Savage Race Promo Shoot

Savage Race Promo Shoot from Mac Stone on Vimeo.

I'm always so inspired by people who have stability in their lives, walking a paved path, and instead of closing their eyes letting the road unfurl beneath their feet, they opt to get off trail and go bushwhacking. My cousin, Sam Abbitt, woke up this year and decided his dream was not the one he was living.

Determined to create something new, he started a business plan for what would become Savage Race. It would be an endurance race designed to test even the toughest competitors all in the name of crossing the finish line to feel alive, complete, muddy, and hungry for more. He did this while his brother Hank was training in the most hardcore regimen this country has to offer: Navy SEALS.

I wrote Sam to congratulate him on his divorce from the everyday and offered to help in any way that I could with his new career. A day later we decided he would come down to South Florida to do a promotional photo shoot for the race. He needed photos of people running, jumping, and crawling through mud to supply his website, but he was unsure that my friends would be willing to put themselves through the ringer pro-bono. Obviously he doesn't know my friends.

Complete with lingerie nightgowns, pink moo-moos, devilish masks, fairy wings, indian headdresses, ripped shirts, Hawaiian leis, and trojan battle garb, my friends brought the heat. As the main event would eventually sponsor a band and various beer tents, we were sure to bring a few beverages if not to incentivize, but to lubricate their desire to crawl in the thick and rocky mire while wearing women's clothes in rural South Florida.

It was certainly a day to remember and I'm so fortunate to have such a dedicated cousin and even more so, friends who would spend their weekend crawling through the mud under barbed wire just for a few photos.

Of course, I wasn't allowed to just shoot photos, my friends simply wouldn't stand for it.

So if you're into pushing yourself, eating BBQ, listening to music, and getting dirty then Savage Race is something you will not want to miss. Check out the official website to learn more about the gnarly event Sam is putting together this August. Sign up! I'll be there!