The traffic line into South Florida’s Oleta River State Park was unusually long on December 6th, a crisp Saturday morning in North Miami. The crowd was not the typical trail blazing, mountain biking, rigorous paddlers that usually attend the park on the weekends. On this day the adventure seekers were the local advertising professionals from Mad 4 Marketing and business owners eager to try the Adventure Race Challenge hosted by The Advertising Federation of Fort Lauderdale (AdFed).
AdFed Program Chair and Account Executive at Mad 4, Amanda White, organized the race. “Our goal was to engage the local professionals in a fun outdoor event to promote team building” said Amanda. Teams from Mad 4 Marketing, ICreatives, The Printing Industry Association, and Miamispace.com represented the advertising professionals strongly when they effortlessly tore through the all terrain course.
The first physical challenge was right at the beginning where the adventure race was kicked off by an on foot mad dash through rocky trails, 3 feet of water, and sandy shorelines. Without a blink, the teams tore by the cheering fans at the expo where they grabbed their tandem kayaks and ran to the launch area. As they feverously splashed away towards the open water, each team had only their map and a few markers to guide them through the winding river and open ocean. The fastest teams were the ones that could paddle straight, since many wound up in the mangroves. Luckily no one rocked the boat all the way over.
The teams then hopped on their mountain bikes to hit the last leg . . . the mandatory helmet trails with nose bleeding elevations. Ok, so this is South Florida, not Lake Tahoe, but these trails were covered with mud, roots, and rocks that challenged even the pros’ agility and trail climbing skills. The teams ditched the bikes and continued to tear through the expo on foot to cross the finish line.
The Mad 4 Marketing teams raced neck to neck throughout the entire course and came in 4th and 5th (beaten by competitors that raced in nationals). All participants had a ball and although tuckered out, no injuries! Stay tuned for more photos and stories from Mad 4 Marketing Adventure Team in the spring!
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