In 2023, Canada’s own XMan race was sold. Today, we sit down with the new owner of XMan Race in this interview that discusses the future of XMan, the reason she came to the sport, and what she sees for the future.
My name is Sara, born and raised in Portugal for 28 years, but I fell madly in love with Canada the first time my feet touched Montreal’s ground!! I’ve been here for 14 years and intend to stay the rest of my life. I started obstacle races in 2017, after my divorce, which gave me the opportunity to move to Sherbrooke. At this point, I was a mother of four children and in a phase of my life where I thought the golden years were over (OMG, I was so wrong!!). In an attempt to make new friends, since I had just moved, I joined a gym team of crazy people!! 🤣🤣
First, let’s introduce yourself. Who are you, how did you get into obstacle course racing and what is your current role/title?
LOVE THEM!! And one day they came to me and told me: Sara, we are going to do an outdoor activity this weekend; wanna come? In my innocence, I said, “Sure, what are we gonna do?” “A color run,” they said. I thought: Well, it’s been years since I don’t run, but… However!! 🤔 So I went, and it was fun! Of course, after that, I started doing some jogging. 😏
A few weeks later, they came to me again and said, “Hey, we are going to do an XMAN RACE, wanna come?!” I replied, “No idea what that is, but sure, why not!”🤗 At this time, my mom was visiting me from Portugal, and she said to me, “You’re going to pay $100 to be full of mud; that’s ridiculous!” I just shrugged my shoulders. And there I was with my team ready to have fun, and the race started with elites. I saw these amazing top shape athletes start to run up the mountain, making warrior noises while doing obstacles. I looked at my team and asked, “Have you ever done this?!” Their answer: “NOPE, first time!!” In my head, I wanted to ask if it was safe, if they were insane, and most importantly, if I could leave. But my pride made me keep my silence. So yeah, the race starts, and as I thought, it was not only hard, it was actually painful and a never-ending trail of scratches and mud. Did I mention pain?? I looked at my team’s faces, and all of them had the same miserable face as me. But I guess pride is a part of all of us because none wanted to give up. There we were, one more step, one more obstacle, with no idea when this torture would end, until we reached one more water spot. This lady with a huge smile and lots of energy screamed at us: “GOOD JOB!! You already reached 5km; you’re almost done!! Be proud!!” Those words changed my life!! 🤩
I thought to myself, “Well, if I didn’t die within the first 5km, it’s definitely not the 2.5km missing that will kill me.” As a surprise, we got a new energy, and we finished the race. Now, the feeling of pride we felt was extraordinary. Specially with the realization that if someone had told me how hard it was, I would never have gone, because I would have assumed I was not good enough!! BUT there I was, definitely not perfect, but I made it to the end. Since then, I started training hard. The year after, I did 5 races, then 12 in 2019, and my kids started joining me in the kids’ version. And life give me strength because I will be 70 and still doing these races 😈😈
When did you acquire XMAN Race?
After months of negotiation we finally acquired the XMAN race on March 17th 2023. One of the best days of my life!! 🥰🥰
What led to your purchase and what was the status of the brand when you took it over?
My fiancé and I acquired XMAN this spring, after my father had been after it for almost a year.
In 2021, during COVID and while I was on my way back home from work, I was hit by a 52′ truck! I died for a little bit, and somehow I came back. As result, two fractures in my spine, a severe TCC, and microtears at several spots in my body. They had to fly me to a hospital and keep me asleep for a while because I couldn’t move. Of course, being me, every time I would wake up, I would try to move and get very agitated. But “small” details aside, no one knows how I survived that frontal impact. My pick up was simply destroyed. Still, it was very hard going from someone who moves all the time to not moving because every step is painful. Once I came back to Quebec, the first thing my doctor told me was to forget about your races. Of course, I’m not only a prideful person but also stubborn, so I invested my time and money in recovering my body so I could do “just” another XMAN.
In 2022, when I realized that JUSTRUN was not bringing XMAN back, I was heartbroken, and I couldn’t let it go. So, my fiancé told me, “If you like it so much, why don’t you buy it?” Of course, I looked at him and told him that would be insane. I was only a racer, and as much as I did events almost all my life, transitioning from planning parties and weddings to planning obstacle races was a whole other world. BUT, the idea was planted, and challenges never made me back down. So, I ended up calling them and asked if they had a buyer for XMAN already. They said no, not yet, so I offered myself as a buyer. I told my fiancé, “XMAN changed my life, and Karma brought me back, so I feel it’s on me to change others’ peoples’ lives. So I am bringing XMAN back not only for me, but for our community, and for our future. Especially now, after COVID, where the importance of exercise got even more relevant. I have to tell you that negotiations were not always easy, and at one point, I thought it was a dead end. But the beginning of 2023 brought back the hope of owning the company of my dreams.
What have you done to honor the issues of the past?
As you can see, I was part of the XMAN community, so they are like family to me!! I respect them, I admire them, and I need them to bring the community back again. So, in order to regain the trust in the brand, I wrote to every participant that had a ticket (and our list had 4000 people) and let them know that they had the right to a free race, and they had the choice to use it in 2023 or 2024. I can tell you that I spent a few weeks stuck in my office answering all their questions and doubts. But as a result I started gaining their trust. Running other races side by side with some of my participants also helped. So our goal for 2023 and 2024 is to honor all the tickets, and I also had the chance to help some non-profit organizations!! Never worked so much for free, but I had a blast!! And I had so much fun creating and putting up obstacles with my team this year. It’s like owning my own Disneyland!! And people are so nice and kind. They helped me so much!!
What are your current plans for the brand and how will you improve on the past ownership’s involvement?
We have lots of imagination, so we are designing themed races, targeting families. Our goal is for them to have fun and cultivate the habit of running and having fun outdoors. A little warm-up so later they can be ready for XMAN. 😉😉
There are not too many brands that have established events in Canada. What is your hopes for XMAN in that market and what is your long term goal?
My expectations are simple; I just want to have fun, build nice races that make people happy, and allow me to help people and keep my team working. I’m more concerned with leaving a legacy for my autistic son rather than filling my pockets. Bills are paid, my team is happy then we are happy.
What is going to be the “signature” of XMAN? Will it be the terrain, certain obstacles or what will make XMAN stand out?
Our vision for XMAN is to create races for both elites, competitions, and families because I admire both. I admire our athletes, but nothing beats the feeling of running side by side with your kid!! We want to create fun races that challenge you but at the same time remind you how much fun you had playing in the backyard!! The most simple tool was enough for hours of fun. If you go to Spartan, everything is very professional; if you go to Rushwood, everything is very clean; if you come to XMAN, you will find lots of “home-made” obstacles that will surprise you how something so simple can be so fun and challenging!!
What are the issues that you face with obstacle racing in Canada? What will help the sport thrive?
Prices for materials, assurances, and mountains are insane, and it’s also hard to find reliable people to work. But every business has its challenges, and we focus on finding solutions!! 😉😉
What has been the most rewarding thing you have gotten out of your acquisition to date and what is your long-term plan?
My long-term plan is to rebuild confidence in sports events companies like me and bring the OCR culture again to its climax.
The floor is open. What else should we know about you, XMAN, or anything else that we have missed in the other 9 questions?
I am pretty sure I wrote enough about me and XMAN. Besides, if something comes up along the way, you can always write back to me. 😉😉
