You’ve heard of people backpacking across Europe with little money and food.
Three young university students from this province will do it with nothing but two dozen cans of Red Bull.
Myranda Bursey, Laura Hillier and Cassidy Welsh are fourth-year biology students at Memorial University who call themselves the Biohazards — one of three university teams chosen to represent Canada at the international Red Bull Can You Make It competition next month.
Beginning April 10, more than 200 university teams from around the world will participate in the event, which will see groups start simultaneously from five different starting points in Europe — Madrid, Budapest, Manchester, Stockholm and Rome —and make their week-long journey to Amsterdam, the finishing point.
The catch is that teams are not permitted to have any money, credit cards or phones. Instead, they’re given 24 cans of Red Bull, which they’ll use to barter for food, accommodations and transportation.
Along the way, groups create their own path by visiting six checkpoints in various European cities. Using a smartphone — provided by the company, equipped with an unlimited data plan, a special app and a GPS tracking system — they will post photos and videos of their journey, completing as many tasks on the adventure list as they can and receiving support from their followers back home.
Teams get points for successfully completing challenges, and are rewarded with more cans of Red Bull after reaching each checkpoint.
The event is not about who makes it back first. It’s about who accumulates the most points and makes it back at the end of the week. The team with the most points wins the grand prize, which has yet to be announced.
“We’re really exciting,” Welsh said during a recent interview with The Telegram at a local coffee shop. “We’re not nervous yet, but we might be when we start.”
It was Bursey’s idea to enter the team after noticing a post about the contest on a fellow student’s Instagram account. The student, Emma Duke, is also a Red Bull representative.
“I love travelling, so I said, OK, I want to do this,” said Bursey. “I thought it would be something awesome we could do together. When I asked the girls, they were so down with it.”
The trio are from different parts of the island — Bursey grew up in Hare Bay, Hillier is from Corner Brook and Welsh lives in Mount Pearl — but have been tight-knit since starting their program at MUN.
“We didn’t know each other four years ago, but we’ve been best friends ever since,” Hillier said.
“When Myranda told us about it, we all thought it would be so cool. My exact words were, ‘It wouldn’t hurt to apply.’ I was super excited about it, but I never thought we’d actually get this far with it. I definitely didn’t think we’d make Top 12.”
The Biohazards were chosen from hundreds of entries in Canada after entering the contest with their creative video, with the help of friends Liam Dawe, owner of Altitude Media, and James McKinnon.
In the video — which can be viewed online at https://canyoumakeit.redbull.com/en/teams/745/ — the women showcase various parts of the metro area and display their Newfoundland charm.
“I watched a lot of videos before we did ours,” Welsh said, laughing. “Most of them were just previous footage of them skiing or on a vacation or something. We wanted to be different. We wanted to make it our own.”
With the Top 12 selected from voting numbers, they spent five days promoting it every way they could — texting friends and family, messaging acquaintances and even messaging other teams from other countries to exchange votes.
“It was the most stressful thing ever,” said Bursey, who noted it was fortunate they were on midterm break at the time.
“It was stressful,” Hillier added. “My phone (battery) was on 100 per cent at 9 a.m. and zero per cent by 11 a.m. because we were just constantly on it, trying to promote us and get people to vote. After those five days, I didn’t want to look at my phone for days.”
They ended up getting the fourth most votes in Canada out of more than 100 entries from across Canada. It was then up to the judges to decide which three teams would be chosen to go to Europe.
When they got the call that they were selected as one of the Top 3 — along with teams from the University of Quebec in Montreal and Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S. — they were elated.
“I saw a call on my phone from Vancouver. … When the woman said, ‘Hey, this is Meghan from Red Bull,’ my heart jumped,” Bursey said. “I texted Laura and Cassidy right away. We couldn’t believe it. We’re so stoked.”
The trio — whose starting point will be Stockholm, Sweden — hasn’t talked strategy yet, but say they’ll use their friendly personalities and Canadian charm to get help along the way.
“Everybody loves Canadians,” Hillier said.
When asked what each person’s role will be, all agreed Hillier and Welsh will be the planners and voices of reason in the group, while Bursey will be the go-getter.
“Myranda is crazy,” Welsh said, laughing. “She’ll do anything and talk to anyone.”
And whether or not they win, all say it will be an adventure of a lifetime.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Hillier said. “We’ll definitely come home with a lot of great memories.”
Twitter: TelyRosie
