04.16.11: Navy SEAL Extreme Off-Road Challenge Set #1

Perhaps my favorite race - less muddy but a little longer and much more demanding than the Marine Mud Run held every September at Melton Hill Park, this is in fact one of the most brutal races around, boasting a total of 2400 feet of elevation change (including scaling a near-vertical ridge) and a full-blown obstacle course - including log jumps, run along a balance "beam", wall climbs, & more - , a run through a 50-70 foot long x 4 foot deep pond, run through a creek to a rope climb up a sheer cliff, all in only 3.5 miles. Weatherwise, it looked bad - rain poured all night long until well after sunrise, and with the cloudy-rain-likely forecast, it was shaping up to be a difficult day for those without all-weather cameras (like me). Fortunately about 1½ hours before the race the rain stopped and the skies cleared until mid-afternoon - in all no one could have asked for better weather (except for maybe the runners, some of whom had difficulty with all the mud). In addition to my stills, Dan's son Drew ran with a video camera strapped to his chest (thankfully the camera was waterproof; otherwise Drew would have hosed it at the pond crossing - see photos 1466, 1467, & 1468) and Dan also had a few friends run the race with video cameras (both head-worn & hand-held) for first-person style documentation. He does this with the ATV & mountain bike races he hosts too.

At the top of the men's leaderboard was a face very familiar to Dan - his son Drew, who finished the course in under 50 minutes - 49:56 to be exact. The second one across the line was a boy who was part of a team but started with the individual men (two minutes before the teams started) and left the rest of aforementioned team behind. All teams are supposed to compete together and get the time of the slowest member, so he didn't get second, but his time was still quite impressive and Dan brought him up front to recognize him for that (see photo 2242). The second and third place runners were Chris Johnson (52:54) & Matt Blaylock (54:45). On the women's side, Jenny Smith ripped through the course in 55:23 to take the top spot. Joining her on the podium were Ginny Hotze (1:03:23) & Susan Finney (1:04:35). Team-wise, Tomahawk16, consisting of Tomas Phipps, Alex Kiratzis, Kevin Nudlex, & Kizzer Randall, was the first team to hit the chute, in a time of 1:05:07.

This gallery is complete. There are more photos that were taken by Jim & Sheryl Tannahill and Morgan Smith. These appear in Set #2 here: http://www.krosskountryphotography.com/Sports/SEAL-Extreme-Challenge/041611-Navy-SEAL-Extreme-set-2/16818521_M3CPtV#1269234864_3wTDJxM

Prints from this event are for sale at the following prices:
4x6: $3
5x7: $5
8x10: $10
Shipping will be $3-4 depending on print size.

Digital files are also available:
"Small" file suitable for web use (FaceBook, MySpace, etc.) or printing up to 4x6/5x7: $5
"Large" file good for printing up to an 8x10: $10

Please e-mail me at krosskountryphotography@yahoo.com or shutter_beetle@yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments, or to place an order.

Ken Ross