FIT Challenge-July 2019 – Obstacle Racing Media
FIT Challenge-July 2019 Obstacle Racing Media
We’re taking a look at part of the process of putting up the July F.I.T. Challenge. Here you’ll read about heat warnings, bad volunteers, and lots of hills.
Introduction
Often times when we look at races, we are too busy looking to make judgments about the race rather than appreciating all of the work and effort that goes into each event. We see names for race directors, and there are many names that can be recognized immediately like Trail Master Hammond or Mark Ballas, but more often than not, the name is just a name, or even, not noticed at all. Being a race director is a lot of work, and to be honest, like many of you reading this article, I don’t really know how much works goes into being a race director. When Robb McCoy of F.I.T. Challenge asked me to come up and see part of the action, I did not think twice before accepting the invitation.
Background Information
Robb McCoy-Race Director and Owner
Before I had the opportunity to meet Robb and the gang, I had reached out to him with questions. F.I.T. Challenge is known for winning the title of “Best Small Race Series” by MudRun Guide, but unlike many other races, F.I.T. Challenge does not plan to travel in the near future.
When I originally started talking to Robb, I asked him if he would ever consider expanding his series to some of the southern states. His answer was clear-not anytime soon, because when balancing being a father, and a full-time teacher, it would simply be too much to have the race travel.
As a teacher myself, I immediately became intrigued by the process of this race. I honestly couldn’t imagine balancing creating this race as well as managing a classroom and a family. Not only hosting a race but one that continues to win awards and have its own following that is more passionate than the following of larger series.
Robb informed me that he started his athletic career with football many years ago after his dad had bought season tickets to watch the Patriots, whose stadium was very close to where he grew up. After watching many games, he had been inspired to take on the sport himself, and that’s when a life-long passion ignited. He played through high school and in college, and he continues to pursue that passion through coaching varsity football at the school he teaches at. While he was teaching, he got his first-hand look at OCRs with Spartan and Tough Mudder and decided that he would attempt to create his own race in the area.
Additionally to teaching, coaching, and parenting, Robb works many other jobs as well. McCoy F.I.T. is the name of his company, which is the technical owner of F.I.T. Challenge, and they serve as business consultants to other brands that are popularly known in the OCR Community. Have you ever heard of Wreck Bag or Fierce Gear? Both of those companies are partners with McCoy F.I.T and have worked closely with him to gain success.
Robb claims to have never only worked exclusively as a teacher. He has also coached kickboxing at gyms, taught Wreck Bag exclusive classes at gyms, and been the general manager of an Olympic Weightlifting Gym. So, after teaching a full day each day, he would go over to the gym and work in a management position. He credits much of his success as a small business owner to the experience of managing this gym, as he claims that his boss gave him as much control as he wanted, and he was able to get a feel for which systems work for him, and which ones are flops.
Now when he is not teaching, coaching, or fathering his two children, he is seen around the community doing regular, everyday things. Mostly he is working to benefit others and his community, and of course, I doubt he will ever be able to live down modeling Wreck Bags for the local YMCA.
Aaron Farb-The Everything Guy
Farb, who is almost exclusively referred to by his last name, is known for having many different titles around the F.I.T. Community. When I asked him what his official title was, he laughed. The other members of the crew made other references, such as “The Everything Guy,” and “The One Who Does Everything.” Robb refers to Farb as his right-hand man. Regardless of what his title is or isn’t, Farb plays an extremely important role in F.I.T.
Farb completed the first F.I.T. Challenge back in 2013, and once it was over, he offered to volunteer. After that Farb attended just about every F.I.T Challenge and has offered to volunteer extensively for each one. Eventually, he just became a hard-working part of the team. Now his roles vary, but he is extremely hands-on with the experience. He is part of the building team, will mark the course, check on obstacles, and run whatever other errands he needs to in order to get things done.
When he is not working on things for F.I.T, he is a pharmacist. Additionally, he is in school for nursing, and engaged and busy with wedding planning.
