This 9-Year-Old Girl Completed a 24-Hour Obstacle Course Race
Milla Bizzotto, 9 years old, was the youngest member to complete a new obstacle course race called the BattleFrog Xtreme 24-hour race, or BFX24. This race was designed by Ryan Atkins, a previous winner of the Tough Mudder obstacle race and also a fan of 24-hour running. Cosmo reports that the BFX24 involves “36 miles, swimming an 8-kilometer course, and 25 obstacles, for six laps.”
This isn’t Bizzotto’s first race, either; she has previously done one of the original Battlefrog races, the 15k race which included 50 obstacles and was “designed by Navy SEALs and SeaBees” according to Mud Run Guide. In an interview with them, Bizzotto described the 15k race as “easy“:
In the video above, Bizzotto’s dad provides some more details about her performance in the 15k and her decision to try the 24-hour race:
I train people for obstacle course racing. She’s come to a couple races before — a few Spart-races, a few Battlefrogs, Down & Dirty — and run the kids’ course. It wasn’t a challenge for her. We asked Battlefrog if she could run the full elite course with me for the 15k in November. She missed one obstacle; she missed the rig on her second lap, only ’cause she slipped. She had no issues with any of the obstacles.
When it came time for the next race, she said she wanted to do six laps at BFX. They told me there was only a 24-hour race. I broke the news to her, thinking she would be crushed. Her response was, “Train me to run for 24 hours.” So we’ve been doing that, basically since November. I’m excited, she’s excited. I think we’ll reach six laps for sure.
It seems from these interviews like Milla Bizzotto is genuinely excited to participate in the races, and when she can’t complete an obstacle, her father is understanding. I’ve seen in some comments on this story elsewhere that folks are concerned that he’s pressuring her to do more than she’s able to do, but based on the videos, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
This next video, from the Battlefrog’s official Facebook page, shows Milla Bizzotto’s dad walking her through one of the obstacles; in the end, she chooses to take the “penalty loop” instead of completing the obstacle in question, and he’s completely supportive of the choice (even though she’s so close to finishing the obstacle).
Milla and Christian decided to take the penalty loop but let’s talk about the determination that our #BFX24 participant has. We think she can accomplish her goals today.
Posted by BattleFrog Series on Friday, March 4, 2016
The fact that Milla Bizzotto is given room to fail while also being encouraged to succeed and pursue whatever interests she wants … well, let’s just say my eyes must be getting some dust in them, folks.
Best of luck to Milla Bizzotto in her future races and pursuits!
(via Jezebel)
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