First Look: FIT FARM, Green Beret Challenge’s Newest Venue
Author: Brett Stewart
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Green Beret Challenge‘s founder Mark Ballas heard the buzz of his phone on a late August afternoon in 2018. Fresh off the ’18 NorAm build in Vermont, the former special ops warrior was looking for his next mission… and I was just the one to deliver.
Hey bud, you free for a few weeks? I’ve got a project for you outside of Nashville…
Ballas’ GBC courses are built with the military Hell Week aesthetic – natural timbers, logs, mud, and ropes to challenge athletes of all levels while fostering cooperation and teamwork vital to the completion of any mission. Those who have completed a Green Beret Challenge know the challenges of which I speak and will mutter under their breath some choice words about their creator “F BALLAS”. When FIT FARM – founded by veterans Kris and former Green Beret Pat – reached out to Adventure Fitness for a course design, we immediately knew Mark was the perfect fit.
The addition of the 20+ obstacles and challenges bring a whole new dimension to FIT FARM, already known as a fitness retreat and mental/physical “reset” just 50 minutes outside of Nashville, TN with luxury accommodations, a skilled and friendly fitness training staff, nutritionists, gourmet chef, massage, life coaches, and much more set on a picturesque and quiet expanse of rural farmland. You may already know FIT FARM from some celebrity Instagram posts; FF was selected as a premiere gift bag perk for The Grammy’s, Super Bowl LII, The Oscars, and more. I’m not saying you’ll rub elbows with celebrities, but a certain well-known actress may have departed the day I arrived after her first week-long stay, and I just missed the arrival of another celeb from one of ABC’s hottest shows… then again, maybe they scheduled it that way. We’ll dig into the FIT FARM experience in a later article, let’s cover the Green Beret Challenge course ahead of their May 18 Commando Challenge.
The Course & Terrain
With over 160 acres to work with, we chose an area perfectly suited to a military-style challenge course with some hills, water crossings, and plenty of room to pack in plenty signature GBC obstacles while offering miles of trails, paddocks for some of Ballas’ devious carries or challenges. Mark and Pat crafted over a dozen timber & log structured for over, under, across, and through that are big, sturdy, and challenging for all with more on the way. The on-site infrastructure of converted barns, team housing, camping areas, and more played perfectly into the layout for longer & shorter events. The terrain isn’t particularly challenging with some rolling hills, but if we’ve learned something from Mr. Ballas over the years we know there will be plenty of reasons to curse his name before the May 18 Commando Challenge is over!
Green Beret Challenge – Before & Beyond
Corporate Challenges
The design, build, and location of the FIT FARM FURY course just happened to align with our “sister company” ADV.FIT Corporate Challenge for tech company Transperfect who were looking for an awesome event for 200 or so employees during their national convention in Nashville. They wanted a challenge with plenty of mud, and we were happy to provide it! FIT FARM was an amazing venue for a corporate outing, and we highly recommend contacting them for local TN companies looking for an exciting change-of-pace for their team building or any type of corporate outing, they offer incredible accommodations for Executive Retreats too!
Green Beret Challenge Pro Boot Camp
GBC and FF are working together to develop boot camps with Green Beret Challenge Pro Team instructors on-site using guest lodging, the OCR course, and FIT FARM’s famous “Whippy Barn” for additional training and skill-based practice to tackle not only this course but every OCR the boot camp athletes are gearing up for. Dates & rates will be announced soon, stay tuned to Mud Run Guide and FIT FARM‘s facebook pages for updates.
Weekend Warriors
FIT FARM is an exclusive fitness & wellness retreat targeted to an ‘executive’ clientele, yet they also offer Weekend Warrior packages to get a FF-level physical and well-being reset at extremely affordable rates. As they build out the CBG Pro Boot Camp, look for more additional options. Check out FIT.FARM to learn more!
Sneak Peek – ADV.FIT Previews GBC / FIT FARM Fury Course
We were extremely fortunate to produce a Corporate Challenge for international tech company Transperfect on the FIT FARM Fury course and even luckier to work with Pat and Kristin at FF to finish off some of the obstacles and elements – despite the 3″ of pouring rain we received during course completion – and be the first-ever group to use the new obstacles! As you can see by the gallery below, the Transperfect teams did an amazing job of working together to get over, under, through and across all obstacles despite the thick mud, multiple water crossings, and unyeilding rain.
http://FIT.FARM was the perfect venue for mud, obstacles, and fun for the Transperfect Corporate Challenge 2019!
Posted by Adv.fit on Sunday, March 3, 2019
About Adventure Fitness (ADV.FIT)
Founded in 2009 by Mud Run Guide’s Kristen and Brett Stewart, TRI PHX LLC, dba Adventure Fitness has hosted triathlons, marathons, road & trail races for multiple charities, corporate OCR challenges, and obstacle course events for school and group fundraisers. We’re constantly in development of new and wild events (like our Goodr GAMS adjacent to the LAX tarmac) and are the go-to crew to produce any custom corporate athletic/challenge event you can think up! Hit us up at http://adv.fit to get started.
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