Larry and Ginger Cooper-Full Potential Obstacles
Larry and Ginger Cooper own their own brand, called Full Potential Obstacles. If you’ve raced in the northern part of the country, you have probably seen them traveling at races like City Challenge, Indian Mud Run, and they have previously made appearances at OCRWC. They are most known for their obstacles like the “Destroyer,” a staple for F.I.T Challenge since 2015. Larry and Ginger are from New Jersey and drive with their truck and supplies to come build for races. In this instance, Larry and Ginger drove 6 hours to come build for F.I.T., and they came immediately to the race location to build for several more hours.
Larry does not consider his business a job, but a hobby that he does for enjoyment. When he is not traveling for races, he works in Commercial HVAC. He told me that he loves the job because ever since he has been a kid, he has found much pleasure in taking things apart and fixing them to be better. Larry says he was once offered an office job in his position but turned in down because he did not like the idea of being inside.
Ginger also keeps busy with work when she is not pairing with Larry on building obstacles. She works as a dental hygienist and a personal trainer. She loves both of her jobs, stating that she has some of the best bosses she could ask for. Ginger is almost always smiling, and when she comes to F.I.T. Challenge, she takes on many different roles such as registration, check-in, and selling merchandise, just to name a few.
Out of curiosity, I asked the couple how they got into OCR. Ginger used to play soccer in school, and then afterward began training for half marathons and full ones as well. She fell in love with running. When she met Larry, he absolutely hated running. Because of his love of rock climbing, being hands-on, and being outside, the two agreed that OCR would be a hobby to collaborate their passions, and they have not looked back since.
Jen Lee-Everything Else
In addition to asking Farb what his title was, I asked Jen as well. She also laughed when I asked her, and said: “I pretty much do whatever needs to be done.” Jen has been with F.I.T. for many races now, but mostly takes on roles such as registration, selling merchandise, among others. Also, Jen is part of the build team, and very proud of the fact that F.I.T. presents a female build team along with Full Potential Obstacles. Jen is often the one who puts her foot down in the group to people who are trying to take advantage of Robb’s generosity.
In addition to working with the F.I.T. franchise, Jen is a personal trainer and a single mom of three daughters. Each morning before school, after she drops her oldest daughter off at the high school, she takes her younger daughters to run at a local park. Now, her daughters have built a love for running, and even her 11-year-old daughter has completed 8 laps at the F.I.T. Ultra for the last two years. When she’s not working as a mom, she is caught working twelve-hour workdays every day as a personal trainer/physical therapist at a nearby facility.
Scott-Volunteer Coordinator
I did not have the opportunity to meet Scott during the span of this race. I don’t know much about him other than he is the manager of volunteers, he helps in the building process, and it a member of the team at Bonefrog.
Challenge Preparations
Although I had the opportunity to work with the F.I.T. crew for many days, I had not seen all that went into building this course. I arrived on Wednesday, which was 3 days before the race was to be held.
3 days before the race (Wednesday)
Upon my arrival, after meeting with Mr. McCoy at the airport, we went straight to meet with Robb’s supplier for medals, obstacle mats, shirts, and other gear. His name is Mark, pronounced “Maaaahk” with GO EAST. Mark seemed to have a very “open door” policy with his clients, especially Robb. The two have been a pair since 2014, working on many races together. Maahk walked us around his office, which contained a warehouse with everything that he makes in it as well. Many people don’t know that the F.I.T Challenge uses the same supplier as Spartan Race. Not only that, but this pair works really well together. Robb will just walk in, pitch an idea, and they go from there. There is a laid-back relationship there that is still very professional, but because it is friendly, things end up getting done more quickly.
In this instance, Maahk walked us around his facility and showed us several of the products used to design what is used in F.I.T. and other races. Because Maahk and Robb have such a close relationship, Maahk is willing to work with Robb on providing additional gear that may be unused from other events. Rather than throw it out, it is recycled and used at F.I.T. For instance, the tape that is used to mark the course is a printed green that Spartan Race decided not to use.
