"Battle Road Biathlon"
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Unbridled Liberty
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:45 pm
- Location: Fayette County, KY
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"Battle Road Biathlon"
Revere's Riders is running a beta test of a new type of event on 8/4/18 near Willisburg, KY. This is an entry-level biathlon where you run or walk a total of 5K and shoot from standing, seated and prone. This will be a .22LR rimfire event due to the design of our special reactive targets. You will have an assigned target and firing point, and you will safe and ground your rifle at your firing point before you run/walk, so you don't even have to carry it. Each lap is only 1.25K (3/4 mile) and there will be no climbing or crawling. You don't need any special equipment, just your trusty old .22 rifle, 15 rounds of ammo, and eye and ear protection. Many people are intimidated by the hard-core Legion 9/11 Memorial type Run n Gun 5K/10K run by the Special Forces boys from Ft. Campbell, but for this, we have tried to remove all barriers to participation. Since this event is by invitation only, you will not find this event listed on the Revere's Riders website (hitscount.org), so if anybody is interested, please let me know (ky@reveresriders.org) and I will send you the registration/ticket link. Oh yeah, the cost for this initial event is only $15.
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Unbridled Liberty
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:45 pm
- Location: Fayette County, KY
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Re: "Battle Road Biathlon"
Revere's Riders "Battle Road Biathlon" Beta After Action Report
On 4AUG2018 we made history on several counts: the first Battle Road Biathlon (combined athletic/shooting event), the first event at Kentucky's newest venue, a private farm near Willisburg, and the debut appearance of our new reactive target system.
This was the first of what we hope will be many events at this 137 acre farm just minutes off the Bluegrass Parkway. The range is set up in the corner of a large meadow, shooting into a hillside. Currently the range is 20 yards wide and 50 yards long with room for us to shoot at 100 yards simply by moving the firing line back. In the future, there is the possibility of shooting the length of the meadow, about 350 yards.
There is a small grove of trees near the firing line enclosing the stone foundation remains of an old homestead dating from maybe the 18th or 19th century, we don't really know. It does provide a lot of cool shade though, and it is where we had check-in, the start and finish line, and is where everybody naturally hung out.
After initial check-in and introductions, explanation of the emergency medical plan, the range limits and a brief explanation of what happened along “Battle Road” on April 19, 1775, we proceeded from our shaded oasis over to the range. Rayne demonstrated the new reactive targets by shooting the standing stage, as well as demonstrating how to make rifles safe after firing.
I had Rayne miss one of the targets on purpose, and I then explained and demonstrated how the penalty tally cards worked, as well as how the penalty lap and tally marker system worked. They had to run/walk one lap for every shot missed, using a red bingo marker tethered to a fence post to mark their 4x6 penalty cards with one dot for each lap completed.
Finally, I gave a standard safety briefing, including the 3 safety rules, and covered hangfires, misfires and squibs. Since they were strictly limited to 15 rounds total (5 for each of the 3 stages), I instructed them to carefully eject any misfires and manually reload them and attempt to fire them again. We had numbered firing points, each with their own numbered target holders. The shooters had race bibs with numbers that corresponded to the firing point/target numbers.
I split the runners into 2 squads. Acton Squad shot at 41 meters and ran 250 meter penalty loops, while Bedford Squad shot at 25 yards and ran approximately 150 meter penalty laps. After the safety briefing, Acton Squad brought their rifles to the line and prepped their firing points.
We used a starting gun loaded with a 209 primer as "the shot heard round the world" to start each squad. Our timing was done on an iPad using the MultiTimer app, which starts up to 8 timers at once and then allows you to stop them individually. We did a mass start (all runners in each squad started at the same time), which always creates some interesting dynamics at the firing line and penalty track.
For those unfamiliar with our new reactive target system, each target holder is 2'x4' with 3 rows of 5 holes which are precision cut with a CNC router to accept 1/2" thick rubber target disks which are precision cut with a CNC water jet. The target holder faces are painted solid white, which provides high contrast with the black disks. The top row of disks (standing) are 4.485″, the middle row (seated) are 3.12″, and the bottom row (prone) are 1.755″.
