Coulee? Conquered
More than 500 people spent their Saturday in Kin Coulee Park — but it wasn’t for a peaceful stroll.
The day marked the fifth annual Conquer the Coulee, a physical obstacle course testing each individual’s ability and drive, said race director Chris Humphries.
“This is a local obstacle race we put on every year, and we do it to support the community,” he said.
“We want to test people physically and just to get people active. On days like today where we have this great weather we really want to see people up and about.”
The 30-plus obstacle race had participants completing tasks at various levels of difficulty.
This included getting through an ice pool, climbing up an incline ramp, running through the mud, an intense set of monkey bars and of course, lots of running.
Humphries said the event can be competitive, but having a good time is the most important thing.
“The first couple heats of the day were the really competitive ones,” he said. “All of the other heats are very family friendly and are just about being here and having a fun time. The course is pretty hard, but most people can make their way through it if they take their time with it and push through it.”
With more than 500 people attending this year’s event, it is quite the jump from 40 or so people who took on the course in its inaugural year.
“People just really have a passion for this type of thing,” he said. “This started as a way of just getting people out and off of their couch, and they have really responded positively to this. We’re going to keep holding this event every year and hope to see it continue to grow.”