Team Highlig
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http://www.sisuteam.com
By Edgar Landa - The Early Days
people joined the fledgling Facebook page and
A few short years ago Team SISU co-founder
before long they had 30-40 people regularly joining
Daren De Heras signed himself up for the Spartan
Death Race in Pittsfield, Vermont and began
training for what is arguably one of the most
physically and mentally challenging endurance races
in the country. He ultimately DNF’d at his first
Death Race but little did he know that the seed for
what Team SISU would become had been planted.
Shortly after that first experience in Vermont a
few Southern California racers contacted Daren to
pick his brain about the Death Race the following
year. Being the gregarious person that he is, Daren
invited them to train together in preparation for
the 2012 race. Over the course of the year they
ran together, carried heavy and awkward items up
and down mountains, and tested their endurance
by going on 12-18 hour overnight rucks in the
mountain areas around Los Angeles. A few more
them on adventures with tires, sledge hammers,
axes, bricks, logs and sandbags.
Team SISU arrived at the Summer 2012 Death
Race prepared and confident. AND supported…
by a phenomenal crew of Team SISU members, who
also made the trip to Vermont from Los Angeles
and other parts of the country. It became evident
that SISU had become more than just a name on
a t-shirt. They were seeing the camaraderie and
training pay off. They became aware that a team can
accomplish so much more than an individual. They
inspired each other to push beyond their limits.
A number of Team SISU finished the 2012 Death
Race, but more importantly for Team SISU, Daren
De Heras talked…a lot…to lots of people. Gab
is Daren’s gift. He talks, and yaks, and gabs. And
he gets people excited. By the time they got home
Team SISU had grown and many folks were asking