CAMDEN — Camden Snow Bowl Interim Manager Beth Ward and local businessman Reade Brower will address the Camden Select Board Tuesday, May 7 seeking support for an obstacle course race to be held at the Snow Bowl Sept. 21. Proceeds from the race are to benefit Go! Malawi and cover Parks and Recreation Department costs to ensure no financial burden is placed on the Town of Camden. The agenda also includes a budget overview delivered by school Superintendent Elaine Nutter, who oversees Camden-Rockport K-8 schools, as well as Camden Hills Regional High School.

The regularly scheduled select board meeting will be held Tuesday, May 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Washington Street Conference Room, and will be televised on Public Access Television channel 22.

Other agenda items on the 7 agenda include proclaiming of May 26, 2013 as Arbor Day, designating the Registrar of Voters' office hours for June 11 voting and the June 12 town meeting, and confirming the Town Clerk's appointment of election warden.

According to Ward, Camden's Parks and Recreation Department has been talking about putting on an obstacle course race for several years, inspired by obstacle events, such as Tough Mudder, a brand of 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by the British Special Forces.

Ward said organizers of similar adventure races were not interested in hosting such an event in the area, and the Parks and Recreation Department struggled with how to surmount financial obligations and the infrastructural logistics involved in hosting an obstacle race alone.

The upcoming May 25 Run for Your Life! adventure race cosponsored by Camden and Hope fire departments and Camden First Aid Association presented an opportunity to host such an event, Ward said, but Camden Snow Bowl agreed to cosponsor the Sept. 21 race after they were approached by Brower on behalf of Go! Malawi.

"We said, 'Well, let's do it together,'" Ward said of the partnership.

Ward said the race will take place on a 3-mile loop on the 22 tacks multi-purpose trail, and use 20 obstacles — including walls, cargo netting, and monkey bars — some of which may be left in place following the event.

According to Ward, the number of participants will be capped at 300. If a participant cannot complete an obstacle, he or she will be penalized, Ward said. Like the Tough Mudder, organizers hope to attract corporate teams and engender camaraderie among the participants. Emphasis will be placed on simply finishing the obstacles rather than completing the event speedily.

Ward said the Sept. 21 obstacle race's organizers will soon begin seeking sponsors for each obstacle, and, following the May 7 select board meeting, begin "marketing the heck out of [the event] right after that."

Though Ward said she did not believe the event will require the use of public safety personnel, the ski patrol will be called upon to provide basic first aid, and event staff will be on-site.

To contact Bane Okholm, email news@penbaypilot.com.