About 500 contestants are expected to "wallow in the mud with other swine, sows and pork lovers" today during the Pig Trail Mud Run in Elm Springs.
Unfortunately, Steve Sheely won't be among them. He's still nursing a knee which got quite a workout three weeks ago in the 14-mile "Spartan Beast" in Columbus, Ohio. But Steely might think the injury was worth it: The race was the final part of a Spartan Trifecta -- a series of three obstacle races -- and he earned a medal.
The mud run and Sheely's adventures are part of a fast-growing sports trend: obstacle-course racing or adventure racing. Competitions are organized by businesses like Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder and Spartan -- all sponsors of events in which Sheely has run. They've also run parallel to his faith and to plans where he pastors, Rolling Hills Baptist Church in Fayetteville.
The adventure racing phenomenon is said to have started in England with the "Tough Guy" in 1987. Competitors, on foot, overcome various physical challenges in the form of obstacles during a race designed to result in mental and physical collapse. Many obstacles are similar to those used in military training to test endurance, strength, speed and dexterity. Races vary in both distance and difficulty, combining trail running, road running and cross country running.
"Tough Guy is a window of opportunity to test oneself, on every discipline in life, in one day," according to the Tough Guy website. "It becomes a fever to achieve, to fail, to come back, to attempt the chunks missed on the previous attempts."
BELLS AND BURPEES
While skill levels of races and competitors vary, so do their motivations. Some want to finish the course with the fastest time and win trophies. Others -- like Sheely -- are happy just to overcome the obstacles.
One of those satisfactions was the Law Vegas leg of the Spartan Trifecta. "You run hard the whole time, and it was hot," Sheely said. "But I didn't miss any obstacles."
Sheely started working to conquer these courses in 2014, he said. The then-51-year-old started with the "Insanity Workout," billed on its website as "the hardest workout ever put on DVD." Sheely compared it to the popular cross-fit training.
Then he competed in a Warrior Dash obstacle race in Tulsa, Okla. "I was hooked," Sheely said. "I was muddy. I was bruised. And it was awesome!"
He competed in five more races last year. "I've been doing it 2 1/2 years now. It's fun, and I keep in shape," he said. "I want to be healthy. I've got young kids, and I want to be around to be a dad to them."
Obstacles vary from race to race. A Tough Mudder in Tulsa included five walls in a row to scale. Another in Oklahoma City included an "electroshock therapy" obstacle -- electric wires across the course for the last mile, which gave runners little "pops" as others watched.
"It created some funny pictures," Sheely said. "There were a lot on Facebook the next day."
And Sheely certainly remembers the bucket of rocks he was handed to carry near the end of that 14-mile Las Vegas course. He did it! No burpees needed.
If a contestant fails to conquer an obstacle, 30 "burpees" are required, Sheely explained.
"A burpee consists of two components," reads the Spartan website. "At the 'bottom' of the burpee, the body and legs are straight and parallel to the ground, with a full push-up with chest touching the ground. At the 'top' of the burpee, the body and legs are straight and perpendicular to the ground, with hands above ears, and a jump with feet leaving the ground."
And some tasks will include a bell to ring after beating the obstacle.
"It's very satisfying to ring that bell," Sheely said.
PRACTICE MAKES POSSIBLE
A serious competitor, Sheely has built himself a series of obstacles in his Fayetteville yard -- and the Ozarks terrain makes it a tough course.
An obstacle course race requires the strength of different muscle groups to complete, and Sheely's structures are designed to use all. "(Obstacles keep) the pure runner honest," Sheely said. "It's whole body energy. That's what I like about it.
Sheely works out in the mornings, four or five times a week, he said. He runs a 250-meter loop and a 600-meter loop, starting at the bottom of his yard -- which runs up a hill -- and then runs through his obstacle course.
After a few windmills of his arms, some deep breaths and even a grunt Wednesday morning, Sheely successfully pulled himself across a set of "monkey bars."
"I couldn't do that when I started," he said.
