Adaptive athletes take on Gaylord Gauntlet obstacle course in Wallingford
More than 1,200 people took on mud, trails and obstacles Saturday during the 12th annual Gaylord Gauntlet in Wallingford, raising money for adaptive sports programs across Connecticut.
Held on Gaylord Hospital’s 400-acre campus, the 5K trail and obstacle race featured wooded trails, open fields and 24 man-made and natural obstacles, including a fire pit, giant water slide, castle, zipline over a pond, rope swings, rock walls and plenty of mud.
Among the participants were more than 30 adaptive athletes.
One of them was Shawn Pierce.
“I had an accident in… two years ago to this date,” Pierce said. “A spinal cord injury. Broken back. My T6 exploded and split into three pieces. That’s what damaged my cord.”
Pierce said he learned about the Gaylord Gauntlet while recovering at Gaylord Hospital after his injury.
Watching athletes complete the course during his rehabilitation inspired him to set a goal for himself.
“I came last year and I watched people going through it with, like, those running legs and people in wheelchairs and stuff like that,” Pierce said. “And I was like, ‘you know what? It’s going to be two years anniversary. I’m going to do it and I’m going to go get it done.’”
Completing a 5K can be a challenge on its own. For Pierce, who currently uses a wheelchair, the obstacle course presented an even greater test.
“It’s a very challenging course after a long recovery,” said Tara Knapp, vice president of external affairs for Gaylord.
Knapp said participants encounter 24 obstacles throughout the course.
“They range from things like a big waterfall, which everybody loves, to ‘D-Day,’ which is the first one they hit with the barbed wire and they have to go underneath it like in D-Day, and it’s full of mud.”
But for Pierce, he wasn’t letting any of the obstacles dissuade him from trying.
“A lot of things are 90 percent mental and physical,” Pierce said. “When you’re doing rehab, you have to have the mental power to be able to get through it. It’s three hours of rehab every day. And you’re tired, sore, always tired. You’re always sore. I got to grin and bear it.”
The event raises money for the Gaylord Sports Association, Connecticut’s largest adaptive sports program. The organization offers 18 adaptive sports for people with permanent physical or visual impairments at little or no cost.
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