Day One of Oklahoma City Challenge in the Books
November 17, 2011 | Softball
Nov. 17, 2011
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's early
When my phone vibrated at 5:30 this morning and I read the text, "Meet at KFEC" I knew we would be in store for an exciting day one of the Oklahoma City Challenge. KFEC stands for the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center. You are probably wondering why on earth we would be going there to compete in a challenge, well let me tell you. There is a 2.2 mile loop that wraps completely around the perimeter and is ideal for things such as: driving, walking, cow watching, or in this case pushing a F150 truck!
Hello KFEC
As our entire team pulled into KFEC we were forced to break and let the dozens of cattle cross the street that were in town for a livestock show. That being said you can imagine how wonderful the fairgrounds smelled. Yes this is Kentucky what do you expect? The captains then met with our Strength Coach Teena Murray and she gave them instructions on the exact rules for the competition. Both teams would take turns pushing the truck around the 2.2 mile loop and whichever team could finish with the fastest time would be the winner. However, as anticipated Teena had a few tricks up her sleeve. Only five members of your team could be pushing the truck at a time and the other four members who were running behind the truck had to divide out three giant dynamax balls with weights of 12, 14, and 16 pounds. Not only were we pushing the truck but also all of our coaches and trainers who so politely sat in the back of the truck bed. If at any time six team member were pushing the truck or any of the dynamax balls touched the ground it would result in a one minute penalty.
And they're off
Team Black led by Collins and Kiyohara was up first and posted an impressive time of 32 minutes. Team Red led by Keller and Ruckenbrod then had their turn. As we took off we started strong moving downhill with our fresh legs. However, one great thing about the KFEC loop is that it is not all flat ground. There are multiple sections around the loop that will go uphill and downhill. Needless to say pushing the truck up those hills was way harder than pushing it down. Sometimes you are moving so fast with the truck you can barely keep up, and others it feels like you are pushing against a brick wall moving nowhere.
If they only knew
Throughout our competition, people would drive by us honking and waving. One woman even stopped and asked if we needed help getting gas. Teena then reassured her that this was staged and we were working out and were not in need of any assistance. You can imagine the look on the woman's face as she drove off.
Team Black takes Day One
The Red Team crossed the finish line with a time of 34 minutes which unfortunately meant they had lost the competition by a mere two minutes and the Black Team was victorious. This win earned them 100 points going into day two. Tomorrow's competition will take place at the same time and the point values will be increased each day. After the results were announced, losing captain Maggie Ruckenbrod had this to say, "If I learned anything from last year it's that losing day one doesn't mean anything."
