Tough mudder course under construction in Lore City

A tough mudder obstacle course designed to provide support to Guernsey County veterans is under construction at the Great Guernsey Trailhead in Lore City.

Ron Gombeda, director of the Community Development Corp, said there had been plans of putting a walking trail through the property owned by the CDC for some time.

"It was always something we wanted to do," Gombeda said. "Then, the CDC's veterans program manager Steven Ashby came up with the idea to build a community and veterans recreation program which will have youth and adult obstacle courses.

The idea came to Ashby, who is a veteran, while visiting a friend in he was in Vancouver Washington,

"They have quite a bit of recreation out there for veterans and the public in general," Ashby said. "... (the obstacle course is part of the treatment the VA does out there. They have recreational programs for vets and stuff and it's having a really positive effect."

Ashby said the local project won't be a treatment program, and they want to build the facility to help support the local vets with home renovations and purchases.

"The mudder courses usually bring in a fair bit of money," Ashby said. "The proceeds will help vets build or buy homes."

Ashby is hoping to build six small houses for vets who travel from outside the area or give vets dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder a place to decompress.

"If a vet wants to come down here for a weekend, he will have a place to stay, because not all vets can afford a hotel room," Ashby said.

The houses, as well as future items such as mud volleyball pit and four-wheeler course, will be dependent on getting sponsorship to build them after the courses are completed.

"The idea behind this is to be able to get sponsors to raise money for vets," Ashby said. "The sponsorship would go to the construction costs and the proceeds would go to the vets and other non-profit organizations."

The proceeds would be raised by renting the site for tough mudder type events. Ashby said his knowledge the nearest permanent mudder course is in Maryland.

Sponsorship for each obstacle is $1,000. There will be eight obstacles for the youth course and somewhere between 12 to 18 obstacles for the adult course. Obstacle will be completed as sponsorship is obtained for them. Ashby is hopefu he will obtain enough sponsorships to complete the courses by June.

Some of the obstacles on the course will include under wire craw, climbing mounds and balancing beams. Approximately 15,000 tires will be used in the obstacles for retaining walls.

Some funds have been raised through local individuals and businesses that wish to remain anonymous, Ashby said, and ICR has been the biggest donor so far with the donation of equipment to build the course.

"Without their donation, with letting me use their equipment, I would never be able to afford this," Ashby said.

There are plans to line each open row through the course with willow trees, and Ashby is asking for donations of $25 per tree which will be named after the donor.

Donations and sponorships can be made at the CDC office, 905 Wheeling Ave.

In addition to donations/sponsorships, Ashby said he is in need of volunteers to help with the labor for sowing grass once the obstacles are completed.

A planning meeting will be held at noon April 30, at the Lore City Trail Head just off Wintergreen Road, for those potential contributors.

Gombeda said he was excited about the idea because the tough mudder events could bring more people into Guernsey County.

"One of our main components of our local economy is tourism. Get people to come here to visit Guernsey County, they spend money and they stay here," Gombeda said. "You get bed tax, sales tax and local businesses thrive from the business. So anything we can do to get people to come here, we are all about that."

For more information, contact Ashby at 740-439-0020 or sashby@guernseycountycdc.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: "The mudder courses usually bring in a fair bit of money," Ashby said. "The proceeds will help vets build or buy homes."