Sidelined jockey Darren Danis passed the first test in his journey to return to the saddle when he competed in the Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Race at Mount Maunganui Beach last Saturday.
Danis sustained a fractured C4 and C5 vertebrae following an incident at the Waipa trials in November last year, and last weekend’s challenge was an important milestone in his recovery.
The 32-year-old hoop had wanted to compete in the obstacle race and he was given the green light by his doctor to return to light physical activity just over a month ago, with the intention of building up enough fitness and strength to compete.
“It is an obstacle course with some running as well,” Danis said. “I wanted to do it with a few mates last year as you can do it individually or in a team.
“With the way things have been happening, the timing was quite good. The 12th of April (race date) was about six weeks since I got the green light to go to the gym and start working out.
“The physio said to give it a month before I try to run. I have been going a lot to the gym and I having been doing a lot of bike work. In the last two weeks I thought I would try running and see how my neck held up, and it held up quite well.”
Danis said the running component was his biggest worry heading into the race, however, there were a couple of obstacles that he was wary of.
“I was quite confident with the obstacle course because jockeys are quite small, but we are strong for our size,” he said. “There were a couple of things I thought I would struggle with, like the 25-kilo sandbag carry and the 20-kilo jerry can carry. I am 55.5kg, so that’s half of my body weight.
“But it was good, and I did it with my friend Isaac, he is one of my best friends. He was a good motivator as I got tired halfway through.
“It was always going to be a challenge because six weeks isn’t a long time (to train), and it was just a question of how I felt after I pulled up after the run and I pulled up pretty good, the course itself didn’t affect the neck.”
Danis said he also gained plenty of motivation from his fellow competitors.
“Going to those sort of events you see all sorts of people – big, small, muscular – and everyone has gone through their own thing,” he said.
“There was a guy running beside us who was an amputee and he was running with a prosthetic, and that gave me the motivation to keep going. Everyone has got their own story and it was quite cool to see everyone giving their best.”
Danis will now continue his rehabilitation, and while there is still a cloud over whether he will return to raceday riding, he holds onto hope and said he will try his best over the coming months.
“There is still a question mark on riding with my neck,” he said. “The doctor said it’s always going to be a dangerous job, but they know it is our livelihood, and you just have to let your body tell you.
“I will come back in June to ride trackwork, so I might try to ride someone’s pony in May and see what happens.
“I don’t really want to give up riding, but we have to listen to our body, so I will just do whatever I have to until I can ride.”