By Afea Tucker
Crossfit Mainline kicked off its annual Holiday Amazing Race at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown on Sunday. The Holiday Amazing Race was set in motion to provide a fun and unique way to commemorate the winter celebrations as well as bring families together. For the first time in their six years of planning, Crossfit Mainline partnered with the Elmwood Park Zoo to give a one-of-a-kind experience for people in the community.
The event has branched from being an in-house production to now expanding in size in terms of both space and numbers. Twenty teams and 30 volunteers participated in the 2019 Holiday Amazing Race. On average, the race would generally attract 10 to 12 teams of four, prior to landing the Elmwood Park Zoo as a venue host and sponsor.
“Holiday Amazing Race has been around for years now. We started six years ago and it was really small and a fun way for the community to get together. Over the years[the race] outgrew itself and we decided to go bigger,” Chelsey Winland, head coach and strategic development manager at Crossfit Mainline, said. “We value conservation and thought Elmwood Park Zoo would be a good fit.”
The competition is very unique in its nature. Teams of six dashed through a mile-long course pushing or tugging personalized holiday inspired decorative shopping carts. The participants are very creative and have friendly competitive spirits. There was a team that turned their shopping cart into a sleigh and another a Chrstmas tree. As a part of the race, the groups were also required to stop at sponsored holiday-themed stations for festivity tests which measured their physical and mental strengths. Tests included solving puzzles, conquering physical feats, and working through musical challenges. Friends, family, and spectators cheered on their favorite teams while taking in the colorful sights and natural sounds of Elmwood Park Zoo and it’s residents.
Twelve various sponsors ranging from nutrition companies to boutiques, and a bakery contributed to the holiday race. There were many prizes up for grabs and one more other competitive component. Similar to more traditional races the fastest team was awarded a prize. As a bonus, judges also recognized the most festive team. Team One — named Jingle and A Jang — came in first in line for Best Time and the Fried Turkeys won the Most Festive title.
“It’s always been a really fun family friendly event promoting the holidays and fitness,” Winland said. “This year it blossomed and we managed to not only do something fun while promoting fitness we were able to make a pretty sizable donation [to the zoo].”
Crossfit Mainline donated over $3,000 to the Elmwood Park Zoo. They credited their success to going outside of its immediate community for support and getting other people involved by inviting folks from other areas and neighborhoods to participate.
“The race is just a chance to really get out to celebrate the holidays, being together as a family and promote physical fitness,” Winland said. “This is how can we get the entire family out there to celebrate and the opportunity to give something back this year. It was really successful and we look forward to partnering with them the Elmwood Park Zoo again.”
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