Participants push their bodies at Beach Boot Camp

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Bainter
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.-- --  A beaming sun shines through gaps in puffy white clouds onto more than 30 participants, producing additional beads of sweat, seeping through their pores and dripping onto the sand of the beach where they physically push themselves during Beach Boot Camp, at the Soundside Beach on Hurlburt Field, Fla., May, 18.

"The event was held at the beach because it's fun, hotter and you don't have to have any weights because the sand makes everything harder," said Marketa Huchinson, an instructor with 1st Special Operations Force Support Squadron.

Instructors pushed each person to exert maximum effort with each cycle of exercises. The participants were broken into three groups; each one performing a different circuit of activities.

"The Force Support Squadron supports the event by coordinating with the trainers, getting all the cones together, getting ropes and providing fruit, beverages for the participants," said Airman 1st Class Rebecca Vacher, a fitness specialist with 1st SOFSS.

Many of the events focused on teamwork, allowing teammates to help each other when they reached a plateau. The team events included a bucket run where teams of two had to run to the shoreline to fill a five-gallon bucket and run back to the finish as a team.
Teams of two also put their strength to the test with timed tire flips across the beach.

Events like the beach crawl were a testament of individual strength and endurance with participants attempting to make their way through the sand on all fours, encouraging others to continue forward. The rope-pull exercise challenged individuals to drag a large rope with a 60-kilogram sandbag attached to the finish line.

Beach Boot Camp is just the beginning a series of summer events kicking off with a Zumbathon. There are also plans for an aerobathon and possibly another beach boot camp in the summer.

Beach Boot Camp trainers currently teach over a dozen courses at the Aderholt, Commando and Riptide fitness centers with plans to increase to more than 30 classes per week starting in June. Zumba and Pilates are also expected to be added to the list of free classes available.

For more information on upcoming events, schedule and type of classes available at the Aderholt, Riptide and Commando fitness centers visit the 1st SOFSS website at www.myhurlburt.com.