Release your inner animal at Rhino Rampage

Ayana is a 2.5-year-old, 2,000-pound eastern black rhino who moved to Des Moines from the Miami Zoo. She and Kiano, a male rhino, are among the many animal exhibits attendees will experience during the Rhino Rampage event at the Blank Park Zoo.

There’s nothing better than getting outside on a gorgeous day and working up a sweat — not that uncomfortable sweat that makes a person feel he or she ought to be rushing home to change a shirt and reapply the deodorant. This is the sweat that happens all over after a good run. It’s the body’s reward for a hard fought moment of exercise. Look no further for this kind of fun than the Blank Park Zoo this weekend.

Rhino Rampage is the name of this year’s fun run, and it has been upgraded since years past. This year includes the choice of running a 5K road race, obstacle challenge or a kid’s dash. In celebration of the new African exhibit, this event will honor Blank Park Zoo’s black rhinos. Folks will have the option of enjoying a 5K run/walk or participating in an action-packed obstacle course that will start and finish on zoo grounds. This one-of-a-kind course through Blank Park Zoo offers something for the whole family.

“These races are for any skill level and are unique, because they incorporate the paths of the Zoo in the route,” said Shelley Gooder, race organizer.

The run starts and finishes in the zoo so runners will be able to pass by lions, tigers, giraffes and more.

“We also added an untimed challenge that focuses on obstacles, and participants will get to exhibit animal behaviors like the Rhino Roll in a mud pit.”

“The obstacle challenge consists of 11 obstacles including inflatable slide, penguin waddle, tire hop, slip and slide, mud crawl and more,” said Ryan Bickel with the Blank Park Zoo. “The obstacles will relate to a zoo animal habit or zookeeper task.”

With names like Zookeeper Zag, Gibbon Climb and Otter Fall, participants are sure to keep active and entertained. The obstacle challenge promises to be fun for everyone involved. The only thing to remember is that folks will get dirty, and they will get wet. So bring a towel. This portion of the events is untimed since the goal is to complete every obstacle rather than worry about how quickly it is finished.

“Rhino Rampage is a revamped 5K and obstacle course challenge. In the past, we have had a 5K run and a family fun run, but this year we thought we would change it up a bit,” said Bickel. “Obstacle challenges and mud runs are becoming more and more popular, and we thought we would provide Des Moines with a unique event out at the zoo.” CV

David Rowley is an Iowa native with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and a master’s in film journalism from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.