Unity through adversity Published May 30, 2012 By Jose T. Garza III Sports Editor 5/24/2012 -- 5/24/2012 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The Spartan Race is the world's leading obstacle race, a race of pure primitive mayhem for those who participate, according to event organizers. Up for the challenge, Airmen from the 323rd Training Squadron decided to test their mettle and compete in the event, a competition which featured a 5.7-mile, 15-obstacle Spartan Sprint Race Saturday in Burnet, Texas. The obstacles, varying from wall climbing, pond walking, tunnel crawling, and even, low crawling under barbed wire, tested the squadron members' physical and mental wherewithal while building team camaraderie at the same time. "It was pretty intense," David Mayerck, a staff sergeant with the 323rd TRS said. "It tested every muscle in my body. On a scale of 1-10, physicality was a 7." Teammate Christian Pagan-Guzman, a staff sergeant with the unit, said the race was physically and mentally fun but challenging at the same time. "The race was hard, but I didn't want to give up on it because I knew I could finish it," he said. "My goal was to finish while pacing myself. As you go through the obstacles, you'll find that some of them are not so difficult, but it's what comes after that that makes you scratch your head and ask, 'Will I be able to finish?' "For example, once you finish crawling through a narrow tunnel, the tunnel itself drains your head because it's small, hot, and has barely any room to crawl. Once I completed that obstacle, I had a half a mile to climb a trail. I had to support my weight by jumping through all the rocks. "I had the physical aspect of going through the tunnel and being drained, but now I see a high mountain, my mentality changed by asking myself if I could climb through it," Pagan-Guzman said. "Completing those challenges made me strong mentally knowing I could finish them." Completing the Spartan Sprint paid off for the 323rd as they finished eighth out of 367 teams in team competition at 1:18:45. Jeffrey Greenwood, a lieutenant colonel and commander of the unit, did best among his teammates, completing the course in 1:10:17, for 28th place overall. Greenwood said one of the participants, John Paxton, came to him with the idea to participate in the weekend race, which was their first competition together as a unit. "He approached me and said, 'Here's a race we can do.' We immediately shot out an email letting everyone know about this competition," Greenwood said. "I have to say (my teammates) are the most competitive military training leaders, at least physical wise. They all chopped at the bit to do this race." With scrapes and cuts covering their limbs from the grueling obstacle race, Mayerck and Benjamin Simmons, a technical sergeant, crossed the finish line a minute after Greenwood and waited for other teammates to complete the final obstacle, a barbed wire crawl. "It was a team atmosphere all the way through," Greenwood said. "It's one thing to do these events individually, but to run the race as a team and be concerned with what the team score is, and everyone getting through, is pretty cool. And as the lone officer of the group, I'm proud they chose me to be part of the team." Adhering to a team concept was a forgone conclusion before getting the race. "We talked before we started the race. We were going to finish as close to a team as possible because that is what we went out there to do," Mayerck said. The 323rd TRS hopes to participate in a 12-mile Tough Mudder race in Burnet in October. Several other squadron members have inquired about joining the team. "The Spartan race was a good starter and it challenged us to be prepared for future races to come," Greenwood said.