NEWS

NBC in town Monday to film local Spartan competitors

Vicky Taylor
vtaylor@publicopinionnews.com
Chrisanne and Steve Myers

CHAMBERSBURG - NBC will be in town Monday to film a "home town visit" with two Franklin County couples chosen to participate in the network's latest "Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge."

Chambersburg-area couples Chrisanne and Steve Myers and Courtney and Ryan Kaczmark, were in Atlanta, Georgia, the weekend of April 15-16 participating in the Spartan challenge, a five-race series designed to find the best obstacle racers in the world.

The two couples started out as one of 24 teams from around the nation. Each team consists of five people, with two men, two women and one "elite Spartan athlete" picked by the show. The field is first pared down to 12 teams, then to six teams, then to three teams from which one winning team was selected.

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The competitions will be divided into eight Spartan episodes, which will begin airing on Monday nights beginning June 12. It is the show's second season, according to its website.

The top winning team will receive a $250,000 award. Those winners won't be announced until all eight Spartan episodes are broadcast, but NBC is completing the broadcast segment with visits to competitors' hometowns to show where they prepared for the competition.

The Myerses are deeply involved in fitness, both as a lifestyle and in helping others with their fitness goals.

Chrisanne Beardslee-Myers is a personal trainer and exercise instructor at Chambersburg Fitness Center, where she teaches aerobics, body leverage and body weight training.

Steve, who works at Mack Trucks in Hagerstown, Maryland, has made an incredible comeback from an automobile accident in which he was seriously injured five years ago. He was told following the accident that he would never run again, but he beat the odds and is now not only running but participating in events like the Spartan Challenge, which is not just a race, but an unusual obstacle course designed to attract and challenge fitness enthusiasts around the world.

"It was a very tough obstacle course but at the same time the most fun I've had," Chrisanne said of the competition, calling it "fun and challenging all at the same time."

The Kaczmarks both work as educators in the area. Ryan is an elementary school principal in Tuscarora School District, and Courtney works as an elementary school teacher in Washington County's (Md.) school district.

This Monday NBC is coming for a home town visit. The network's crew will visit Chrisanne's fitness class at Chambersburg Fitness Center and do some filming on the Myerses' home Spartan playground. Chrisanne said she expects the Kaczmarks to film their segments later in the day.

Vicky Taylor, 717-881-5373