Westrunner Birthdays

Birthdays are a somewhat different affair in the vast deserts of Dunahein than they are in many parts of the world. While there is a certain degree of celebration, many birthdays past the earliest years are marked with tests.
These range in exact details from place to place, and age to age, but they almost all involved physical trials of various sorts. From climbing difficult cliffs to running deliberately set up obstacle courses to traversing dangerous patches of the desert, many of the trials contain a notable presence of danger as well.
While they are all challenging, and success is seen as a sort of right of passage in most parts of Dunahein, in some these are seen as more of a game than a grueling test. OFten times rather than being solely for the one whose birthday it is, these trials will be set up as a race between many of the locals of around the same age.
These trials can have prizes as well, sometimes offering different rewards for the birthday bearer based on their performance, or perhaps even giving gifts to someone else depending on who won the race.
After the trials there is often more traditional celebration in the forms of music and feasting, in honor of the accomplishments of the birthday bearer, not only in the trials of that day but in their life thus far.
After much of the commotion of the day, things take a quieter turn towards the end of the day, when the birthday bearer and their closest friends or relatives gather to reflect on the lives they've led and the choices they've made. This is begun from a fairly young age, as the Westrunner hold somewhat more respect for the feeling and choices of their younger members than some other cultures.