This year's Guardian Run makes it's fourth annual appearance at Elk Creek Hunt Club in Owenton, KY and this year's theme was 'Highlight Reel'. The Guardian Run falls under a family of similar 'run-n-gun' events held nationwide and the theme 'Highlight Reel' stems from using some of The Guardian Run's staff and veteran competitor's favorite stages out of all the events. This event raises awareness for, and all proceeds are donated to Behind the Badge (Covington, KY), a non-profit organization that supports the families of fallen officers.

The Guardian Run is a 5K (this year's event was actually estimated at around 4.5 miles), 2-gun biathlon that features seven shooting stages, with several physical obstacles jammed in between stages. This event is held on rolling hill terrain to test competitor's endurance and performance under physical distress.

Stage one comes after a short, warm-up run from the staging area at the start/finish line. At stage one, competitors are introduced to three steel silhouette targets at the 100, 150 and 200 yard line. This course of fire is designed to test the shooter's basic shooting fundamentals and rifle marksmanship. Once the shooter is ready, they need to land three hits on the 100 yard target in the standing position.

With three hits verified by the Stage One Range Officer (RO), the shooter will then transition to the kneeling position and engage the 150 yard target until the steel rings three times. Then, the shooter will transition to the sitting position and engage the same target until three hits are incurred.

Finally, the shooter will transition to the prone position where they will engage the 200 yard target until three hits ring steel. Once the stage is complete, the RO clears the firing line and sends the shooter off on their trek to Stage Two.

If you're anything like me, you're probably like what the ____ is a V-Tac Board!? V-Tac is short for Viking Tactical, founded by US Army Sergeant Major (retired) Kyle Lamb, and the V-Tac Board is utilized to train individuals to fire from behind cover. This stage is the epitome of adapt and overcome as the shooter must calculate sight over bore to engage these targets effectively.

At Stage Two, the competitor is presented with three V-Tac Boards, two for sidearm engagement and one for primary arm. Beginning with their sidearm, the competitor must begin from the bottom engaging targets. Once they ring steel, the competitor transitions to the next hole until they complete each respective board.

Ever use the zombie apocalypse as motivation to train? If your answer is yes, you will LOVE this stage! This stage is an adaptation of one of the opening scenes of the hit movie, Zombieland, you shoot this stage from the comfort of a portable restroom. Before you enter the makeshift restroom/ shooter's platform, you must complete five up-downs while holding a weighted sandbag.

The Zombie Stage has six steel targets posted at varying distances and directions, it's the shooter's mission to engage the targets from left to right, which does require some maneuvering to get a good sight picture. The competitor must ring steel on each target before moving on to the next; this sequence must be repeated three times for successful completion.

The Premise behind Stage Four is engaging targets from an elevated position, at Elk Creek there is an observation tower that Jim Warren, Match Director, and his team implemented to achieve just that. At The Tower, the competitor has four targets at unknown distances, two designated for handgun and two designated for rifle. On the RO's mark, the shooter will begin with sidearm, once the initial target's steel rings, the shooter must transition to the second. This evolution will continue until each target is engaged four times, the this drill is repeated with the rifle. I did not get an exact height on The Tower, but I would estimated 45-60 feet at the shooter's platform.

This stage follows the swim portion, and rightfully so, if you're gonna swim like a duck then you're likely gonna have an appetite for a duck, to boot. This stage is pretty simple, there are two clay throwers set up at unknown locations and distances. The competitor is given a 12 gage along with two opportunities to shatter clay.

Stage Six is inspired by actual events that have taken place on the battlefield by US Forces. The competitor is presented with two targets, one at 25 yards and the other at 75. The shooter has three designated firing positions marked on the ground as a white box. Once the RO gives the command, the competitor will engage the 25 yard target with their sidearm from the standing, once five hits are accrued, the shooter will bound to the next box, accrue five hits, then the next.

Once the sidearm portion is complete, the shooter will bound back to the first white box and hit the prone position with their rifle to begin engaging the target at 75 yards. The same sequence is repeated utilizing the rifle.

The finale of The Guardian Run is a stage where you can really rack up some bonus points with a slight 'catch'. The shooter is presented with eight targets at ascending, unknown distances and a kevlar shield. While holding the shield, the competitor must engage the targets from nearest to furthest with their sidearm. The shooter can stop and retain their points following each hit, but one miss means you're leaving this stage with zero points!

The culminating event of this year's The Guardian Run is a kayak float across (and back) the lake. Once your kayak is secured, you run along the lake and make the arduous trek uphill until you meet the straight-a-way to the finish line!

I feel the need to speak on the team at Anderson's behalf here and say what an incredible honor it was to sponsor this event. We believe in its cause, Back the Blue, and we take the opportunity to support our 2A Community whenever we have the means to. We also had the honor of sponsoring Sheree in The Guardian Run. With little time train with her new Anderson Kiger-9c Pro and customized AM-15, she still pushed through all adversity to land third place for the female division! Before we start getting the comments, no, there weren't only three females competing. Sheree trains with her husband and close friends for this event all throughout the year and we couldn't be more proud of the results.

I just wanted to send out a huge thank you to Jim and his incredible team that devoted a ton of time and effort to piecing this event together year after year. They were so welcoming, and as you seen in the video, very open to allowing me to try out some of the stages. If you follow our blog, you already know that I'm a retired Marine who landed a dream job at Anderson Manufacturing, beginning in Assembly and progressing throughout the ranks. As a Veteran, I find myself often thinking back at some of the proficiencies I had with my required skillset and compare that to where I'm at now, and most times that can be disheartening, especially with injuries, etc. Usually, when you show up to an event like this and everyone is aware that you are a Marine, the judgements start coming and you can literally feel it and that's at no fault of anybody, America has come to have a vey high expectation for Marines and rightfully so. In my situation, I let the physical limitations translate into mental limitations which resulted in little or no training since my time on active duty. Rolling through some of these stages allowed me to realize how out of practice I am and gave me inspiration to get back out there and start training! It's time for me leave the stigma behind and not be afraid to ask for help in training or training with others and not feel that judgement. I can say that I owe all this to the amazing staff that hosted this event. They were comprised of all walks of life and everyone was so patient with me and really had no regard about expectations or any of that. Next year, I will be a finisher of The Guardian Run... If you haven't already, make sure you check out Anderson's Blog under the 'News' tab at https://andersonmanufacturing.com/news . Also, check us out on all the social media platforms @Anderson Manufacturing for fresh content and exciting news!