[ad_1]
HARBOR SPRINGS — Over the course of the past three or four years, Specialized Sports Training co-owners Grant Tracy and Rob Beigle have come up with a number of elaborate, yet challenging physical regimes.
“It started as something to push ourselves to get better,” Tracy said. “I didn’t want to hurt that bad before I started working out and it’s really now taken on a life of its own, both physically and mentally.”
The duo have pushed themselves to the limits — both physically and mentally — in an effort to show others they are capable of more than they think. Tracy and Beigle in recent years have pulled sleds weighing several hundred pounds full of canned goods for families in need around Christmas from Harbor Springs to Petoskey, they’ve swam across Little Traverse Bay and have even performed a full Ironman tethered together.
While each of the events they’ve performed has been personally challenging and maybe even inspiring to clients at Specialized Sports Training, which is located at 930 S. State St. in Harbor Springs, Tracy said the two realized they could use their events to hopefully impact the lives of others, “which is a much bigger goal or greater value.”
Last year, the two decided to carry an 80 pound log on their shoulders for 40 miles through the dark of night to show support for the sacrifice that veterans have made.
“We were able to raise $4,300 during a fundraising prior to this challenge,” Tracy said. “We were honored to donate that entirely to the Wounded Warriors.”
This year, as Veterans Days approaches (Nov. 11), Tracy and Beigle have set an even higher goal to help support the Wounded Warriors Project, as they would like to raise $10,000.
The Wounded Warriors Project is a charity and veterans service organization which offers a variety of programming, services and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following Sept. 11, 2001. It operates as a nonprofit organization.
“With the 20 year anniversary of 9/11, we would like to carry a 100 pound log on our shoulders for 50 miles between 9 p.m.-11 a.m. around Northmen Stadium on Friday, Nov. 12,” Tracy said. “Last year, we started at 9 a.m. and it took us about 13-14 hours to do. We had some help from some clients and some community members, which was nice.
“The idea this year was to do it again,” Tracy said. “We upped the log by 20 pounds and we upped the miles because we just can’t do the same thing, right?”
Tracy said the time element this year should help the duo push forward, and through the pain.
“We really like doing this at night for one, because it’s not about us,” Tracy said. “It’s under the cover of darkness and we’re going while nobody else is probably there or can see us, much in the way our veterans serve our country. They do so much and sacrifice so many things that we don’t even see or know about, so we’re doing it that way.”
Tracy said while he and Beigle may have began their different challenges for themselves, as time went on they wanted to do more, find a cause and give community members a reason to get interested in different causes.
“It adds a whole other level to it,” Tracy said. “It’s going to be for a great cause and we’ll learn a lot of things in the miles we do about sacrifice and what we can do. It will be a win-win no matter what.”
Tracy said while he anticipates a lot of pain logging a 100 pound log throughout the night, he also knows he’ll be ready for the challenge.
“It’s going to hurt, you just anticipate it’s going to hurt and there’ll be times where you’ll say ‘I just can’t go anymore,'” Tracy said. “Last year we dropped down on the concrete at about 3 a.m., but we had some flags flying and we looked at that flag flying and realized our veterans didn’t have the choice of quitting or giving up and we said ‘Let’s get up, let’s go.'”
Tracy is also hoping the challenge will help inspire others to push through and overcome tough obstacles that might occur not only in physical training, but in other aspects of life.
“No one is immune to those thoughts when it gets dark,” Tracy said. “It won’t be hard to pull through for this one though because of those who’ve made our country free and safe for us to do these types of things.”
To help donate to Tracy and Beigle’s contribution to the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.specializedsportstraining.com and click on the “Donate to WWP” tab or drop off a check or cash at the SST office in Harbor Springs.
[ad_2]
Source link