Locked, loaded and caffeinated: Kildare trio to travel across Europe as part of Red Bull’s ‘Can You Make It?’ challenge

Try to get across Europe using only cans of Red Bull? Challenge accepted!

Three friends from Newbridge are going to participate in Red Bull’s ‘Can You Make It?’ challenge later this month.

Going under the team name ‘The Gents’, the group consists of 22-year-old Daniel Joyce, 22-year-old Gavin Mitten and 20-year-old Tadhg Sharkey.

Daniel has just finished his Final Year of studying Theoretical Physics at Trinity College Dublin, Gavin is in his Final Year of studying International Business with French and Spanish at TU Dublin, and Tadhg is currently in First Year of studying Engineering at the University of Limerick.

Explaining how they heard about the challenge, Gavin told the Leinster Leader: “As only university students could apply, Red Bull came into TU Dublin for an event during RAG week in February to hand out boarding passes for ‘The Adventure
of a Lifetime.’

“I rang the two lads straight away, knowing that they’d be up for the challenge.”

He continued: “As part of the application, we got to make a one-minute video to show why we would be a good fit for the event.

“I had seen a few groups recording their videos in college, talking into the camera for a minute with a Red Bull can in their hands, but I wanted to do something fun and a bit different. You can check out the video we made on our Instagram!”

Answering as a group, ‘The Gents’ explained what inspired them to take part in the challenge: “When we heard what the challenge involved, we knew straight away that we wanted to take part; the thought of all our friends and family watching us struggling through Europe with no money or phones seemed hilarious!”

“It seemed like the perfect adventure to finish college to give us memories and fun stories to tell people for years to come… ‘I travelled across Europe using only Red Bull cans as currency’ is a good answer to almost any ice-breaker imaginable!

“Overall, we just wanted to have a laugh together as a group.”

They further said: “Throughout the week, we’ll have to make our way to at least five checkpoints to take part in various ‘adventure challenges’ against other teams.

“We have no clue what these challenges will involve but seeing as Red Bull sponsor the event we’re excited to find out!

“There are around 300 teams taking part from 60 countries worldwide, and each team starts in one of five starting locations around Europe in a race to Berlin!

“We haven’t been told the prize yet, but it has been described as ‘grand’. We’ll be told at the start line for some extra motivation.”

When asked if any of them have ever gone a bit too hard on energy drinks in the past, Daniel had this to say: “One time, I went way too crazy on the Red Bulls in Dublin and woke up in Belfast… The other contents of the drink I had are irrelevant!”

As for the country they are most looking forward to visiting: “None of us have ever been to Denmark before, so when we were told that we were starting in Copenhagen we were really excited.

“We’ve heard a lot about the city from family and friends and we met quite a few Danish people when we went inter-railing two years ago and they’ve always been great craic.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to experience Danish culture.”

‘The Gents’ also said that, initially, the team consisted of Gavin, Daniel and their other friend Connall: “Unfortunately, after being selected by Red Bull, Connall was unable to take part and decided to pass on this unique opportunity to his brother Tadhg.

“We have known Tadhg for years and are delighted that he is now part of ‘The Gents’.”

Conall Sharkey, Tadhg’s brother, with Gavin and Daniel. Photograph: www.redbull.com.

The trio will be starting the challenge in in Copenhagen with approximately 60 other teams.

The rest of the teams will be starting in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Budapest and Milan.

“We will be provided with an event phone in order to vlog our experience across Europe,” they explained: “We will be uploading daily to Instagram and Tiktok.

“You can keep up with our adventure and suggest any ideas you have for our trip by following our Instagram account at gentsireland_redbull.”

“The challenge begins on Tuesday, May 21, and we should arrive in Berlin a week later on Tuesday, May 28,” they concluded.