thedrifter
09-18-06, 11:32 PM
Marines seek a few tough competitors
DOWN AND DIRTY
By CHUCK CRUMBO
ccrumbo@thestate.com
Billed as a race of “mud and guts,” the 13th-annual Ultimate Challenge Mud Run on Saturday promises to be even muddier and guttier. While the course remains the same length — about 4.3 miles — it’s much tougher, organizers said.
“Some of the obstacles and ditchers are bigger, we’ve added a couple of new 10-foot walls,” said Maj. Brendan Rodden of the Marine Corps Reserve Center at Fort Jackson, which hosts the event.
Also, planners have brought back a rope swing, requiring participants to grab a rope and swing over a 25-foot-wide, 3- to 5-foot-deep water-filled ditch.
Saturday’s mud run, which starts at 8 a.m., is the largest of its kind in the Carolinas and Georgia, Organizers say.
It could draw as many as 500, four-member teams, Rodden said. Through Monday, 375 teams had registered — 99 more than competed in last year’s event, Rodden said.
The increase is good news for the Greater Columbia Marine Foundation, which puts on the event as its only fund-raiser to help Marines and their families.
In the past year, proceeds have been used to fly parents and siblings of wounded troops to military hospitals overseas as well as cover the lodging expenses of relatives who attend funerals of fallen Marines in the Midlands, said Jim Vinyard of the Marine Corps League’s “Speedy” Wilson Detachment No. 1141 in West Columbia.
Proceeds also are used to fund $1,000 scholarships at the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.
About $15,000 was cleared from last year’s event after expenses.
“We play it by ear a lot because these unfortunate situations come up,” Vinyard said. “The money is used primarily to help Marines and Marine families in need, but we would not turn down an Army family” or other service member.
Obstacles on the running course are named for battles and places locked in Marine Corps history and lore. Belleau Wood, for instance, features three sets of rolling hills, two sets of “stairway to Heaven” ladder climbs and five 6- to 9-foot drop-offs. Mount Suribachi is a 90-foot-long, 45-degree incline and Heartbreak Ridge consists of zigzag ridge crossings.
The mud run offers participants “a taste” of what a Marine recruit might face in boot camp at Parris Island, Rodden added.
Teams come from across the region. Entries range from high school Junior ROTC classes to athletics clubs to businesses.
This year’s run will include a 5K fun run and 10K cross-country challenge. Also, Columbiana Hummer, a sponsor, is hosting a “Hummer Happening” in which owners can navigate a trail carved out of the piney woods of Fort Jackson.
Ellie
DOWN AND DIRTY
By CHUCK CRUMBO
ccrumbo@thestate.com
Billed as a race of “mud and guts,” the 13th-annual Ultimate Challenge Mud Run on Saturday promises to be even muddier and guttier. While the course remains the same length — about 4.3 miles — it’s much tougher, organizers said.
“Some of the obstacles and ditchers are bigger, we’ve added a couple of new 10-foot walls,” said Maj. Brendan Rodden of the Marine Corps Reserve Center at Fort Jackson, which hosts the event.
Also, planners have brought back a rope swing, requiring participants to grab a rope and swing over a 25-foot-wide, 3- to 5-foot-deep water-filled ditch.
Saturday’s mud run, which starts at 8 a.m., is the largest of its kind in the Carolinas and Georgia, Organizers say.
It could draw as many as 500, four-member teams, Rodden said. Through Monday, 375 teams had registered — 99 more than competed in last year’s event, Rodden said.
The increase is good news for the Greater Columbia Marine Foundation, which puts on the event as its only fund-raiser to help Marines and their families.
In the past year, proceeds have been used to fly parents and siblings of wounded troops to military hospitals overseas as well as cover the lodging expenses of relatives who attend funerals of fallen Marines in the Midlands, said Jim Vinyard of the Marine Corps League’s “Speedy” Wilson Detachment No. 1141 in West Columbia.
Proceeds also are used to fund $1,000 scholarships at the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.
About $15,000 was cleared from last year’s event after expenses.
“We play it by ear a lot because these unfortunate situations come up,” Vinyard said. “The money is used primarily to help Marines and Marine families in need, but we would not turn down an Army family” or other service member.
Obstacles on the running course are named for battles and places locked in Marine Corps history and lore. Belleau Wood, for instance, features three sets of rolling hills, two sets of “stairway to Heaven” ladder climbs and five 6- to 9-foot drop-offs. Mount Suribachi is a 90-foot-long, 45-degree incline and Heartbreak Ridge consists of zigzag ridge crossings.
The mud run offers participants “a taste” of what a Marine recruit might face in boot camp at Parris Island, Rodden added.
Teams come from across the region. Entries range from high school Junior ROTC classes to athletics clubs to businesses.
This year’s run will include a 5K fun run and 10K cross-country challenge. Also, Columbiana Hummer, a sponsor, is hosting a “Hummer Happening” in which owners can navigate a trail carved out of the piney woods of Fort Jackson.
Ellie