Another supplier that works with F.I.T. Challenge is Wreck Bag. As previously mentioned, Robb had been a business advisor to them in the past. We originally went in to grab a truckload of wreck bags to use for Saturday’s race, but we stopped in to talk with the owners as well. They laughed and joked very casually, and told me stories of how they have been working with Robb for a long time, which led to both bad and good, but all very funny, stories of their past. The team mentioned that they are very thankful for Robb and how he has helped jump-start their business, and they are proud supporters of F.I.T. They mentioned that they are working on a new product, which may be released later this year, and if it is, the next F.I.T. Challenges may be one of the first, if not the first, OCR to get their hands on this new product. They wanted to speak with Robb and show Robb designs of their new product, and while they did so, I had to step out of the room (sorry guys!).
After loading an F150 truck bed entirely of wreck bags, weighing 25 lbs each, we were off to the racecourse. We emptied the pile of wreck bags onto the course, where they would be used that weekend. Then, it was time for the first adventure of marking the course.
We loaded up backpacks with arrow signs, and a few rolls of green tape to tag the trees with. Then, it was time to trudge on. We got into the field at Diamond Hill Park, and then we trudged up the hill. “Oh, so the first climb is right away?” I asked.
“Yep!” He said, excitedly.
We made our way over and up the hill, and as soon as we made it to the hill, it started storming. We pressed on anyway because regardless of Wednesday’s weather, the race would still be on for Saturday.
He assured me not to be shy about using packing tape because he does not like to worry about people getting lost on the course. He assured me no matter how much you mark a course, we could pretty much count that someone would manage to get lost. By the time we had gotten there, only a few obstacles of the course had been up. They had set up the Gibbons Experience much earlier in the week with the intention to allow people to attempt (see photo below). The first obstacle of the day was going to be the low crawl, which had already been set up with a bungee-type cord strung around trees going down a hill.
When we made our way down the hill, we talked about the layout of the course. The first climb had been pretty rough, the descend down the backside equally as difficult, and he informed me that there would be at least two more big climbs in the 3-mile course. He said he enjoyed having the layout set up that way because it makes the run more interesting.
Roughly an hour later, and 2/3 of the course had been marked. It was time to call it a day.
We went back to Robb’s house and attempted to eat dinner. It was difficult to hold a conversation with Robb, not because of his mannerisms, but his phone was buzzing constantly with e-mails and social media messages related to Saturday’s challenge. Most of the messages made the same comments: “Are you sure you want to have the race go on even though it’s going to be hot?” and “I can’t make the race now because it’s going to be hot, can I defer my race entry to April?”
F.I.T. has a transfer policy of transferring your race entry to another as long as it is at least ten days out, so to cancel 3 days out did not go over well. Many people asked if the day was going to be transferred to a different date–sadly, what can be difficult to recognize is that having a race costs money, the venue costs, to build obstacle costs, so it is not so easily pushed to another date. So although many of us look at upcoming races and think that it’s easy to transfer, we have to remember that it is not always so easy, and they may not be able to book the same venue.
In addition to receiving numerous calls from race day participants regarding their registration, Robb was also busy answering calls from companies for the race. He had received calls from the city government asking him to renew his entertainment license, which he completed earlier in the month. He had worked out arrangements with companies to deliver ice, as well as an ice bathtub for the athletes. He had arranged for Emergency Medical Treatment certified staff would be on-site to assist in injured athletes. These were just a few of the accommodations that were provided for his athletes. He had spent days prior working endlessly to build relationships from these companies, and have more than enough ice and water supply to last even the 12-hour runners. They also provided lots of baby pools, completely filled with ice, on multiple areas of the course and festival throughout.
Earlier in the day, he had posted a message on Facebook informing participants of all of the measures that F.I.T. was taking to arrange for help regarding heat earlier in the day. Many of the people who responded to that message were very thankful that those accommodations had been made.
2 days before the race (Thursday)
We began our day by visiting Rev’d, a local spin class that Robb visits prior to work in the day, and it served as another reminder of how at the end of the day, Robb is just another normal person. The gym is located near the Patriots Stadium, where he reminisced on old football-related memories.
By 6:30, it was already back to work. His kids were dropped off, and even though the kids were there, he still had to review the names and bib numbers and get ready to send out the race day informational e-mail. Then, it was back to the race day location to build more obstacles.
