When you first meet Ray Balks you see an impressive executive. Get chatting to Ray and you’ll quickly learn he travels the world competing in obstacle and Ninja Warrior style events with his wife Glen.
Ray is the Manager of Stakeholder Relations with Idemitsu Australia. He’s been in the mining industry for many years starting his career as a mining engineer at what is now Bulga Coal in the Hunter Valley.
He was the drill and blast engineer there for seven years before being employed by one of the Hunter’s leading explosive suppliers and eventually took on the role of marketing.
“I ended up working for their Asia Pacific team which gave me the opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea and Asia and spent 12 months in China. I finished with the company just before they became Orica and had a break from mining,” said Ray.
From there Ray spent 16 years with Thiess working across regional NSW and QLD before landing his role with Idemitsu Australia.
It was in 2017 that Ray discovered his true passion.
“My wife Glen decided it would be a good idea to enter the Winter Warrior event at Lake Keepit just outside of Tamworth. I begrudgingly decided to go along as her sidekick.
“Little did I realise it was a course with freezing cold water, mud and obstacles – but it was a whole lot of fun.
“A couple of years later, Glen did some lessons at a local ninja gym. She would come home and show me videos of what she did and it looked impossible!
“She had so much fun that she signed us both up for a Tough Mudder event and from then on, we were both hooked. I can take or leave the mud through,” laughed Ray.
Ray and Glen have travelled the world competing including across the ditch at the Ultimate Athlete event and have competed in more than half a dozen events this year already.
“We’ve competed in NSW and QLD, and we’ll be heading over to Sweden to compete in the Tough Viking. And a couple of weeks after that we have been fortunate enough to be selected into the Australian Obstacle Course racing team for the world championships in Sweden.
“Our mantra is to complete everything uninjured. We look at all the obstacles and the challenges and do as much as we can, people think we’re crazy!”
The most challenging event they’ve competed in though is the Spartan Trifecta. On the first day athletes complete a 21-kilometre event with 30 obstacles, and on the second day a 10-kilometre and straight after a 5-kilometre event.
“What made it even more challenging was that the long run was up an incredibly steep mountain, even the elite athletes found it difficult!”
Ray turned 70 not too long ago and said while he doesn’t see that as special everyone tends to comment on how significant that age is to still be competing in this style of sport.
“Age is no excuse. My advice to anybody is to just turn up whatever you think your limitations are. Mobility and movement are the key to aging healthily and the way to do that is to start, just do something.
“You can never put limitations on yourself. I had my third back operation last year and I made my way back from that. In January I had a major heart attack and I have come back from that as well.
“I am in the best shape that I’ve been in my whole life so there are no excuses whatever your situation, you just have to show up and bring your a-game.”