About 4' behind the target line is a barrier of 4' high white Tyvek which serves two purposes; it provides a contrasting white background to make hits easy to spot, and it catches the rubber disks to make them easier to find and reset.
You can see a good demonstration of how the target system works in a video of Hop shooting seated at https://www.facebook.com/kentuckyrifle/
Official Course of Fire
Round count: 15 rounds; 3 magazines of 5 rounds each was recommended. Incidentally, 15 rounds is all John Stark’s New Hampshire regiment started with at the Battle of Breed’s Hill in June 1775. They used every round to good effect with aimed, accurate fire. And you better believe that their pulse rate and respiration were elevated as the massed Redcoat troops approached the rail fence on the left side of the rebel line.
There were 4 running/walking loops of 1.25K (3/4 mile) each, for a total of 5K. It was the same loop each time. These loops were on unimproved roads/trails through hilly woods and flat meadows. There were some natural obstacles such as logs, but there was no climbing or crawling. Competitors could either run or walk.
In between each running/walking loop were the shooting stages described above. After shooting each stage, and clearing/safing/grounding his/her rifle, the competitor did a separate 250/150 meter penalty loop for each miss before going back out on the 1.25K loop. It went like this:
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot standing one shot at each of five targets (top row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot seated/kneeling (shooter choice) one shot at each of five targets (middle row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot prone one shot at each of five targets (bottom row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Finish
There was no target scoring; either you hit the target or you missed it. Since the penalty for missing was running/walking extra distance, the winner was determined by time only.
Final Results:
Acton Squad
(41 Meter Target Distance, 250 Meter Penalty Loops)
Todd Banus 37:58
Mark Mackey 48:25
Kevin Fitz-Gerald 52:45
Brad Holman 56:40
Allen Carmical 1:09
Samuel Warren 1:14
Bedford Squad
(23 Meter Target Distance, 150 Meter Penalty Loops)
Bradley Settle 47:43
Mike Arnold 47:43
John Hopkins 53:04
Mike Lunsford 1:22
Suzanne Meyer 1:43
Hop brought his drone and got some great aerial footage, and I took some pictures, which we will put on Flicker and Youtube ASAP. I want to thank Revere’s Riders instructors Slim, AJ, Rayne, Hop and Mark for all their help.
On 4AUG2018 we made history on several counts: the first Battle Road Biathlon (combined athletic/shooting event), the first event at Kentucky's newest venue, a private farm near Willisburg, and the debut appearance of our new reactive target system.
This was the first of what we hope will be many events at this 137 acre farm just minutes off the Bluegrass Parkway. The range is set up in the corner of a large meadow, shooting into a hillside. Currently the range is 20 yards wide and 50 yards long with room for us to shoot at 100 yards simply by moving the firing line back. In the future, there is the possibility of shooting the length of the meadow, about 350 yards.
There is a small grove of trees near the firing line enclosing the stone foundation remains of an old homestead dating from maybe the 18th or 19th century, we don't really know. It does provide a lot of cool shade though, and it is where we had check-in, the start and finish line, and is where everybody naturally hung out.
After initial check-in and introductions, explanation of the emergency medical plan, the range limits and a brief explanation of what happened along “Battle Road” on April 19, 1775, we proceeded from our shaded oasis over to the range. Rayne demonstrated the new reactive targets by shooting the standing stage, as well as demonstrating how to make rifles safe after firing.
I had Rayne miss one of the targets on purpose, and I then explained and demonstrated how the penalty tally cards worked, as well as how the penalty lap and tally marker system worked. They had to run/walk one lap for every shot missed, using a red bingo marker tethered to a fence post to mark their 4x6 penalty cards with one dot for each lap completed.
Finally, I gave a standard safety briefing, including the 3 safety rules, and covered hangfires, misfires and squibs. Since they were strictly limited to 15 rounds total (5 for each of the 3 stages), I instructed them to carefully eject any misfires and manually reload them and attempt to fire them again. We had numbered firing points, each with their own numbered target holders. The shooters had race bibs with numbers that corresponded to the firing point/target numbers.
