Looking for a challenge?

The Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition is not for the weak. Duh.

GINA DAUGHERTY | CIN WEEKLY

JUST THE FACTS

WHAT: The Third Annual Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition

WHEN: 9 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 19

WHERE: The race starts and finishes at the James Taylor Park in Newport

PRICE: $500 per six-person team

CONTACT: To register, contact event director Gary Morgan at gmorgan5@cinci.rr.com or call (513) 321-3123. Visit www.littlemiamitriathlon.com and click on Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition for more information.

OVER THE RIVER, UP THE HILL AND BACK OVER THE RIVER
The Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition is designed as a fun and exciting challenge to promote team building and to bring awareness to the recreational and ecological importance of the Ohio River.

RAFT: The Freedom Challenge consists of a raft race across the Ohio River from James Taylor Park In Newport to the public landing in Cincinnati.

RUN: Teams will then begin a 3-mile run to Mt. Adams around the Playhouse in the Park and back down to Sawyer Point.

OBSTACLE: In the park, teams will be challenged by a United States Marine-type obstacle course.

RAFT: After completing the obstacle course, teams will race their rafts back to James Taylor Park for the finish.  

Two years ago, John Prazynski and five of his friends and relatives took on the Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition.

The six team members, all athletes, figured they'd fare pretty well rafting across the river, running a 5K up Mt. Adams, negotiating an obstacle course and rafting back across the river.

"We stunk," Prazynski says. "It was pouring down rain, and we were probably the last team, or second to last team. And we haven't stopped talking about it since."

The Third Annual Freedom Challenge Urban Eco Competition starts at 9 a.m. Sept. 19. Again this year, it is comprised of a raft race across the Ohio River, a three-mile run up the hill into Mt. Adams and back, followed by an obstacle course set up in Saywer Point. The race finishes with a raft race back across the river. The winners receive a trip to Costa Rica.

This year's field will include 25 six-person teams. There's still time to get involved; registration is now open for the event, and the deadline to enter is Monday, Sept. 6. Proceeds from the $500 team fee benefit the Boy Scout troops of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Where Prazynski and his team lost the most time two years ago was in the water, trying to raft across the Ohio.

"You would think with six people it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but keeping (the raft) straight and steady was the biggest challenge," he says. "The funny thing is, there were some teams with some very serious athletes, and we were looking to be a little more competitive."

The team as a whole may have struggled the most with the raft, but for team member Ann Robbers, Prazynski's sister, the worst part was scaling the wall in the obstacle course.

"If the guys hadn't been there to push me over, I wouldn't have made it," Robbers says. And although she hasn't practiced scaling any walls in preparation for this year's event, the team is practicing its rafting skills.

Team member Ed Horgan hopes the practice sessions at Fort Ancient will prevent them from paddling in circles this year. Hitting the water together for the first time in competition is a mistake, and he advises other teams to practice before they get to the river.

Prazynski doesn't hold out hope that the team will be the big winners this year, but the team members haven't stopped talking about how fun it was since the last time.

"We're a rag-tag bunch of happy-go-lucky people looking for a good time," he says. "We don't have any hopes we'll be celebrating our victory in Costa Rica, but we're going to hoot and holler and carry on and hope the rest of the family comes and supports us."