1st Annual Crossbones Spring Dash

A course was mapped out. Exercises picked. Signs made. Breakfast planned. All that was needed was a time keeper. Lucky for us, Charlie Brown showed up asking if he could help in some way. At 0600 YHC arrived at Town Commons to see Steamy, Light Bulb, T-Bone, and Pepperoni setting up for breakfast. Stretch was also there ready to help plant the signs for the race. Bono, with a servant heart, arrived shortly after asking if he could help. YHC is always humbled by the men of F3ENC and their servant leadership.  All men mentioned above were a major part of why the race was a success.  Thank you all.

As 0700 came near, the number of PAX increased and a circle began to naturally form. YHC passed the course map around to ensure everyone knew the route. YHC also informed all of the PAX the signs would have arrows pointing the way.  At 0700 we had 17 PAX ready to race and 1 Rucker (Hurricane didn’t get the memo we were racing) who would hump the course with a rucksack on his back.  YHC explained the rules of the race. If you want to be in the Competition Class do 30 reps at each pain station and 30 yards at the bear crawl. If you want to be in the Finisher Class do anywhere between 10-30 reps and 10-30 yards for the bear crawl.

T-Bone led us in a motivational prayer and we were ready to line up at the start.

 The Race

The starting line was at the bottom of the parking lot down by the river. Charlie Brown Qed the start “ready, set, go.” The pain stations were as follows:

1. Merkins
2. WW1 Sit-ups
3. Squats
4. Burpees
5. Imperial walkers
6. Climbers
7. Lunges
8. American Hammer
9. Bear Crawl
10. Wide arm Merkins
11. WW2 Sit-ups
12. Side Lunges
13. Ranger Merkins
14. Jump Squats
15. Crunchy Frogs
16. Plank Shoulder Taps

The first 7 pain stations were set up around the perimeter of the Town Commons park. This means in less that the first mile, the PAX had done nearly half of the pain stations. The pain was felt by all. Every pain station was dreaded by YHC because he is not the fastest at pumping out reps. This was especially true for the burpees. Where Bono overtook YHC despite starting 7 behind him. The burpee station was also when Backflip (The Closed Hand’s 2.0) shot out in front of YHC. YHC cannot speak for anyone else, but the merlot was close to spilling after pain station #7.  YHC thought about slowing down, but Stretch was beside him and Bono was on his heels. The race for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd was close. Each pain station gave Stretch, Bono, and YHC a chance to gauge where the competition was. Stretch and Bono kept gaining ground on YHC at the stations but as the stations became farther apart, YHC began to hit his stride.

While the race for 1st was going on, there were other story lines happening as well.  Tonka and Bush were getting lost and adding mileage to the race for themselves, attention to detail men ;).  It’s a shame too, they probably would have finished 4^th and 5^th rather than 12^th and 13^th.  Most importantly, there were other racers pushing themselves hard and running at personal best paces. This was Tater’s first 5k, Mr. Belding looked faster than I have ever seen him as he approached the finish line (and the look on his face was pure determination), Peaches (a fairly new member of the PAX) was looking like a seasoned F3 veteran, Sarge and Wok n Roll showed what it means to never give up (there were no excuses coming from these guys today, they were here to finish). Also, we were able to witness Backflip out sprint his old man at the finish line.

The results are below:

18^th – Sarge – 1:12:40

17^th – Wok n Roll – 1:11:10

16^th – Hurricane – 51:23 (Rucking)

15^th – The Closed Hand – 49:41

14^th – Backflip – 49:40

13^th – Bush – 49:37

12^th – Tonka – 49:07

11^th – Tater – 45:55

10^th – Mellow Johnny – 45:18

9^th – Mr. Belding – 45:01

8^th – Free Bird – 44:53

7^th – Duff – 44:25

6^th – Lachey – 44:20

5^th – Early Bird – 44:14

4^th – Peaches – 44:05

3^rd – Bono – 38:44

2^nd – Stretch – 37:39

1^st – Gazelle – 37:18

Moleskin

There is nothing like the competition of a race to push you to achieve your best. YHC knows not all of the PAX will be able to sign up for and attend a race with other members of the PAX this Spring and Summer. YHC also knows the PAX who do race benefit from each workout and race where they push their bodies to the limit. Hopefully, today was the first of MANY “Sprint” or “Dash” events F3ENC will put on.  YHC would like to see a “Dash” event every spring and fall to help the PAX get ready for the racing seasons. Thanks to all who posted. Iron sharpened Iron today, and we all walked away stronger for it, and a little sore.