2008 Woodie Awards
ODEL instructors one of 93 teams to complete national obstacle course race
Issue date: 4/12/06 Section: News
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Staff Writer
Amy Smallwood, David Karlson and Melinda Karlson of North Greenville University's Outdoor Leadership department participated in an Adventure Race in Blue Ridge, Ga. on Saturday, April 8. The Adventure Race, which is sponsored by The United States Adventure Racing Association, involved a 9- hour obstacle course through roughly 35 miles of the north Georgia foothills. The course pitted 93 teams of racers against each other running, canoeing and biking.
"Each team had a support person, or in our case, a support crew," said Smallwood, outdoor leadership instructor.
Jon Correll, senior outdoor leadership, was the group's support team leader. Lindsey Cabe, senior outdoor leadership; Lindsey Graham, sophomore outdoor leadership; and Kimberly Upchurch, sophomore sport management, also went to assist the racers and represent the school.
"Our support team was awesome. I think we might have had the biggest support team, since a lot of the teams had just one person," said Smallwood. "They were responsible for having stuff ready for us to make quick transitions during the race, and they were on top of things the whole time. They were really encouraging. During the last leg of the race, they found us on the road and drove behind us cheering us on out the windows."
There were several different mystery events in addition to the course itself.
"The most notable was one right in the middle of the race while we were biking along the Toccoa River. There was a checkpoint at the river and a bunch of inner tubes. We were told to strap on our bikes and swim them across the river. It was about 16 feet deep and anywhere from 70 to 100 feet across," said Smallwood. "That just gives you a taste of what the mystery events were. There were others involving climbing over walls in under three minutes, wading through rivers, that sort of thing."
The group placed somewhere in the middle, said Smallwood. The official results are not yet available.
"During the canoeing phase we must have passed about 10 or 20 different groups. We weren't sure what to expect, whether it would be a lake or a river. A bunch of the other teams had just capsized in the rapids towards the beginning, so there were maybe 10 or so boats floating at the front of the line. We were able to make it through smoothly," said Smallwood.
The group, which was sponsored by North Greenville University, began the race at 8 a.m. on Saturday and continued until they finished around 5:30 p.m.
"Our goal really actually wasn't to place first and win," said Smallwood. "We wanted to complete it and have a good time, and primarily to represent North Greenville well. Specifically North Greenville's Outdoor Leadership program, so we just tried and mingle a little with the outdoor community outside of the school and the Greenville area, and of course to represent Christ."