THE DESTINATION IS THE JOURNEY

Mark Macy is battling Alzheimer’s the same way he’s tackled every grueling endurance challenge in life— by participating fully and vigorously.

- Brian Metzler

Mark Macy is in his element, lumbering up a steep incline on a path near his home in Evergreen, Colorado, breathing heavily and sweating from the midsummer heat.

It’s an early August morning, and he and longtime friend and endurance sports partner Marshall Ulrich are following his son, Travis Macy, up a shaded, overgrown game trail that will eventually lead to 9,702-foot Bergen Peak. A smoky haze fills the air from a wildfire burning hundreds of miles away, clouding the scene ever so slightly.

It’s an otherwise uneventful hike, except that there is a bit of giddiness that’s hard to ignore. The lighthearted vibe is present, in part because, well, that’s what happens whenever these guys get together, and also because the Eco-Challenge adventure race will soon be broadcast as a 10-part miniseries on Amazon Prime Video almost a full year after all three participated in the event through the wilds of Fiji.

Mark, who has forever been known as “Mace,” is in classic form, telling stories, reliving old race moments, chuckling to himself and generally cracking up everyone around him with his playful, self-effacing wit and contagious laugh.

“Is there even a trail here, Trav? We’re going to wind up in jail if this is private property,” Mark says jokingly in his nasally, high-pitched voice that trails off into laughter. “Picture that, all of us in the slammer after going for a hike.”