Nearly 170 4-person teams turn out for Bulldog Challenge
BY DAVID QUICK
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Danielle Mroczkowski of the CrossFit Discovery 'Disco Girls' team navigates through the 'Guadal Canal' obstacle Saturday, located in the marsh adjacent to The Citadel, during the 15th annual Bulldog Challenge.
Cissy Prince of Atlanta is certainly no sissy.
Prince, covered in smelly pluff mud almost from head-to-toe, and her team mates on the all-female "Crosstown Queens" were among nearly 170, four-person teams who endured 17 military-style obstacles and finished the 15th annual Bulldog Challenge at The Citadel on Saturday.
"It's salty," Prince observed of pluff mud, which splashed in her face when teammate Alice Keeney tossed a 30-pound sandbag her way in the "Guadal Canal" obstacle.
The mud also was cold.
"It was freezing," said Crosstown Queen's Tessa Blake, noting that temperatures dropped into the 30s Friday night. "When I came out of it (the obstacle), I couldn't feel my legs."
Until the past few years the Bulldog Challenge primarily lured military and police teams, but that's starting to change, according to Capt. Shawn Rickrode, the faculty adviser for the Semper Fidelis Society.
"Probably about 50 percent or more are now civilians," Rickrode said. "The CrossFit community seems to enjoy coming out and running this race."
Local CrossFit gyms, which use a model of small group workouts of short but extremely intense sessions, had 17 teams participate in this year's event.
The event, which is hosted by the Marine society, raised money for the Capt. Warren A. Frank Memorial Leadership Fund, designed to enhance leadership by funding guest speakers who will inspire students with motivational and professional speeches.
Participants said some of the most difficult obstacles were climbing staircases with 30-pound sandbags at Johnson Hagood Stadium, carry a team member on a stretcher at a parking garage near the stadium, doing "flying burpees," and carrying cumbersome water containers in the "water resupply" challenge.
Megan Pritchard (left) and Mike Wilkinson of Team ECO congratulate each other after finishing the challenge Saturday afternoon.
WINNERS
Overall winners: Citadel Marines (NROTC The Citadel); Cory Moyer, Greg Nolan, Dustin Allen, Stephen Marais -- 1:07:28
Other top teams
--Civilians: Zoo Crew, 1:16:06.
--Co-ed and Gym: 3 Jacks and a King (Medical University of South Carolina Wellness Center), 1:26:41.
--Female: Aggie Bulldogs (NROTC Texas A&M), 1:32:36.
--Male (under 19): Swamp Donkeys, 1:24:36.
--Male (20-23): AFSOPT Don't Be Soft (Virginia Tech Air Force ROTC), 1:13:01.
--Male (24-32): Matt Bare, 1:15:33.
--Male (33-40): Team ECO, 1:33:20.
--Male (41-up): Just One More, 1:51:44.