Adventures include 5K obstacle run one-mile fun run and masquerade ball
From October 19-21, pirates and other assorted scallywags will invade South Walton’s normally tranquil Topsail Hill Preserve for the first-ever Treasures of South Walton Adventure Run. Participants in the 5K run will have to guard their “booty” (four flags) as they progress through a variety of obstacles on their way to the finish line.
The Treasures of South Walton Adventure Run encompasses an entire weekend of fun,
beginning with a masquerade ball Friday evening, where everyone will don their fanciest pirate finery for a night of swashbuckling merriment at the Tops’l Resort, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Gentlemen o’ fortune and lovely lasses will enjoy dancing to live music, dining on hors d’oeuvres, cash bar and silent auction.
There’s a special one-mile fun run for the wee cabin boys and girls on Saturday, with a scaled down version of the course just for them. The main event is Sunday, when hearty landlubbers will try to outmaneuver buccaneers out to plunder their booty as they make their way along the 5k obstacle course. The weekend culminates in an awards ceremony, with prizes for the runner with the fastest time with booty intact and the pirate with the most booty.
Sponsored by Visit South Walton, the Treasures of South Walton Adventure Run is produced by SRB Productions, whose goal is to produce exciting events in order to leverage awareness and funding for charitable organizations. The beneficiary of the 2012 event is Food for Thought, which provides backpacks filled with easy-to-make meals, allowing children in need to focus on their development and education.
Adventure races have become wildly popular in recent years, drawing millions of participants nationwide. They blend the traditional 5k run with obstacle courses of varying degrees of difficulty. Some include swimming, cycling, climbing or rappelling as part of the race.
“Most adventure races are extremely muddy, and some are extremely difficult. We thought we’d provide something a little different in South Walton: a fun challenge through coastal forest and along the sugar-white sand and clear turquoise water of the Gulf of Mexico. Nowhere else offers the setting we have here,” said event organizer Shelley Reifschneider.
For more information or to register, click here.
View the Adventure Run album on Facebook here.
About South Walton:
Located along a 26-mile stretch of Northwest Florida’s Coast, South Walton encompasses an unparalleled strand of 15 distinct beach neighborhoods, each with its own traditions, charm and visual style. South Walton is renowned for natural scenic beauty, turquoise waters and sugar sand beaches, including one of Dr. Beach’s All-Time Top 20 Beaches. An upscale, yet casual, place to unwind, rejuvenate and build lasting memories, it is here that visitors find their perfect beach. Learn more at VisitSouthWalton.com.
To learn more about the event, click here.