When we arrived, Larry, Ginger, Jen, Farb, and a few volunteers were there to help build the obstacles. Larry and Ginger keep the same building equipment for the Destroyers and Devil’s Playground each time, so all there was was to be patient and listen to Larry’s instructions. Others went off to build some of the obstacles that are not completed by Full Potential, such as the floating walls. Once all of the obstacles were just about complete, it was time to go back out and complete the final portions of the course marking.
One thing that I appreciate about Robb is that whenever a group of people gets together to work with him, he is very accommodating. He let everyone who stayed to work on the course stay with him, and he feeds his volunteers who work on build days. Additionally, volunteers who work on build days are provided with race-day vouchers to compete.
By the end of this day, the course had been pretty much set up with the exception of last-minute course markings. On this day, many more people were sending e-mails and messages regarding having their race entry deferred. I asked Robb if he was unsure whether or not people would drop from Saturday, and he said that he felt confident that the usual no-show rate would remain the same.
On the way home, Robb pointed out his first venue to me. The first F.I.T. Challenge took place on a smaller, flat field. Participants circled and winded through a flat field, ran through trees, and in the back, many of the original obstacles were provided by a local CrossFit gym. The original F.I.T. Challenge had roughly 1,300 participants, due to advertising on Groupon.
One day before the race (Friday)
By the time I had arrived on Friday, the festival area had been mostly set up. Robb and Jen both brought their children to help fold the finisher t-shirts and help out where they can.
All that was left to do was organize merchandise, hang up signs and flags, and get ready for race day registration. Calls were still coming in regarding trading out registrations, and the answer was still no. Some fitness groups came to sign their teams up, and a few more came to register and collect their gear. Every single runner received a mug, a head buff, a tech shirt, and each runner was supposed to receive a collapsible cup that was going to take the place of having cups at water stations. The problem was, although the cups had been ordered three months in advance, they had not been shipped on time. Robb received an email at roughly 2:30 in the afternoon saying that they were finally shipped in, but they could not be sent out for delivery, and someone needed to go pick them up. We were able to go get them and they were ready on time, but it was a close call!
At registration, a few people showed up to get their gear ready for the next day. Most of the runners who came were ultra runners, who were starting early in the morning. If ultra runners completed the ultra in both April and in this race, they received a plaque for being an “ultra-ultra” runner.
The day of F.I.T. Challenge
On the day of the race, Robb was difficult to locate because he had been trying to meet as many of his participants as he could. He found me, I asked him if he was nervous, and he said “Nope. If you do things right, there’s nothing to worry about on race day. It’s just a waiting game.”
One thing that is interesting about Robb as opposed to things I’ve seen in other races. I have seen many people hang out with race directors after races, drink, and be friendly, but not quite like the way that people try to be friendly with Robb. Robb is very nice, and unfortunately, many of his participants try to squeeze out opportunities to take advantage of him, without recognizing the difference between that and being taken care of. The first example is from the people who stayed at his house and dipped as soon as they completed their lap. It’s not fair to him, and I don’t think that is going to stop until he puts down and tells people no.
The second case of people trying to take advantage of Robb was, and Jen, who worked parking in the morning, knew ahead of time that people would do this, was with parking. Parking at the venue was $10. However, people would pull up to Jen, and say “I know Robb,” expecting to get out of paying. Jen’s response back was hysterical and simple: “I know Robb, too. That will be $10!” It is frustrating that people at this race feel like simply saying that is going to provide them with a discount, or something for free. Additionally, it is good that Jen was working parking, because someone from another OCR media organization came without alerting F.I.T. ahead of time, with a homemade name badge declaring he needed to be allowed in for free due to his position. He paid the $10.
All of the members of Robb’s group had been put in their stations. The startline announcer “Blaze,” was ready to go. Jen and their friend Adam were at parking, Robb was circulating, Larry was at his obstacle “The Devil’s Playground,” , Ginger was working merchandise, and Farb was circulating, checking for safety and to help the runners. I never met the substitute volunteer coordinator, but she was nowhere in sight. Somehow, the volunteers made it to their stations. I actually think it was Farb who told them where to go.
