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Crab Pot among obstacles in Tough As Nails Urban Challenge

3 min read
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WHEELING – What do you get when you take a heat of 200 adrenaline-fueled fitness junkies, toss in a couple large wooden boxes filled with eyebolts and rope laced in a criss-cross pattern, and drop them in Center Wheeling on a Sunday afternoon?

Well, if it’s Memorial Day weekend, you get the Crab Pot, one of 20 obstacles participants in the inaugural Tough as Nails Urban Challenge will face when the event kicks off at noon May 26 in downtown Wheeling.

The Crab Pot is the seventh obstacle participants will face on the course, and it comes just about 2 miles in to the 6-mile event. The obstacle is set to be located outside the Centre Market, and will follow the event’s signature obstacle, the Bucket O’ Nails, which will feature competitors quite literally carrying buckets of nails in an area along the Heritage Trail.

The Crab Pot is one of the more unique obstacles, as it has room for only about three competitors at a time to crawl and climb around the ropes. Depending on how many competitors arrive at the Crab Pot at one time, it would be easy to see tired and rushed participants finding themselves twisted and tangled up in the Crab Pot.

“This is one of the more fun and interesting obstacles we have on the course,” Tough as Nails race organizer James Gibbons said. “The key with this obstacle is to take your time and pick the right line through the ropes. However, when multiple people are going through at the same time, that’s going to be tough to accomplish.”

The Crab Pot, and all of the other obstacles, are being constructed at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. The same team that builds obstacles for the annual Mud on the Mountain event has been working with the Tough as Nails organizers, and getting items ready to be delivered to Wheeling.

Jay Sedlak is the events operations manager at Seven Springs, and has been overseeing construction of the obstacles. He said the goal in constructing the obstacles is to make them passable for all ability levels, but also tough enough so that competitors will want to come back for more in 2020.

“We want the Tough as Nails competitors to go back to work Tuesday morning and feel like they were tested, like they really had to push themselves to the limit to complete the course,” he said. “That’s hard to do when you have competitors ranging from elite athletes to weekend warriors, but we think what we’re putting together this year fits the bill.”

Sean Matthew, with the D.M. Matthew Inc. contracting firm, has performed most of the actual construction of the obstacles, which includes a Lumber Yard, a Rock Climb, the Corporate Ladder, Slot Machines and others. He said the process to date has been perfect, noting he’s excited to see competitors climb, carry and crawl through the items he and his team have built.

“Everything has worked out great so far, everybody has had great input and great ideas and it’s really been fun to be part of this,” he said. “I think the Tough as Nails is going to be really fun, and what a great event to cap the weekend.”

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