SAN DIEGO -- The transformation from civilian to Marine is a once in a life time experience for those who seek the title. New Marines go home to their friends and family trying to explain the past 13 weeks of their lives, the mental and physical challenges and how they’ve over come each obstacle.
But words can never really express the physical demands that a recruit has endured in order to become a Marine.
Civilians and service members’ family had the chance to make those experiences their own through the 11th Annual Boot Camp Challenge Sept. 29 aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
The Boot Camp Challenge is a three-mile race around the perimeter of MCRD that featured 52 obstacles that recruits have trained on throughout the years. Obstacles included walls, logs, trenches, tunnels and various push-up stations.
60 drill instructors were placed throughout the course to instruct and encourage participants as they pushed through each obstacle.
According to Kelley Sitar, Deputy Semper Fit Director and race director, more than 2,000 people, service members and civilians, came aboard the depot to view and participate in the race.
“These types of events allow civilians to experience a portion of what recruit training is like,” explained Sitar. “And all proceeds are used to enhance Marine Corps Community Services’ programs, such as children’s sports and similar events like this.”
A variety of tents that included food and beverage vendors, free massages, free “recruit haircuts”, and a DJ were set up to entertain participants before the race began.
9 a.m. rolled around and the first wave of racers ran up to the starting line. Racers were categorized by age, elite males and females, and whether they ran in a three-member or five-member team.
The sound of a blow horn was indication that it was time to take off and begin the course. Drill instructors enthusiastically ran around, motivating runners to keep moving and not to quit.
Once the last wave of racers came through, Brig. Gen. Daniel D. Yoo, commanding general, MCRD San Diego and Western Recruit Region, ran the course, getting every single drill instructor along the way.
Participants also had a chance to meet and take photos with the Marines who gave them a taste of what it was like to encounter a drill instructor.
Yoo presented first, second and third place medals to the top three in each category, which included elites, age groups from 15 to 75 years old, and three-member and five-member groups.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Taylor Shelgosh, a student at Martin Luther King Middle School. “Some parts were easier than we thought it was going to be, but it was still a lot of fun.”
Shelgosh, a 13-year-old Oceanside, Calif. native, explained that her track and field coach participated in the Boot Camp Challenge every year, but this was his first time running it as a team.
“He had us train almost all summer,” said Shelgosh. “We flipped tires out on the football field and ran ‘suicides’; it was tough but I’m glad we did it.”
Shelgosh was part of the three-member team “Honey Badger Don’t Care”, who finished the course in 24 minutes, 24 seconds. She and her fellow teammates hope to participate in the challenge next year.