The beginning of the race meant Robb was explaining rules to the ultra runners himself. At one point there were some technical difficulties with the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner, and Robb immediately came up with the solution of a moment of silence, but the team was able to get the problem fixed right away. When the elite runners were up in the minutes following, Robb made the announcements for them, and then went immediately to the Gibbons obstacle.
The Course
The start line was placed on the bottom of a discrete hill, that led right away into a sharp curve on a flatter surface. Some volunteers were sitting at a picnic table, giving words of encouragement before the first climb was coming. After you made your second turn, roughly 300 meters into the race (by my calculation, which is not an exact measurement in the slightest), it was alright time to ascend the first climb of the day.
The first ascend, although rocky, isn’t a terribly long one. As long as you can keep your feet moving, you’ll be up in no time. At the top of the hill, the course veers to the left, to reach a rockier peak. While Robb and I marked the course several days prior, he showed me part of the mountain that was not on the course. Although the course veers left, to the right, there is quite a view. F.I.T Challenge is held at Diamond Hill Park, and the first climb is, well, Diamond Hill. The top of the hill contains a marvelous view. This section of the park had previously been a part of the course, but after receiving some feedback on the descent, that portion had been removed.
After you continue going up the hill and through some rocky areas, you eventually hit a downhill. The downhill is also home to the first obstacle: the low crawl.
Low crawls can be interesting because there are a lot of different ways that crawls can be established in a course. The F.I.T. Challenge team chose to take a bungee-like material and wrap it around the surrounding trees. Although the bungee material was strapped on fairly low to the ground, the give of the cord made the obstacle doable for athletes of all sizes.
Following the downhill was a nice, flat run. Initially, the terrain was slightly rocky, with a two to three-person width. Then there was a simple cargo net climb that was fairly sturdy. Greeting runners afterward was an overgrown single person track. The ground here split in certain areas, adding some tricky footing on a trail that otherwise would have been relatively simple. Coming up soon were the first looks at the major obstacles.
Once you came out of the woods, there was an inverted ladder-type wall. There was a volunteer when I ran through, and I imagine she was there the majority of the run as well. Following that was the opportunity to run through a circle of trees, right into the rope climb. It was a short rope with several knots in it, making it a less than difficult rope. Underneath the rope was squishy, F.I.T. branded safety pads. Once you turned around, it was right to the pegboards. The pegboards slightly varied in height, and athletes were allowed to choose whichever one fit their comfort accordingly. Robb informed me a few days prior that athletes are allowed to wrap their legs around the tree for support.
A few more steps in the woods led athletes to the monkey cargo net. I had never seen one of these before coming to F.I.T. Many athletes began their attempt through this obstacle using an inverted-crawl-type method, while others attempted to monkey through. However, to monkey through was slow and taxing on grip, so many who began using that method did not follow through for the duration of the obstacle. Next up was the Gibbons Rig.
The Gibbons Rig contained a few different elements. The first one obviously, the Gibbons’ brackets. On the far right lanes, there were 6 brackets, separated by 3 feet each. The middle lanes contained 9 gibbons brackets, each 2 feet apart. The final lane on the left was just monkey bars. Following the gibbons (or monkey bars, depending on what you chose), there was another monkey bar, and then a cargo net to go up and over.
Originally, when the rules were set, the elites were required to complete the side on the far right. Then, the rules changed so that the elite women could choose which lane they wanted to complete. And then the rules changed again, saying that both male and females could choose whichever Gibbons lane they wanted to complete. Robb was mandating the obstacle and made those calls based on feedback he received from athletes. The issue with this was that the volunteer coordinators failed to relay the message to their volunteers as well, so when the volunteers who were present were asked what to do, the information was not consistent.
Following the Gibbons Rig was an extremely dry slip wall. I wore my VJ shoes and was able to run all the way up easily. The slip wall originally had crooked steps on the back, but the day before the race, it drove the build team so crazy that they re-did it. (F.I.T. crew please forgive me for using this picture…I did not take another one after it was adjusted! ) Immediately after that was a tunnel crawl.
