughest sightseeing tour not only pushed them to their mental and physical limits but also strengthened their bond. WILD athletes Reinhold Kordesch, Kerstin Petritsch, Silvan Luschnig, Stefanie Frager, Markus Kampl, Bernhard Viertlmayer and Herwig Arzberger took part in the 2017 Grazathlon alongside 4,000 sports fans from 30 countries. The Grazathlon is an extremely demanding course which required enormous physical effort as well as coordination skills, ambition and, above all, team spirit.

In comparison, the 260 steps leading up to the top of the Schlossberg were a mere warm-up exercise: participants then had to overcome artificial obstacles with ominous names like “game pass”, “monkey land”, “rock the wall” or “full throttle” in record time. WILD Front Office Manager Stefanie Frager now knows from her own personal experience what it takes to climb a 2.5-meter wooden wall: “We would never have succeeded without helping each other. Everyone lent a hand. We pushed and pulled each other up, and we encouraged and motivated one another.”

Completely exhausted, covered in dirt and visibly marked by the huge strain, the seven WILD athletes crossed the finish line after[nbsp]an 1[nbsp]hour and 36 minutes. “We all hugged each other and cheered! It was an indescribable feeling to have achieved so much together as a team of colleagues – and now friends”, said Frager. WILD Team Leader Reinhold Kordesch from Medical Technology, who coached the “top squad” in the run-up to the event and organized their running gatherings, is now certain that his team will definitely be competing again at the 2018 Grazathlon. This time perhaps with several WILD Teams.