CHENNAI: Picture this. You are standing in front of a 14-foot warped wall and climbing it is not even the end of the nightmare. Add to that a series of increasingly intricate obstacles consisting of ropes, bars and weights and you have yourself an Obstacle Course Race (OCR). For most people, the very thought of it is tiring, but not for the Fernandes’. For them, it’s a family affair.
Familiar names in the rising Indian OCR circuit, sibling-trio Mallika (23), Jonua (22) and Mathew Fernandes (20) is a force to reckon with on the field. But their toughest rivalry? Among themselves. “We’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders when we’re not racing each other, but apart from that, we’re very competitive. Even as kids, Jonua was always trying to do everything I did, from walking to riding the bicycle and it was annoying when he started getting better at them than me,” reveals Mallika. “It was hero-worship. You should have enjoyed it while it lasted,” returns Jonua playfully and that’s enough to get the two chitter-chattering. For Mathew, it’s a scene all too familiar, as he relaxes into his chair and watches the drama unfold. “Being the youngest, I usually just sit back and let them go at it. In the end, I learn from both of their mistakes and that’s why I’m the best,” he says.
Alter egos
Coming from a bloodline rich with international and national track athletes, it was only obvious that they follow in the same stride, with all three competing at the state and national level in athletics and hurdles while at school. But choosing careers that were a complete 360-degree turn from competitive sports, they hung up their athletic spikes soon after. Each a Clark Kent act in their own right, Mallika is now a school counsellor, with Jonua donning the white lab coat of a dentist by day and Mathew pursuing his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. “While I would love to say that both my passions converge with each other, they almost require me to be two different people. My job requires me to be calmer and grounded, while on the obstacle course I’m quite the opposite,” says Mallika. And by the opposite, she means an absolute beast but more of that later.
Despite the time constraints that came with full-time jobs and studies, there was no shutting out sports. “I first came across parkour in college and trained with a team called Chennai Parkour for two years. We jumped around in Anna Nagar Tower Park, and it eventually helped build the skill set I needed for obstacle course racing,” says Mathew. During the same time, while Jonua took a break from training for his dentistry studies, Mallika racked up an impressive resumé trying swimming, rowing, long-distance running, duathlons, ultimate frisbee, parkour and ultimately found her leeway into OCR through fellow fitness enthusiast and co-founder of the Wild Warrior Races, Vikram Menon. What started then as participating in a fun obstacle race at IIT Madras’ Saarang in January of 2018, has now evolved to a passionate commitment for the siblings.
Racing ahead
Having competed in seven Wild Warrior Races and their first Devil’s Circuit, Mallika’s medal count has consistently been on the rise, finding her place on the podium seven times, with Jonua and Mathew keen on closing the gap this year. But while they make it look easy, the obstacle courses are nothing close to it. The Wild Warrior Races cover distances from 100 metres to 7 km in select cities across India and require the runners to run, crawl and lift obstacles such as the Atlas Stones and the Bear Crawl. And get this, the obstacle list is released only a day before the race itself. “It’s not like you can predict what obstacles are coming so the training isn’t necessarily mainstream. You focus on building skill and mental strength through the year and then trust your training to get you to the end,” says Mathew. While the number of participants has only increased with each race, Mallika does point out that more women need to overcome their fear and just try it. With the OCR events divided into competitive and non-competitive, there’s seems to be no reason not to.
With Mallika enjoying a brief recovery following her participation in the 2019 Asia OCR games in Manila, the brothers have their eyes fixed on the Devil’s circuit races and are currently laying the foundation work for the next season in 2020. Apart from their Calisthenics workout, they reveal one of their secret sauces as Simple Strong, a daily fitness programme curated by none other than Vikram Menon and his partner, Ashwin Ramdass. But undoubtedly, the sweetest moment of the interview comes when Mathew admits that Mallika is his inspiration when it comes to OCR, much to Jonua’s dismay. And as they begin their chatter again, it feels a lot like I’m a part of a little reality show called Keeping up with the Fernandes’, except we have to admit, no one can!