Twisted tape made you think that the Destroyer 2.0 was coming up next, but it was actually a series of over/under/through walls. Following was another shorter ascend into the woods.
Running through some rocky terrain led athletes into their next obstacle: the first ladder wall. It was built very sturdily into the trees and did not seem to cause athletes many issues. Follow the downhill and you will reach the second ladder wall as well as a two-sided vertical cargo net. A series of volunteers waited at this area to greet athletes. Following that and you met face to face with a relatively tall Irish table.
After working through several more areas where you could actually run, you finally winded your way back to the Destroyer 2.0. Many of the elite runners had a difficult time, not with the “destroyer” portion of the obstacle, but the tires at the end. The tires were still a little slick from the morning dew. Following the destroyer was a run up a hill, with wreck bags at the bottom. Both men and women were expected to carry the 25 lb bag. People could grab a second bag if they didn’t feel like 25 lbs was heavy enough.
The interesting piece of the wreck bag carry was that, not only did you have to carry it up a hill (because let’s face it, usually when we see wreck bags, we can expect to see hills), but you had to carry it over F.I.T.’s teeter-totter obstacle as well. Elite athletes had to carry it with them over the obstacle. Open wavers, Ultras, and Multi-lappers did not. Then, it was up the hill, down the hill, a turn to the right, and already time to put the bag back in the pile.
Then, it was time to go over two tire hurdles (also seen in other races as Rolling Thunder) and on to the floating walls. The floating walls that were in the woods here were the shorter walls, with the back facing toward the runners. People could climb the ladder on the back of the wall to scale the obstacle. But, when athletes made it to the top and were turning their way down the other side, the wall turned horizontally with them. Very scary, but a unique and exciting take on a standard wall.
Then it was time for more running in the woods. This new trail looped you to the backside of where the herd of volunteers was located earlier, and runners were greeted with another tilting floating wall. This time, the wall was taller (I’m short and my perception of height isn’t always perfect,) and if I had to guess, I would assume it was 7 feet. Unlike the other floating wall, this one had the wall side facing you, so unless you were confident in your jump, it was more difficult to get to the other side.
More running later, and there was a cargo net climb. The net on this cargo shifted with movement, so competitors going through this obstacle had to slow it down to ensure safety. Luckily, the camaraderie of this race is outstanding, and many of the contestants were willing to hold it still for the next person.
Many more rocks later, and you came across the “OS” hill. Unlike the other climbs of the day, this hill was going down. The dirt on this hill, with the mixture of its trees and rocks descending down, will make you realize why people call it the “OS hill” really quickly! There was a sharp turn at the bottom and a little bit more running until the trail opened up and you could see the last two obstacles.
Next up: the Devil’s Playground. Man, this is one that I had been thrilled to try for ages. Although it looks like a shorter version of the Stairway to Heaven from Conquer the Gauntlet, this Full Potential Obstacles creation certainly is not. What makes this obstacle difficult is one, you have to start from almost sitting, and also, in between using the planks to grab, you have to alternate your hands onto the bar that is holding the plank as well. It is an extremely difficult obstacle, but one that will certainly keep your training on your toes…and completely humble you if you haven’t.
The Devil’s Playground was the appetizer for Full Potential’s first award-winning obstacle, the Destroyer, and then it was on to the finish.
Breakdown/Other Race Day Shenanigans
Afterward, I noticed how everyone on the crew was kind of scattered. I didn’t see many of anyone else until it was time to come to other obstacles. The only person I had seen during that time was Larry posted at Devil’s Playground, eagerly waiting to tell people that they could not use their feet while climbing up. Once the top finishers came, Robb and Farb were waiting at the finish line to distribute medals.
At the end of the day, there were several different media sources who were there looking to get attention. Unfortunately, some of the people who were there were looking to cause some trouble. At one point I saw Robb being interviewed by someone and the interviewer said while recording Robb’s response, “a lot of people didn’t like the layout of the course, because they said the trees made it feel like heat was being trapped, what do you have to say to that?” Let me tell you, I was on that course. I was on site all day, and I spoke with many participants and volunteers. Not a single person actually said that. It was just an instance of someone trying to cause problems.