He crossed more slowly through a set of gymnasium rings. "They'll throw a difficult obstacle at the end of the race," he said. "In Las Vegas, I was hyped up when I finished the rings."
Next, Sheely ran to a wooded area of his yard and a wall emblazoned with the Spartan logo to give him motivation, he said. He put aside a rope used by his sons and was over the wall in just a few seconds.
"And if I can't do something, I do my penalties," Sheely said. "I couldn't not be honest -- some people (skip them), but that's their race, not mine."
Sheely said he also wants to be in shape to handle any burpees that might come his way. In the Spartan Trifecta races, he did 90 burpees in Ohio, 30 in Phoenix and none in Las Vegas, he reported.
Sheely's yard also includes a climbing wall attached to the side of the house, which he crosses rather than climbs; a wire pattern which he crawls under -- going uphill; a tire to drag; cement blocks to "farmhouse" carry; and the newest addition ... a bucket of rocks, which he also carries uphill.
One of the more unusual challenges in races is a spear throw. "They say they have an 83 to 86 percent failure rate on the spear throw," Sheely reported, and he missed it two times this year. So he stacked some bales of hay in his yard and created spears from tool handles. The distance from the bales varies in competitions, he said, but in his yard, he usually throws until he hits the target 10 times. "I've been known to yell at my spear," he admitted.
After several misses Wednesday, the hay bale held the point of the spear as the handle fell to the ground. With the point in, that throw counted, he said. "It must stay stuck in the hay bales."
Sheely said he appreciates the concentration required for throwing the spear. It also gives him time in the race to recover, catch his breath. "The few minutes spent collecting my thoughts is better than five minutes doing burpees," he said.
Sheely knows he can't plan for every obstacle possibility. Organizers throw in new obstacles in different orders all the time, he said. Maps of the race courses and identification of the obstacles are published the day before each race, but Sheely doesn't look at them.
"It's the fun of the sport," he said. "There's not much repetition. Each course is different -- the terrain, the weather. The surprise is fun."
"I think (I enjoy it) because I sit behind a desk and come home to sit in the air conditioning," Sheely said when asked what draws him to the sport. "It's nice to have some risk, some adventure, to get away from your accommodations."
CREATION
At the big obstacle-course races, contestants stay at the event sites during the weekend for soaks in hot tubs and after-parties. But Sheely's Sunday morning responsibilities often find him huddled on an airplane Saturday night moaning in pain, he laughed -- although he did reward himself with a fried bologna sandwich in Ohio.
When he began training, Sheely also adjusted his nutrition. He now eats five small meals a day, he said, and he takes in protein and "juices." He even consulted a University of Arkasnas kinesiology professor about his nutritional needs.
Sheely compares his meal times to the liturgical times of day when he prays. He has studied the monastic life at Subiaco Academy and has modeled his prayer time after the book Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr, a nun at St. Scholastic Monastery in Fort Smith.
Sheely said he sets aside time for prayer when he wakes up, at breakfast, mid-morning, at lunch, mid-afternoon, after dinner and when he goes to bed. He approaches the meal times with the same thoughtfulness.
While Sheely's faith influences his approach to obstacle-course racing, the sport has also influenced him. "The religious influence of obstacle-course racing has been all about the spirituality of creation," he said in a email. "I spend so much time outdoors and on trails that I have rediscovered creation as 'God's first Bible.'"
In his column May 28 in this Religion section, Sheely wrote: "Last week, I ran the nature trail around Lake Fayetteville. Creation was showing off. The privet, honeysuckle and wild roses were all blooming at once, competing to see which was most intoxicating. The bunnies, squirrel and deer were frolicking under the bright, sunlit sky. And the cool morning air reached deeply into my lungs ... Heaven has already arrived."
And members of Rolling Hills Baptist Church are making plan to develop the church's 6-acre plot as an outdoor sanctuary with a trail, contemplative space, gardens, etc.
"It's interesting how all this has meshed together," Sheely said.
NAN Religion on 06/04/2016