MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The final event of the 2009 Commander’s Cup Challenge took place at the IronWorks Gym pool and the Penny Lake fields here Nov. 6 with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Operations taking first place.
Gladiators was the final event of the nearly year-long Commander’s Cup Challenge. It commenced at the newly renovated IronWorks Gym pool at 9 a.m. and continued well into the afternoon at the Penny Lake Fields.
The first challenge of the day was the Kayak Relay. The Kayak Relay consisted of four holders and four paddlers.
The holders kept the kayak in place as the paddlers’ boarded; then the paddlers’ race to the opposite end of the pool using only their bare hands and change over with the second part of the team and race back.
The events in the Gladiators challenge were designed to be competitive, fun and help build teamwork or camaraderie.
“If they are deployed somewhere and they are all together, they need to learn how to work as a team,” said Barbara Roman, fitness coordinator for Marine Corps Community Services.
The Wacky Swim Relay was the second challenge. It required four team members, two at each end of the pool, to have a different swimming task to perform for 50 meters before the next could begin their task.
Following the Wacky Swim Relay was the River Raft Race, which was much like the Kayak Relay, then the Canoe Tug-O-War.
The Canoe Tug-O-War consisted of two teammates in one canoe against another pair of teammates in a separate canoe tied together and paddling as fast and hard as they could to tug to a designated point. After the Canoe Tug-O-War, teams were afforded a break before the event continued at Penny Lake.
Once at Penny Lake, the fifth challenge of the day was a 10-legged race. After the 10-legged race was the Bull Pull.
In the Bull Pull one team member from each team participated head to head with another team facing opposite directions while being tied together.
Once a whistle was blown to start the event, competitors pulled in opposite directions to a designated line on the field. Next was the Human Sphere Barrel Race.
It consisted of a two-man team in which one of the teammates is placed inside a metal ball and pushed through the designated course. Upon completion of the course the teammate in the ball gets out and sprints to a cone then to the finish line. An obstacle course followed the Human Sphere Barrel Race.
The final end all event was a massive Tug-O-War. All 10 team members participated in this event. Participants began this final event in the push-up position with their feet at the rope.
When given a whistle to start, they got up and pulled with every ounce of strength they had left until a winner was named.
The winner of the Gladiators event was H&HS Ops with 68 points, followed by Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 with 64 points, and finally Combat Logistics Company 36 with 36 points.
“We deserve to win because we put in the work; we PT all the time, and it pays off in the end,” said Jessica Garcia-Ayala a participant for H&HS Ops.