SAC Philosophy Professor Dan Herrick broke his men’s and co-ed team records Friday at San Antonio College’s 16th semiannual Backyard Beast competition in Parking Garage 3.
Herrick men’s team, “OTF 5,” and co-ed team, “4 Life Gang 5,” each broke their own records, which were set in the fall. OTF 5 finished with a time of 20:13, a 14-second improvement over their fall finishing time of 20:27. The 4L Gang bested themselves, finishing at 22:38, 43 seconds faster than their fall finishing time of 23:21.
“Every time you do it, it gets a little bit harder, and you get a little bit more nervous,” Herrick, who also serves as interim chair of SAC’s Math, Engineering and Computer Science Department, told the Sundial. “You also get smarter about how to run the course — smarter about how to train — so it’s a relief. But now we gotta do it next semester.”
At Backyard Beast, four-person teams compete in four divisions: men’s, women’s, coed, and mixed. Coed teams must have two men and two women, and mixed teams can have any combination of genders.
Herrick said training is the key to success for him and his teams.
“About six weeks out, I change from whatever training I’m doing to muscular endurance,” Herrick said. “We do short, intense bursts that last for a minute to 90 seconds followed by very short rests. You want to rest a lot less than you feel like to get your body used to jumping in when it’s not fully recovered.”
Fifteen teams competed in the grueling competition this year as they started on the top floor of the garage. Competitors ran to the bottom floor, where each person rowed 500 meters on rowing machines before biking a mile on a stationary bike.
From there, competitors ran up to the second level where they split into two groups to carry a weighted “sand worm” down the ramp and back.
Teams then ran to the third level where they had to complete 100 box jumps and 200 battle-rope slams.
On the fourth floor, competitors flipped a 315-pound tire from one end of the garage to the other and back. At the reverse overhead cannonball station, each team member tossed a 20-pound medicine ball over their head to traverse the length of the garage ramp before running back down with the ball after reaching the top.
The 50-meter 275-pound tire pull on the top level of the garage was the final obstacle. Crossing the finish line exhausted, teams were met with cheers, water and food.
“It was fun, and we whipped the paramedic’s a–es,” Fire Academy student Jose De La Cruz, a member of team “Crash Patties,” told the Sundial. “It was definitely cool. These are cool people, so it was fun all around.”
Overcast skies kept the temperatures moderate, and there were no major injuries or medical incidents. The competition ended shortly after noon.
“It feels wonderful, and I think everybody had a good time,” SAC Kinesiology Professor and Kinesiology Club Adviser Martha Stephenson, who coordinates the competition, told the Sundial. “We had some kids show up, ready to go. Volunteers did great and ran a pretty smooth event … Everybody was very helpful and supportive, so it feels great.”
Backyard Beast Results
Women:
- First Place – K9’s 2
- Second Place – Resting Beast Face
- Third Place – The Tooth Fairies
Males:
- First Place – OTF 5
- Second Place – Last Minute Legends
- Third Place – The Cardiac Comebacks
Co-Ed:
- First Place – 4 Life Gang 5
- Second Place – Health First
- Third Place – JLY 2
Mixed:
- First Place – Crash Patties
- Second Place – The Fit Formula
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