Marathon Backstepping: Do’s & Don’ts

This article was originally published in an older edition of MenSport. Some situations may therefore have changed since publication.

For people who struggle to put their trust in someone else, backstepping during the marathon is literally and figuratively not an option. As a backstepper, you have to place almost blind faith in the driver’s abilities.

“But it works both ways,” Frank explains. “If Pieter makes a mistake—which hardly ever happens—it may only affect our final placing. In a worst-case scenario, though, the carriage could overturn.”

The words “which hardly ever happens” perfectly capture the foundation of a successful driver-backstepper partnership: trust.