Daughter of Cape resident competes in military’s ‘Wilderness Challenge’
By AIR FORCE STAFF SGT. JESSICA SWITZER, Special to The Breeze
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. – For the daughter of a Cape Coral woman, the competition was a strenuous test of endurance, teamwork and skill that took her, and 215 other men and women representing all military services and the U.S. Coast Guard, through more than 50 miles of rugged West Virginia mountains and white-water rapids.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Jessica Clark, daughter of Lyn Hayes of Cape Coral, was one of those service members who traveled to this remote resort area to test her skills in a five-event outdoor competition called the Wilderness Challenge.
Over a two-day period, competitors mountain-biked over a 13-mile uphill course, paddled seven-miles in a two-person combination kayak, canoe and raft called a “duckie,” ran an eight-kilometer mountain trail, hiked 15-miles and raced whitewater rafts over 10 miles of rapids.
Clark was part of a Coast Guard team from Homestead Air Force Reserve Base, one of 54 teams to compete in this year’s challenge.
“I raced in Wilderness Challenge 2008,” said Clark, a health services technician with the Maritime Safety and Security Team Miami. “I liked it so much I wanted to come back this year.”
Wilderness Challenge represents mostly physical challenges, but forces teams to work together. Each team was required to pass certain checkpoints together, some tying themselves together with bungee cords and others circling back to the slowest person to make sure they finished together.
The competition, coordinated by the Navy Mid-Atlantic Region, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Department at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown for the last nine years, is a little different each year. However, while the distances and routes change, core events have remained in place giving teams an idea of what to train for.
Some trained together before arriving and others chose their own training regimens.
“I did a lot of kayaking and I trained for a marathon to get ready for this year’s challenge,” said Clark. “I really wanted to make a strong showing this year.”
Fighting cold, wet elements, uphill runs, walks and bicycling, and racing river currents, the competitors and teams highlighted their strong points and shored up their weaknesses to become competitive during the race.
“My weakest event was the hike,” said Clark, who has been in the Coast Guard for nine years. “It’s long and I was already tired from all the earlier events that day. But we made it through and I’m happy I came.”
Clark and the other competitors in the Wilderness Challenge received a special event coin commemorating the competition and walked away with the knowledge they put their endurance and willpower to the test.