One thing the international shooting sports organizations are looking at in recent years is expanding into more “fit” activities.
One of the exhibition sports seen overseas in this concept is Target Sprint. The event makes competitors run a 400m track, then take their rifle from a storage rack and shoot at five falling targets from a 10m standing position with a time penalty for each missed shot. The athlete then repeats the lap and shoots again, followed by another lap to the finish line.
A very groovy and more modern sporting rifle style version was last week in Texas, the annual Waco Tactical Fitness Biathlon. The event takes place over a five-mile course with several shooting stages. Each competitor has to show up with a centerfire rifle and pistol, eye and ear pro, enough ammo to complete the stages, and a stopwatch. While running between stations, rifles have to be unloaded and pistols have to be holstered.
The course is no joke, with photos showing competitors clamoring over plywood walls, taking a 60-pound sand dummy for a drag, monkeying around on horizontal ladders, firing from treetop cuckoo nests and simulated rooftops, and, oh yeah, running.
“If you can’t do a few pull-ups, scramble up and down rough/rocky hills and push through wooded areas, some of the obstacles will be difficult to overcome,” says the site. (Photos: WTF)
More in my column at Guns.com.
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