Adventure races seemingly no obstacle to intrepid locals

LYNN – Leslie Emack, age 54, is preparing to scale 20-foot walls, crawl under barbed wire through mud up to her chin and climb through cargo nets in just a few short weeks.No, she hasn?t joined the military. Emack is part of the Jewish Community Center?s team in the Spartan Race, a three- to four-mile undertaking with 15 or more obstacles, challenging participants to question whether they are “tough enough.”It?s just one of the many adventure races like that have adrenaline junkies flocking to starter lines all over the country in a new trend to prove their worth.View a photo galleryTough Mudder, described on its website as “hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie,” now claims half-a-million participants from all over the world.Brandi Dion, owner of North Shore-based company B&S Fitness, who organized a local adventure race called the Rockin? Mad 5K Challenge at Lynn Woods last month, said the adventure races are so popular because they are more fun and challenging than a road run.?It?s an adrenaline rush,” said Dion. “It?s piquing people?s interest and getting them off the couch.”Dion said it?s that frame of mind that attracts a different kind of crowd from the typical running enthusiast.?These are not the people who are going to sign up for 5K road races. This is attracting people who are into CrossFit and high-intensity training. It?s the weekend warrior adventure-seeker.?They want to know they can get over a five-foot wall, and it gives them bragging rights. It makes them feel tougher and more adventurous compared to a regular runner.”Mimi Murray, a professor of sports psychology at Springfield College, said she believes that the reason these races have become so popular in the United States is because of our capitalist frame of minds.?The survival of the fittest attitude is certainly part of the American culture,” she said.Though crawling through miles of mud, jumping over fire and running through electrically-charged wires may seem insane, Dion said the glory isn?t restricted to top athletes.?You see desire in their eyes to conquer a wall and get over it. I think it?s just that challenge to conquer something they might not have thought they could do before,” said Dion, who competed in a Spartan Race when she was seven months? pregnant.Murray agrees that challenging yourself isn?t limited to the advanced.?I think innately many of us have that need to be competitive and be challenged. It doesn?t matter your age or shape – if you are welcomed into these activities it?s an opportunity for them to compete and possibly excel where others haven?t before.”Emack said before training for the Spartan Race, she did nothing physically challenging.?I was sedentary on the couch for years. At the age of 53, I started working out,” she said.Emack started training for the race with her son, Dan, after the death of her husband, who had been disabled all his life.?It gives me a positive way to go forward in life,” she said.JCC general manager Brian Grable created the Warrior Class when he sent an e-mail to several clients, including Emack, asking them if they wanted to participate in the Spartan Race at Fenway Park on Nov. 18, and team Everything is Possible was born.Between the JCC team and his own friends, Grable said the majority of people on the team are in their 40s and 50s.?Ninety-five percent of it is all mental,” said Grable. “It?s a matter of patience and a matter of training for it.”Now the Warrior Class will be offered year-round.As the group sweats their way through the circuits in what Grable described as looking like “a Gatorade or UnderArmour Commercial,” he yelled to them, “Make sure you support each other – that?s what teammates do!”Dion suggests that the teamwork aspect that keeps these warriors going is the difference between the adventure races and the typical 5Ks.At the Rockin Mad 5K, Dion said there were about 60 tea