Red Bull Can You Do It?: Meet the Winners

The Gladiators are friends who met while participating in charity activities and fundraisers (including a “Gladiator Dash”) at Texas A&M University. Cadena says the decision to apply for the event in Europe was “a no-brainer”, explaining: “Something like this that promotes true adventure is quite difficult to find, so the moment it jumps out at you, it’s there is no reason not to apply. “.

Fast forward and the teammates found themselves in Barcelona, ​​one of five starting points in Europe.

“All you know is you don’t know where you’re going next and you have to figure it out,” Greek recalls.

True to the spirit of the event and their adventurous personality, the Gladiators wanted to live as many experiences as possible, but they also wanted to win.

Fortunately, these two desires went hand in hand.

“From the start, we skated as quickly as possible to the central station and were the first to negotiate tickets,” says Mathiasmeier. But the train was then delayed by two and a half hours, which wiped out their advantage. This is where the risk was born.

“We said to ourselves, ‘We’re not going to win if we take this train,’” Mathiasmeier said. “So the train stops…and instead we head straight to the airport.” » There, they showed their charm and a few hours later, they were boarding the plane at full speed.

“It was a moment that still touches me every day, that inspires me and keeps me going,” Greek explains. “With those train tickets, we were in a position that every team wanted to be in, but we risked everything for the chance to do something bigger.”

As an aside, he shares: “I take an unconventional path in my work – I risk a lot by having the chance to have a different life – and in Red Bull Can You Make It?, it was great to take those risks and see that success.”

It wasn’t always miraculous. Sometimes the team would arrive in a major capital – Paris, for example – and it seemed like they would never find transportation to continue. Most of the time, she only slept for two or three hours, on a bus, in a car or on the floor. But, in their eyes, giving up was never an option. And then, there was so much to do.

Their lowest moment came about 36 hours before the event ended.

Challenges in remote locations were worth more points, and knowing they were neck and neck among the best teams, the Gladiators had headed back south to hit remote checkpoints in Austria and Croatia.

After finishing, Cadena says: “In Zagreb, we could zoom in on the map (on their Xiaomi Redmi Note Series event phone) and we were the furthest team. I think the other teams were like, “How are you going to do this?” What is your plan and what are you doing? » »

It was while waiting in a small Croatian town for a pre-arranged carpool – which never showed up – that they realized their risk had backfired spectacularly. But they pulled themselves together, returned to Zagreb and eventually started hitchhiking.

Cadena explains: “There was a guy our age who came to pick us up and he said, ‘I’ve hitchhiked before, I know where to take you.’ So he drives us to where the cars are stopped on a toll road and drops us off in the middle of the seven or eight lane highway!

“What’s even more incredible is that before we could get all our luggage out of the car, another car stopped and waved us in.”

Today, with the victory celebrations over and a month behind us, the three teammates continue to make adventure an important part of their lives, while pursuing their careers and, in Cadena’s case, a degree of higher education. And for those who share their mindset, they offer some thoughts.

Cadena says one of the rewards of the experience was the connections he made with strangers: “People helped us and told us we could do it. And that included themselves, too, because there were times when our biggest selling point was to make it possible for them to join our journey for a certain leg or section – and the idea that they could do it with us was super cool to see that spark ignite in someone else.”

Noting that he had friends who missed out on these kinds of experiences because they simply didn’t apply to participate in the event, Greek said, “I would encourage kids our age to sincerely take every opportunity like this.”

Mathiasmeier agrees: “One thing David said on our trip that I still think about often is the quote: “If you think you can, or if you think you can’t, you’re probably right. » For me, this whole trip was an analogy to life – the ups and downs, that’s exactly what life is like when you take risks. No one will believe in your dreams like you do; so whatever they are, take leaps of faith, believe in yourself and you will be rewarded when things go as planned. »