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J-M grads take ‘Ultimate Team Challenge’

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Shown in Qualifiers Night 3 of NBC’s “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” are members of team Better Halves, from left, Steve Myers, Chris Anne Beardslee-Myers, Yeniz Parton and Courtney and Ryan Kaczmark, both graduates of Jefferson-Morgan Middle/High School.

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Members of Team Better Halves in NBC’s “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” are, from left, Steve Myers, Chris Anne Beardslee-Myers, Yeniz Parton and Courtney and Ryan Kaczmark, both graduates of Jefferson-Morgan Middle/High School.

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Among the competitors in NBC’s “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” are, from left, Yeniz Parton and Courtney Kaczmark of team Better Halves and Deborah Arrieta of team Grey Guard.

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Competing in episode 203 of “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge” are members of team Better Halves, from left, Courtney Kaczmark, Chris Anne Beardslee-Myers, Steve Myers and Yeniz Parton.

Two Jefferson-Morgan Middle/High School graduates, now married with children, showed their strength in the greatest fitness challenge of their lives that will air Monday on NBC.

Courtney and Ryan Kaczmark, both 36, of Chambersburg, were contestants on the “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge,” a grueling obstacle course team race. Their race will be part of the show’s third episode of the second season, which will air at 10 p.m.

“That has exceeded any sort of dreams that we’ve ever had,” Courtney said.

They filmed the show in April in Atlanta. Ryan, Courtney and their two children, Alex, 9, and Macie, 4, spent a week there. The race consisted of running, mud, water and obstacles, like climbing slippery walls, carrying buckets of concrete, hopping logs, throwing spears and climbing ropes.

“It’s like a playground for big kids,” Courtney said.

She said each obstacle on the show required a team to complete it.

“It was extremely intense and required strength, perseverance and a lot of team communication,” she said. “We had to use each other’s strengths to give it our all.”

In addition to Courtney and Ryan, the team consisted of captain Yeniz Parton, who is a member of the show, and Steve and Chris Anne Myers, friends of the Kaczmarks. The Myers, who know the Kaczmarks through a group fitness class, suggested that the four of them form a team and apply for the “Spartan Team Challenge,” a show with which the Kaczmarks were familiar.

“My son loved watching the first season,” Courtney said. “We watched it together.”

Fitness, especially Spartan racing, was already a family affair for the Kaczmarks. Ryan and Courtney have both completed all three levels of Spartan racing, which are: sprint – 3 to 5 miles with 15 obstacles; super – more than 8 miles with 20 obstacles; and beast – more than 13 miles and 25 obstacles.

“We’re probably stronger than the average mom and dad our age,” Courtney said.

Their children also compete in Spartan races designed for children.

“We involve our kids as much as we possibly can,” Courtney said.

The Kaczmarks and the Myerses filled out applications for the show online, and eventually were chosen.

“There was very little team training we were able to do because we found out we were going one month beforehand,” Ryan said. “With Spartan racing, you have to be a jack of all trades.”

Though they were not allowed to release many details about the episode before it airs Monday, Ryan said the entire course was set up inside a warehouse that NBC uses to film “The Walking Dead.”

Courtney said the race experience has made the Steve and Chris Anne “like family” to her and her husband.

“When you go through an extreme experience like that, which tests your physical, mental and emotional abilities, it’s either going to make you or break you,” she said. “For us, it made us and brought us even closer together.”

Ryan said the race itself was the toughest, but most rewarding race he’s ever done in his life – and he’s done quite a few. Their athleticism began in high school, where Courtney played volleyball and softball, and Ryan played football, baseball and wrestled for Jeff-Morgan. He graduated in 1998, and she in 1999.

Today, Ryan is the principal of two elementary schools in Southcentral Pennsylvania, and Courtney is an elementary teacher in Maryland.

“The biggest thing that helped Ryan and I be successful is that we work together as a team,” Courtney said.

Ryan said the highlight of the experience for him was spending “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with my wife and kids.”

Courtney said they plan to watch their episode Monday night with friends and family, while several of their friends and family in Greene County also will be tuning in.

Courtney said that since that race was the biggest, toughest one they’d ever imagined completing, she’s not sure what will be their next big fitness challenge. For now, she wants to focus on her children and continue the family’s “active, healthy lifestyle.”

“We want to lay down a foundation of health and wellness for our children, but also the character traits of being courageous and being a risk taker,” she said.

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