BAR on mission to take obstacle course racing to new heights

Barbados Adventure Race (BAR) is on a mission to take obstacle course racing to higher heights in Barbados.

On Saturday during a pop up event on the lawns at Simpson Motors, Warrens, St Michael, company representatives told Barbados TODAY that their goal was to see more Barbadians compete in obstacle course racing at an international level as well as designing obstacle courses at an international standard for people all over the world to participate in and qualify for the World Championships.

Race director of BAR George Griffith said that this year Barbados sent three people to participate in the World Championships held in September at the Stratton Mountain Resort in the United States.

“We are really expecting to have more athletes qualify for the Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) World Championships. This year we sent three athletes and hopefully we can send a full contingent next time,” he said.

Monica Griffith, who is also a member of the organising team, said BAR events had already reached international status and anyone across the world could visit Barbados to qualify for the OCR World Championships.

“We want BAR to be part of that standard so that when we have participants coming to our races, our races could be qualifying events for the World Championships. So, this is the level that we are already at the level of the World Championships. So, the 3K event we have coming up is going to be a Caribbean qualifying event for the World Championships,” she said.

Saturday’s pop up event featured a playground obstacle course, a workout area and the Barbados TODAY team challenge, which saw a number of participants representing their corporate entity.

Kevin Hall from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Barbados took part in a rope-climbing activity with three other workmates.

He said he enjoyed the BAR events as they gave him a real challenge.

“I was in the gym for a little over a year and I wanted something different, a different experience, a different workout to challenge myself. I knew a few people who did BAR previously and they encouraged me to join. So, I decided to do it in October this year, doing the first training block. We just started the second one and we will keep going [until] December,” he said.

“A month ago I never climbed a rope in my life so, this was a big step up for me and I am better at it now. This was the first time I got to the top and then jumped off. It was an interesting experience, a little nerve wracking at first but once I got it over with I was good.”

Hall encouraged others to take part in the events as they were for everyone at any stage of their fitness journey.

Another BAR pop up is planned for November 19.

BAR’s major obstacle course race will take place on December 3 and 4.

It is expected that a number of international competitors will be participating in the event and there is much anticipation for the team challenges to see how locals perform against the visitors. (SZB)