The field outside the West Gym was transformed — lined with cones, sand bags and formidable wooden logs — and turned into a temporary boot camp, which would test the physical and mental endurance of three Binghamton University students and a Conklin resident on Tuesday.
The test, called the Fitness Challenge, was presented by the United States Marine Corps Officer Selection Program. It was a boot camp-inspired workout session designed to give college students a feel for what it takes to join the Marines.
“I’ve always been interested in how the Marines work out,” said undeclared freshman Stephen Hernandez. He heard about the event on Facebook and decided to show up for the physical test.
Daniel Mayner, a Conklin resident who rowed with the BU crew team over the summer, said he was eager to see how he “matched up” against the Marines — if at all.
A former United States Marine Corps sergeant who served three tours of duty in Iraq led the exercise and leadership activity.
He summed up the philosophy required to survive in the Marine Corps to his new trainees.
“For us, working hard means doing one more. All right? And you guys will see that today,” he said. Then, after a pause: “You guys will definitely see that today.”
The workout not only provided insight into the Marine Corps officer training program, but was a focused leadership and group workshop. The former sergeant emphasized the themes of the exercise.
“A good team leader does two things,” he said. “First, they accomplish the mission. Second, they take care of their people. In that order.”
He also discussed the team dynamic.
“A good teammate does two things. First, they hold themselves to very high standards. Second, they demand those standards out of each and every one of their teammates.”
With that, he ordered the trainees to line up — which they promptly and dutifully did.
The workout started off easy. Walking stretches and light jogging made up the warm-up. The first sets of walking stretches were for 21-yard intervals: 20 yards and “one more.” For the second set, the distance increased to 41 yards, following a pattern.
After some running and short sprints, the real workout began. Twenty-one repetitions of four-count push-ups, for a total of 42, were promptly followed by 21 reps each of four-count leg kicks, “mountain-climbers” and jumping jacks, all topped off with the “plank,” an exercise in which the body is supported on just the forearms and toes for an extended period.
The sergeant directed the trainees not to look at the grass below them but to find the strength in their teammates to their left and right, to bring themselves beyond their physical ability to help the team achieve its goal: completing the training.
And that was just the first round.
The trainees pushed themselves though the whole sequence three more times, with 16, 11 and six reps of four-count exercises each time, each taking turns leading the group in the workout.
After that phase of the workout, they took a short break before returning to work. They took turns running with sandbags on their shoulders and lifting logs above their heads.
Capt. Caine Goyette of the officer selection station of Central New York helped organize the event. He ran a training session two weeks earlier at Cornell University. It was his first time running the event, and he said the students there enjoyed it.
The Marine Corps has been running the leadership workshops for about a year, according to Goyette. “I just kind of jumped on board this year to try it out and see how it works,” he said.