Last year I revived it and 21 brave souls showed up. “No snivelers, whiners, or cheaters.” I was satisfied with the results. With it came a lot of work. The customization of challenges was tedious and while it turned out pretty well, it was getting unwieldy. Difficult as it is however, each year, once I finish the challenges, I feel like a parent at Christmas that has gotten their child the coolest present that he or she doesn't even know exists. This year, I felt like I did that for the entire family.
This event is not mainstream. You’ll either get it or you won’t. If you get it, welcome home. If you’re looking for fun 5-K, there are plenty of those to be found. I was initially against making it a competition other than a personal one. But based on the fact that I was spending a lot of time coming up with individualized challenges, I needed to make the event scalable, less reliant on individuals. Even stalwart friends have things that come up. With the increased interest, I wanted a format that would permit increased participation without me wasting my time.
I had previously thought of an 'urban orienteering' event. One that retained the spirit of the Gut Check while making it slightly more accessible. I wanted to expand the participation while retaining the individuality that sets it apart. I also wanted to incorporate some of the previous Gut Check Challenges into the mix.
I decided to keep the event to at least 2, but not more than 3 hours. To push individuals to give it their all, I made it a competition and adjusted the points based on whether they were a cyclist, runner, male, female, and masters 50. I also wanted to take into account total fitness, so I incorporated a 'gym' portion consisting of strength exercises which would reward the fittest person overall.
Back
Next