The breakdown began that afternoon, and ultra lapping competitors were told that they were then having to do obstacle-free laps at 2:30. But, there was another problem. Originally, the ultras were told they were not going to have to start obstacle-free laps until 3:00. On race day, some people went around and obstacle-free laps started at 2:00. Someone else said that the obstacle-free laps started at 2:30. Regardless of who said what, nobody said anything to the volunteers about what time the obstacle-free laps started. So, when runners came through and started asking whether or not they needed to complete obstacles, they weren’t sure.
I notified Robb right away, and he let the substitute volunteer coordinator know so the message could be passed on. But then, another problem came. Some of the volunteers were told to take down some of the course markings. They started taking down ALL of the course markings…even though there were runners still on course. Luckily, at this point, the runners who were on course had been on course for 8 hours and were relatively familiar with where they needed to go. Some were not. A few runners claimed to have gone off course. Some used that in order to cut the course significantly.
The breakdown of many of the other obstacles was fantastic. A group of recruits from a local army base came and were incredibly willing to help. Many of the volunteers who had signed up to help with breakdown left early on in the day, and never came to work their volunteer shift. After Jen’s suggestions, the volunteers who did not show up for their volunteer shift were sent a bill for their race.
The breakdown of obstacles with Larry was excellent. If I could recommend to a race company to use Full Potential Obstacles, I would not just on the fact that his obstacles are great, but the breakdown of those obstacles is quick and painless as well. He and Ginger have a system that is unbeatable.
Lessons Learned
From working with Robb for the last several days, I learned a lot about putting on a race.
One, I learned how important it is to have built connections in your area. Robb had made connections with local printing companies, the parks, and rec department, and gyms in the area, just to name a few. I don’t think that Robb would have the success that he would if he had not built connections. The connections he built are important also because they are a reflection of the job that he has put in. I know that those connections would not be as strong if he did not do a good job.
Two, I learned it is important to have a strong team. I know that F.I.T. is often identified as Robb’s creation, and although it is primarily Robb’s creative vision, Farb, Jen, and the Coopers are phenomenal at filling in the pieces and putting it all together. Not only that, but there are people there who celebrate the victories with you, and can help bring you back up when you feel like things aren’t going the way you imagined they would. Also, I know that the un-successes could have been prevented with a stronger volunteer coordinator, and I am looking forward to more F.I.T. adventures where the entire team will be together.
Three, I learned just how important it is to build a community involving your event. 100s of people were asked during this event what their favorite part about the race is, and the first thing that all of them said was that it was because the community was so kind and loving. You are not going to have the same feel at large races. Even though the course is exceedingly challenging, people find a way to bond over this event time after time… to the point where they feel as though they all have very personal relationships with Robb.
I learned how important it is to have good volunteers. Because a community like this is so in love with the event, there were several good volunteers who were excited to be a part of the event. Seeing how helpful the Army Recruits were was really encouraging. Additionally, because they were so thrilled to bring such a large group and get to be helpful. The participants in that event are going to have really strong leadership skills from continuing to come and give up their time to be a part of a community event so willingly.
Lastly, I confirmed my belief that directing a race, while working full-time is really challenging. All of the people who put on F.I.T. are those who give up so much of their time so that they can build something that unites a group of people while giving them an experience they’ll never forget. The fact that these people can do so much and still be able to unite a group the way that they do is pretty damn inspiring.
So, if you have heard about F.I.T. Challenge and you’re not sure if it lives up to the hype, take my word for it, it does. It pairs unique obstacles with interesting terrain, and to add a cherry on top, a supportive community. It is definitely one to mark off on your bucket list!
Top finishers of single-lap elite wave:
Men:
1st-Jarrett Newby
2nd-Jeremy Goncalves
3rd- Javier Gutierrez
Women:
1st-Cassandra Ohman
2nd-Jennifer Dowd
3rd-Kristen Cincotti
Sarah Hetzel