Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 68, March 2015 | Page 41

OBSTACLE RACING

You’re standing on the start line of a
Jeep Warrior obstacle race, worrying
whether you can actually pull this off,
when Ricardo Gressel, a.k.a. Warrior
Ric, a super-energised guy in camo
pants, gets on the mic and tells you that
you’ve got this. Somehow, his voice, his
energy and his words just hit the right
spot, and you’re ready for anything. –
BY SEAN FALCONER

W

arrior races are notoriously tough
– not just the elite-level Black Ops courses with
30 obstacles over 18 to 21km of running, but also
the Rookie 6 to 8km option with 15 obstacles – but
if properly motivated, it is amazing to see people
overcoming these obstacles (and a lot of mud!) and
then reach the finish line to claim that prized dog-tag
medal! And for Warrior series commentator Ricardo
Gressel, seeing all those happy finishers is what
motivates him to keep motivating them.
“Ninety percent of these races is not about the elites
in the Black Ops race, but about normal people getting
a dog-tag on the other side, and let me tell you, boy
are those people proud of those dog-tags hanging
around their necks! It says I finished, I was able to do
it, I made it through the trenches,” says Ricardo. “I
actually think that doing a Warrior race helps people
to become better equipped for life’s challenges, and
I find it incredible to watch the transformation of so
many of them within a single event, to see how their
determination comes through, their will to get it right
and to finish.”
“So for me as Warrior Ric, it is all about inspiration,
motivation and transformation. I go right to the heart
of what it takes to complete these obstacles, to go
round, over, through them. I can see when people line
up if they are scared, over-confident or motivated, and
I tailor my commentary to that. My ultimate goal is
transformation – however they came to start, I want
them to be everything and more by the end.”

Images: Courtesy Ricardo Gressel

Immensely popular with the athletes

Warrior Ric, always ready to give his ‘soldiers’ a helping hand

NEW LOVE, NEW HOME
Ricardo (49) is an American who settled in SA post1994, having fallen in love with both the country
and a woman from Lesotho, and they have a son
who is currently in his second year at Tuks, studying
psychology. Ric was raised in California, graduated
from Stanford with an International Relations degree,
started his own leather apparel firm and got involved
in the fashion industry, became a model and actor,
and that brought him to SA in 1994, where he got
involved as a volunteer in the country’s first democratic
electio