An intense competition that pushed one to their limits, a bright sunny day, and a healthy dose of music, food, and fun are what we witnessed at the buzzing third season of 10Tackles in association with The Telegraph, which returned to drive away all that laziness that the pandemic had left us with. The military-grade obstacle course event began in the early hours of February 27 at Andul Road and continued till sunset.
The season was a huge success, with over 1,200 people attending and over 400 participants. 10Tackles is also eastern India’s largest obstacle challenge race. The day was bustling with energy, with participants and non-participants alike engaged in the intense competition. The event had a little for everybody: a fun kids’ zone with trampolines, military bouncees, and more, good healthy food and drinks to recharge, a space for an ATV motorcycle ride, and a DJ with a playlist to get you rocking. One couldn’t ask for a more pumped-up weekend.
With adrenaline at an all-time high and folks battling to preserve and showcase their vigour while going head to head to be the fastest, 10Tackles offered a healthy dose of entertainment spread across a stunning 1,20,000sq ft area.
The Telegraph soaked in all of it...
• This season included seven segments in which participants could compete, including team categories (all-male, all-female, and mixed), individual categories (male and female), a junior category, and an inter-club category. An event that was open to all, the participants ranged from eight years to 80 years.
• The military-grade obstacle course featured this season had an extensive 10 set of obstacles and the best way to conquer them was speed.
•This season the additions were a fun-filled play zone, ATV motorcycle rides, and other interactive events that completed the vibe of a holistic fitness fest.
The Obstacles
Suffer-Rings: A fun start to the race, competitors were supposed to cross the obstacles by avoiding the coloured balls.
Per-swayed: A test of balance. With two sides of logs, the team players had a field day with this one. One side had a tighter system and the other side was a bit looser to raise the stakes to a new level.
Maze Runner: Tyres and mazes had people stealthily manoeuvring their way through. Speed and flexibility are your only friends this round.
HayWire: Viewers may be familiar with this one. As seen in every other military-based movie, participants had to crawl their way through this one.
Two to Tango: A test of your core strength, and the step that had us biting our nails. People were hanging on to each other as they crossed one of the toughest obstacles of the race.
Slack Jack: The ultimate middle-part obstacle. Make your way through on this thin rope, racing against the clock as you latch on, to brave your way through.
Drummatic: The most-loved obstacle of the race, Drummatic features a series of barrels for folks to hurdle over to get to the next sweat-breaking spot.
Loggerheads and Tyre Flips: A back-and-forth round that involves competitors flipping the tyre to one side and carrying logs to the other, before proceeding to the final two rounds.
Cliff Art: Before you race to the top, you have to conquer this obstacle that’ll have you running on it and then down it in the blink of an eye.
Disclaimer: It’s not as easy as it looks.
Round The Clock: In the final set of the obstacle course, people who made it this far had to give it their all one last time as folks rushed to the end, but not before pushing this colossal tyre out of the way.
ORGANISER SPEAK
“Initially, I was a bit sceptical because of the Covid situation. I wasn’t sure of how the turnout was going to be but the place is buzzing with energy! So I’m feeling very happy that I finally did it. In the previous two seasons, we had a phenomenal response, and this time it was even better! I’ve been into fitness for over two decades, and while travelling I came to realise that obstacle courses are extremely popular overseas and nothing like that happens in eastern India on this huge scale. So I thought why not set up 10Tackles and let everybody have a good time,” said Manju Bangur, founder of 212 Degree and the brain behind 10Tackles.
The winners
(L-R) Tanseem Lokhandwala, Tanseem Fakhri, Farida Johar, Arva Hussain Desawala championed the team (all female category). “I think this was a reality check for me in terms of what ‘fitness’ is. 10Tackles had our adrenaline pumping. Each obstacle was a different challenge to ultimately test your willpower. It was a great time for us to bond as well,” said Farida.
The winners in the all-male category (L-R) Manish Singh, Arsalan Mirza, Akbar Hussain Siddiqui, Farhan Iqbal were all smiles after putting in blood, sweat, and tears to champion the course. Seen in the picture with Manju Bangur. Winners were additionally awarded cash prizes and other goodies.
Sanaya Mehta Vyas and Shatadru Lawrence Dutt were the winners the mixed categories. “This is my first time at 10Tackles and I think it was a great experience for us. I’ve been into sports and I haven’t seen such obstacle races, and it’s great to see so many participating people of all ages, that’s the spirit of health and wellness,” said Shatadru.
Eight-year-old Divit Baid was the youngest participant in this season. Enthusiastic and swift, the boy decided to give 10Tackles a try after falling in love with trekking sometime back. “It was a truly good feeling. This was his first time, he did great and completed it in a single go!” said Maneesh Baid, father of Divit.
“It was really great. I understood my strengths and weaknesses. It was really good to see that about me,” said Shreya Iyer, who competed in the individual category (female).
Pictures: B. Halder and courtesy of 10Tackles