Bridging Abilities Obstacle Challenge Review

Photo Credit: Henry Marte

So a wile ago a friend of mine (Amy Reichenbach) had an awesome idea, one that is no small feat. Starting her own charity ocr. Her decryption of the event is as follows:

About The Bridge Center:
The Bridge Center is a non-profit that specializes in affordable, year-round therapeutic recreation and equine-assisted therapy programs for individuals with disabilities. All proceeds from this event will directly support the participants that take part in Bridge Center programming.

About the race:
This spring, The Bridge Center is challenging runners, racers, and walkers of all ages and abilities to take part in our 1st annual Bridging Abilities Obstacle Challenge! This event will include a kids' race, an all-abilities fun run for individuals with disabilities and their families, and also a 5K obstacle race that will have racers jumping, climbing, and crawling around our property!

Highlights include:
· All participants awarded a medal and t-shirt!
· Course length options to suit anyone from children to elite runners
· Guest speaker adaptive athlete Geoff Krill, free childcare while you race, vendors, raffles, and food truck!
· Prizes for placing in our 5K Obstacle Race
· Opportunity to inspire and be inspired by our amazing young athletes!

she also had a virtual 5k, and  all to benefit the bridge center, in bridgewater, ma. Their web cite can be found here it is a great place. A while lot of work went into this event, with help from race local favorite F.I.T. Challenge,  and Gladiator Training Grounds (They both have races later this year). They had free child care, a food truck, a guest speaker Geoff Krill, as many laps as you wanted and carnival games for the kids. Needless to say there was a whole bunch going on that day.


So the race was one that was family friendly, and yet, you could still have a challenge, it was not too easy.
So the obstacles were a bunch of fun as well:slatted walls, tunnels, log balance beams, log carries, mud crawls, cargo net, a water bucket carry, a plank walk across a pond (I think about a 2x6) pull/paddle back across the pond, pick your poison, rock carry, wheel barrow weave, spider bars, hay bales,wall jump, big slatted wall,over under through walls, tire walk, more walls, a double up, and an 8 ft wall. So some of the big things are the Pick your Poison obstacle, which was great. It was an option of traverse rings, heavy overhead pull, with no pully, peg boards, various fourms of weighted, or unweighted box jumps, or step ups.

Double up Photo credit: Henry Marte

Spider Wall was also pretty cool, think a low hanging monkey bar, but they took out a bar to add to the challenge. Spider video here

Peg board Photo Credit: Jeanine Peirce

Traverse rings Photo credit: Jeanine Peirce

The course was 5k distance, and all flat, around the facility, and through the woods. There was plenty of mud, mostly ankle deep. The one spot that it got real muddy, was where you were supposed to crawl through for about 5 yards. Then across the water twice in fun ways, one was the short bridge, the other swim/float across. followed up with more trails, then into the barn, and back to the main area.

Muddy Crawl Photo Credit: Brianna Palardy

So now on to how it went, I got there after a few waves went out, and herd about a bunch of people getting lost. now this happens, but what doesn't happen you may ask? a volunteer walking up to somebody who just finished, asking for feedback, and then putting volunteers right where my friend said he got lost. So where he got lost, when I went around, an hour later, The course had the volunteers standing in the right spots, guiding s the whole way through! At the stat line, Stephen Mello, (who helped with course design, as well as other things I am sure) gave us the rundown of the courser, and where people were lost, kept an eye on us, over looking what was going on in his general area. So keep this in mind next year, it is an ocr, that is a whole bunch of fun, and helps to give back to a wonderful facility. Amy's hard work has payed off, in my opinion, she did a good job, and it did not feel like her first race.

So in summery, a good local ocr, that is fun, challenging, and helps with a great cause, and i hope this continues to be a success, in a world that can be challenging to make a charity ocr, she seems to have done it, which is no small feat!

Until next time,
Keep training
Stephen