Grueling adventure race challenges all participants

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Erin Dorrance
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  Tears of sweat, pain and joy ran down the faces of 45 hard-chargers who participated in the Special Operations Enduro Challenge VI on Aug. 21.

Two-person teams were faced with a five-mile run, seven-mile canoe course, 300 push-ups and sit-ups, a canoe portage, a one-mile swim, a 12-mile off-road bike ride, a 40-pound rucksack run, an obstacle course, a memory test and firing the M-9 pistol.

The race was run to support deployed troops fighting overseas, officials said.

The 5 a.m. start at MacDill’s Marina sent the participants on their way to endure a four- to six-hour race. Most had competed in triathlons and marathons before but said they had no idea what to expect from the Enduro Challenge.

Tech. Sgt. Fitzroy Howe, a 6th Security Forces Squadron Phoenix Raven, has run 10 marathons, running his best in three hours and eight minutes.

“If I was running a marathon, I would’ve been done by now,” said Sergeant Howe, four hours and 20 minutes into the race.

The teams said they signed up for a number of different reasons.

Capt. Shelley Ray and her husband, Roderick, ran the race for the challenge and to compete together, said Captain Ray, of the 6th Medical Operations Squadron. She said their energy kept them going, and the hardest part of the race was the split event, in which one person swims while the other bikes, perhaps because they were apart.

First Lt. Mara Fair, a 38-year-old finance officer at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and her father, Jack, a 65-year-old retired Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, traveled from Eglin to participate in the race.

They became interested in the event when they heard the race supported the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization which raises money for the children of special operations forces who have died in the line of duty, Mr. Fair said.

“Mara is my idol of an Ironman,” he said referring to his daughter, who had a baby less than four months ago. “We’ll be back for the next one.”