Friday, 27 March 2009 08:21

By JIM DOSSETT

LaFollette Press Reporter

The attack of the Rock Crawlers. Sounds like a 50s sci-fi flick. But believe it or not, they are really real.

And a swarm of the critters, 1,600 strong, converged on Jellico a couple of weeks ago.

They stayed two days. And when they departed, they left in their wake – a trail of cleanliness.

"It was cleaner than it was when they arrived," said Robert Cox.

Cox, owner of Clearfork Mining Company, was speaking of the property which he has donated to The Trail Keepers Foundation, a non-profit organization that creates and maintains multi-use trails on public and private lands.

For the past two and half years, the Trail Keepers Foundation has worked with the JROCC (Jellico Rock Obstacle Challenge Course) to make the abandoned strip mining pit and surrounding areas one of the best rock crawling sites in the nation, and certainly, the toughest course east of the Mississippi.

"Rock Crawling" is a motor sport in which competitors have to navigate a number of different obstacles in a set amount of time.

In the recent Eastern Rock Crawling Championship competition at the JROCC on June 22 and June 23, competitors from 12 states, some as distant as Colorado, climbed, bumped, tumbled and careened over a set of 12 obstacles, provided by event organizers and Mother Nature.

According to the Community Voice, "Jellico is home to this brand new series that determines the best teams east of the Mississippi, then sends those teams to New Mexico to compete in the National Super Crawl in the fall."

The activity took place on the course, located on Route 90, just past White Oak.

And, in addition to the exciting, rough and tumble action, the competitiors also strove to leave the place in better shape than they found it.

"You wouldn’t believe the amount of trash they picked up," said Environmental Officer Glennis Monday.

Monday, who wages continual war on local litterbugs, continued in his praise of the "crawlers," Trail Keepers Foundation members and others who have contributed to the betterment of the community during the events over the past two and a half years.

"The area is definitely cleaner. I look forward to working with these folks in the future – they make my job a lot easier," said Monday.

Cox is also thankful for the participants’ efforts and recently donated 500 more acres to expand the event.

"They went the extra mile and even helped Convenience Center Operator Thelma Webb clean up along the roadways," said Cox.

He added that, in addition to the super cleanup efforts, the events also provide increased exposure for the Trail Keepers, raise funds for trail maintenance and increase tourism for Jellico.

In addition to Rock Crawling, the JROCC is also available for any type of extreme sports event, including: 4X4 rock crawling, 4X4 trail rides, mountain biking, extreme trail running, rock climbing, extreme triathalons, ATV trail rides, motocross and paint ball.

The next "Rock Crawling" event in Jellico is scheduled for July 27 and 28.

From: http://www.lafollettepress.com/frontpage/rock0711.html