Warriors compete in Ultra Fitness Challenge

By Pfc. Mardicio BarrotMarch 30, 2010

Warriors compete in Ultra Fitness Challenge
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CASEY GARRISON South Korea - Warriors competed individually and in pairs during the Ultra Fitness Challenge held March 27 at Casey Garrison's Carey Physical Fitness Center.

The event was created by Family, Morale, Welfare, and Recreation, Sports Division as a new eclectic event to attract Soldiers interested in polishing their fitness skills.

The Challenge was a true test of core strength and stamina. It began with the participants starting at Carey, sprinting to the Casey Movie Theater where their bicycles were staged and waiting. There, they cycled around the post and up a hill that some described as impossible.

They returned to Soldier Field next door to Carey and flipped tractor tires for 20 yards. When they finished that task, they put on their 35 pound rucksacks and ran for 5 kilometers to Camp Hovey and back.

Medals were given to individual competitors who placed 1 through 3 and to 2-man teams who placed 1 through 3.

Joshua Johnson placed 1 far in front of everyone else in the individual Challenge with a time of 52:41.

"It was fun," Johnson said. "Everybody did a great job, and this was a great day for this event."

Johnson and other Warriors agreed the number of people showing up was more than they expected.

"The turnout was great, which made for good competition," Johnson said. "Everybody was pumped up and pushed themselves from start to finish."

Johnson was fast, said Jeremy Finney, second place runner with a time of 55:58. I'm real competitive, and I started to catch up with him but he just got faster. I was a little disappointed I didn't finish first but I finished second, which isn't too bad.

Some credited their unit's "mottos" to keeping them pumped up during the event.

"Manchu, keep up the fire," said Justin O'Neal, 3 with a time of 1:00:00. "The motto kept me pumped up throughout the Challenge and reminded me to keep my level of intensity up throughout."

Michael Howard and Mark Bruns placed 1 in the team Challenge with a time of 59:19.

Placing 2 in the team Challenge was Kenneth Ball and Daigle Jason with a time of 1:00:35.

Placing 3 in the team Challenge was Brian Brooks and Joseph Frost who finished with a time of 1:05:57.

"This is my favorite type of event," said Randy Behr, USAG-Red Cloud athletic director.

"These events have no limits or boundaries. It is all out strength and competition that drives these events. It takes a dedicated person to compete in a challenge of this kind, and I saw a lot of them out today."

I really enjoyed this event, Finney said. These events build morale in Soldiers and give Soldiers something to do on the weekend, which makes time go by faster. I look forward to participating in a lot more of these in the future.