Adventure Race for Kids

Surprise, surprise….I’m a few days late, but here’s the recap of the adventure race the kids did last weekend in North Carolina. The race is the GNAR Kid’s Adventure Race and it was held at Camp Ton A Wandah in Hendersonville. The camp is gorgeous and the event was really well run. Plenty of helpful volunteers were on hand and the food was delicious. An actual pizza oven was brought in for tasty homemade pizzas. And super yummy ice cream. Can’t beat that with a stick. Anyway, here are Davis and Emery at the bike setup. They competed in the mountain bike division. Bodie and Charlie did the non-bike category.

These two…..

Having never done this event before, I did not realize just how challenging and long the race course is. As Bodie and Charlie stood at the start with a bunch of kids way bigger and older I started to panic a little. The course took them way out into the woods where we couldn’t see them for almost half an hour. I was so worried they wouldn’t be able to do the obstacles and that they’d be scared and upset! Turns out I didn’t need to worry at all. They had so much fun and dominated the course.

They’re off! I tried to hide my anxiety as they ran by toward the first obstacle, Mulch Mountain.

Half an hour later, Bodie and Charlie ran back by us at the halfway point and they were loving every second.

One of the last obstacles was to sit in an ice bath or do fifteen jumping jacks. Bodie and Charlie both chose the ice. I wasn’t surprised.

I had another mild panic attack when I realized they had to paddle a canoe out and back, but a volunteer went with them and did most of the work. The volunteers went with every boat, even the older kids, which was a huge relief. Emery has kayaked with me a few times, but has never paddled a wonky canoe. And Bodie has ZERO paddling experience. This was basically a chance for the kids to rest.

Coming down the final stretch! They had to go over/under these wooden jumps.

I love Bodie’s dab and Charlie’s face as they crossed the finish line. I am so proud of these boys!

This floating dock kept the kids busy for hours in between starts. Bodie and Charlie wore their hard earned medals with pride.

Emery and Davis finally get their turn! They also started with Mulch Mountain and then headed into the woods for more obstacles, plus the bike portion. Just like their brothers, they were smiling when they came back by us.

Emery got an assist from Daddy who took her little jacket. She started off wearing it, but quickly got hot and tied it around her waist. This was not ideal, so hubs snagged it from her.