Daring souls from around the area had a chance to test their physical and mental skills in the first ever Carbon Adventure Race, hosted by the Carbon Chamber Economic Development Corporation and the Carbon County Young Professionals Council.

The race included six different checkpoints.When participants reached a checkpoint, they could choose either a mental or physical challenge to complete.Forty-eight participants in teams of two faced challenges beginning at Split Rock Resort, then moving to Pine Point Plaza, Penn's Peak, Baer Memorial Park, Palmerton Seventh Street Field and finishing at Blue Mountain Ski Area.Among the challenges for the racers were to spell his or her own name using alphabet pasta pieces, coasting down a giant slip and slide, and knocking over a Zimmerman's iced tea carton using only a rubber band."The Palmerton Seventh Street Field (was the most difficult)," said Tia Amorim of Palmerton."We did the physical challenge and we had to bear crawl down the field and then crab walk back and then run down the field and run back," Amorim said."I cheated," said her partner, Kim Beers, also of Palmerton.Some of the challenges tested team mentality."The cheeseballs! That was so hard," said Meg Dowd of Bethlehem, referring to a challenge in which one partner covered his or her face in shaving cream while the other tossed cheeseballs at them until 10 stuck."It was a true mental test to make sure you didn't go crazy just trying to get them on.""They didn't really tell us what we were doing so there was really no way to prepare," said her teammate, Paul Ricciardi, also of Bethlehem. "We had to come ready for anything."Competitors of all ages were welcome at the event, from age 18 to age 70.First-place winners and recipients of $200 were Pat and Kathy Boni. Eric and Jennifer Bierman were second, and in third place were Chad Fritzinger and Terry Ahner.A special "Most Fun" honor was awarded to Jim and Paula Fritzinger.The goal of the race was not just to give area residents a healthy dose of outdoor fun, but also to collect money for a local food bank and shine a spotlight on local businesses.Contestants were encouraged to bring a food donation for the Christian Action Council of Palmerton Area Churches food pantry.Teams who brought a food item were rewarded with a head start in the race.An estimated 200 items were collected.The race also accomplished the task of highlighting local businesses."It was a wonderful tour of the whole Pocono area," Dowd said. "You got to see a lot of different things and come back for more. It was a great way to get exposure to the towns and grow economically.""We got to showcase six businesses, six locations within Carbon County and that was really our goal. To showcase Carbon County to folks that may have not have been here or are here but never really get to see what's in their backyard," said Marlyn Kissner, executive director at Carbon County Chamber of Commerce.Since the event was such a success, there are plans to make the race an annual event."We had a number of teams saying they wanted to come back next year," said Casey Feinberg, major events coordinator for the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce."And with the word going out, people hear about it and in the future it will definitely be something people are looking forward to," Feinberg said.