On September 13th, some of the ABS employees suited up for their 8:40am heat in the Dirty Dash at Soldier Hollow in the beautiful Heber Valley of Utah. This is the same location that hosts, on Labor Day weekend, the Soldier Hollow Classic – a world-class sheepdog trial competition.
(Click on pictures for larger images)
Jeff’s girls want to run… maybe next year. There’s a Piglet Plunge: “will be the highlight of your child’s summer, their storied running careers and potentially their existence to this point. They must be over age 2 and under age 12 to run in the kids’ race and you’ve got to accompany them the whole way. The Piglet Plunge will be about 1 mile and will include some of the best obstacles to ensure a thoroughly muddy child: the Slop n’ Slide, the Hog Wash and the Pig Sty.” (The adult accompaniment requirement may be a feature, for some of us athletically challenged adults.)
Never did get everyone together in one picture..Shandra Pipkin and Crystal Gibson also ran. Brandon and Treichae Holmes, who are expecting a baby in December, were also there (we’re about to have a bit of a baby boom at ABS).
(Jessica Engel, Tara Wackerly, Kristin Midyett, Beau Whitlock, Megan Whitlock, Rayl Smith, Emily Wassink, Anna & Cuauhtemoc Morales, Jeff Skibitsky, Joe Dixon and his sister Nahomi Sorenson).
Tara Wackerly is the Office Administrator at our new main office in Lehi.
(Jessica, Tara, Kristin)
In the background to the left, there’s a water slide ‘obstacle’ which ‘is REALLY FAST’
(second from left: Rudy Calderon, one of our Lead Behavior Interventionists)
Now, which three of the employees in this next picture went on to do the 10K, with its added obstacles?
Alternative Behavior Strategies’ team started at 8:40, the third of 17 heats (well over a thousand folks ran), which started at 20 minute intervals.
One of the early, non-muddy obstacles was close to the spectator stands. Beau Whitlock, who does scheduling at ABS, shows how it’s done:
As our team heads up the hill to the first mudpit obstacle, you can see the trees are starting turn color, on this beautiful fall day in the Wasatch mountains of Utah.
From the spectator stands, the main attraction was the two mudpits near the finish line. Leading the ABS 5k contingent is Jeff Skibitsky – the Executive Director of ABS, Cuauhtemoc Morales – the husband of Anna Morales, who manages the Central Reach and ABPathfinder systems we use, and Jessica Engel – the Office Manager at ABS:
(Jessica, Cuauhtemoc, Jeff)
Some difficulties really call for teamwork:
And sometimes one needs to dive in with enthusiasm, as Joe Dixon (the clinical director at ABS) does consistently:
Here is Shandra Pipkin waiting to cross the last mudpit:
Crystal Gibson, one of the Behavior Interventionists at ABS, is a real trooper: she didn’t realize what was involved and didn’t dress for the occasion but ran anyway:
The 10k contingent of the ABS team seems full of energy even at the finish line, judging by the way Megan Whitlock vaults out of the last mudpit:
(Rayl, Rudy, Megan)
Beau, Megan, Rudy, and Rayl at the finish:
For more pictures from the race, see our Facebook page.
We’re looking forward to the Spring 2015 race 🙂
