At some point, most likely at night, but almost certainly in the middle of a forest, a little treasure may bring new life. The fatigue from a five-day, five-night adventure race through the known and the unknowns of Croatia sets in early - delirium arrives a bit later - but when it's day four and the two-person team must keep pushing, perhaps the chocolate-covered coffee bean will emerge as a digestible life-vest.
Matt McLaughlin and Kurt Lynn, two Cathay pilots competing in the Terra Incognita race near Dubrovnik, along the South Adriatic Sea, are banking on such a strategy.
It is the first adventure race for Lynn, the second for McLaughlin and when the pair depart next week for the race, which runs from September 19 to 24, they will navigate over 400km of varied terrain through a combination of trail running, mountain biking, kayaking and whatever else the organisers fancy.
They aren't stressing about the route - 'We know there's going to be hills,' said Lynn - and their primary goals are to finish and stay friends. It's a race, certainly, but because the two aren't professional adventure racers, the line merges between sport, the outdoors, and leading a particular lifestyle.
According to Michael Maddess, the events director at Action Asia, McLaughlin and Lynn fit the sport's ideal demographic: 30-40 years old, bored, but with a disposable income. They also recycle, worry about clean air and fight for the environment.
Adventure Racing is a growing industry in Hong Kong and around the world, but as a term, adventure racing is morphing. It remains in its early standard - multiple days, a mixed team of four, not many teams finishing - but it has shifted to include everything from the popular Action Asia Challenge to a scaled-down adventure-like race that takes just a couple of hours to complete. In Hong Kong, that shift is as geographic as it is economic.