I split the runners into 2 squads. Acton Squad shot at 41 meters and ran 250 meter penalty loops, while Bedford Squad shot at 25 yards and ran approximately 150 meter penalty laps. After the safety briefing, Acton Squad brought their rifles to the line and prepped their firing points.
We used a starting gun loaded with a 209 primer as "the shot heard round the world" to start each squad. Our timing was done on an iPad using the MultiTimer app, which starts up to 8 timers at once and then allows you to stop them individually. We did a mass start (all runners in each squad started at the same time), which always creates some interesting dynamics at the firing line and penalty track.
For those unfamiliar with our new reactive target system, each target holder is 2'x4' with 3 rows of 5 holes which are precision cut with a CNC router to accept 1/2" thick rubber target disks which are precision cut with a CNC water jet. The target holder faces are painted solid white, which provides high contrast with the black disks. The top row of disks (standing) are 4.485″, the middle row (seated) are 3.12″, and the bottom row (prone) are 1.755″.
About 4' behind the target line is a barrier of 4' high white Tyvek which serves two purposes; it provides a contrasting white background to make hits easy to spot, and it catches the rubber disks to make them easier to find and reset.
You can see a good demonstration of how the target system works in a video of Hop shooting seated at https://www.facebook.com/kentuckyrifle/
Official Course of Fire
Round count: 15 rounds; 3 magazines of 5 rounds each was recommended. Incidentally, 15 rounds is all John Stark’s New Hampshire regiment started with at the Battle of Breed’s Hill in June 1775. They used every round to good effect with aimed, accurate fire. And you better believe that their pulse rate and respiration were elevated as the massed Redcoat troops approached the rail fence on the left side of the rebel line.
There were 4 running/walking loops of 1.25K (3/4 mile) each, for a total of 5K. It was the same loop each time. These loops were on unimproved roads/trails through hilly woods and flat meadows. There were some natural obstacles such as logs, but there was no climbing or crawling. Competitors could either run or walk.
In between each running/walking loop were the shooting stages described above. After shooting each stage, and clearing/safing/grounding his/her rifle, the competitor did a separate 250/150 meter penalty loop for each miss before going back out on the 1.25K loop. It went like this:
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot standing one shot at each of five targets (top row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot seated/kneeling (shooter choice) one shot at each of five targets (middle row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Shoot prone one shot at each of five targets (bottom row)
Clear, make safe and ground rifle
Run/walk penalty loop once for each missed target
Run/walk 1.25K loop
Finish
There was no target scoring; either you hit the target or you missed it. Since the penalty for missing was running/walking extra distance, the winner was determined by time only.
Final Results:
Acton Squad
(41 Meter Target Distance, 250 Meter Penalty Loops)
Todd Banus 37:58
Mark Mackey 48:25
Kevin Fitz-Gerald 52:45
Brad Holman 56:40
Allen Carmical 1:09
Samuel Warren 1:14
Bedford Squad
(23 Meter Target Distance, 150 Meter Penalty Loops)
Bradley Settle 47:43
Mike Arnold 47:43
John Hopkins 53:04
Mike Lunsford 1:22
Suzanne Meyer 1:43
Hop brought his drone and got some great aerial footage, and I took some pictures, which we will put on Flicker and Youtube ASAP. I want to thank Revere’s Riders instructors Slim, AJ, Rayne, Hop and Mark for all their help.
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Unbridled Liberty
- Posts: 132
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 6:45 pm
- Location: Fayette County, KY
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Re: "Battle Road Biathlon"
Link to the Flickr album https://www.flickr.com/photos/159348061 ... 8436489251
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plumber_bob
- KAC Member
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- Location: L.J. Ky
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Re: "Battle Road Biathlon"
That looks like a real cool time!Unbridled Liberty wrote:Link to the Flickr album https://www.flickr.com/photos/159348061 ... 8436489251
Thanks for sharing.
pb
"One Man With Courage is a Majority"