Concrete Hero Los Angeles Recap!
J Brooks checking in from a tiring but good weekend and coming through with the Concrete Hero Los Angeles recap. As some of you may already know, I was sought out by Gary Turner and the good folks over at APLA to do a round of interviews based on my experience with past obstacle courses. The big weekend was finally upon us and I was able to get on AXS TV for a preview of the course on Saturday. I was on for like 10 seconds but still appreciate the opportunities given to me. To the folks who had way better stories than I did (and there were a lot) but weren’t able to get on the air, I sincerely apologize. The best I can do is plug AIDS Project Los Angeles and Concrete Hero as best I can to help Angelenos suffering from the HIV/AIDS Virus. The highlight of Saturday though? Watching one of the older contestants try out and fail miserably at a rope swing. She skipped that obstacle come race day.
Sunday was upon us so the lady and I got up early as sh*t to be at LA Live by 7am to meet up with the media. I actually got airtime with the local NBC channel WOOT! Thankfully for the audience and the cameraman, my ugly mug was covered up thanks to the Beardhead graciously donated to me by David. There were at least 10 obstacles, and of them I recall the Tar Pits and Dodgeball Alley being the toughest.The Tar Pit consisted of a setup similar to monkey bars over some nasty ass water.
While the water wasn’t deep, I wasn’t trying to run the rest of the race with some soggy underoos on. The tricky part was maintaining the grip because the bars were super thick and I have small Asian hands. About four inches in diameter from what I remember, which led to a lot of splashdowns from other competitors. Luckily for me I got off the Tar Pits no worse for wear.
By the end of the race I was pretty winded which pissed me off. I really thought I was in better shape but alas I am not. One of the good things about Concrete Hero is that although the atmosphere is competitive, I saw a bunch of people helping each other out. A few times I saw some folks struggling at an obstacle, and this situation popped into my mind:
Yes I’m an evil bastard. But no I didn’t actually do that to anyone. They got away before I could. Kidding, kidding!
By the time I got to the Hollywood sign, I was somewhat winded, and my cousins actually saw me on KTLA! Climbing to the top of the sign was pretty difficult because some competitors were flailing around like fish out of water. I had to get my bob and weave on to avoid all sorts of appendages being inadvertently swung my way.
Momma I made it on TV!!! At the conclusion of the race, it was announced that our combined fundraising efforts brought in over $400,000. Not bad for an inaugural year, and I’m looking forward to participating next year and smashing on that number. Special thanks to my better half who snapped the pics and donated to my page, my business partner E, and all of my friends and family who donated. I’ll be hitting you up next year for similar donations kekeke. And now, onto the next challenge for The Suicide Kings.
