The Samson is coming! For all the people who want to build team relationships and fitness and tick off an achievement, this one is for you!

The Samson Challenge is happening on March 1 next year - 85 days until contestants line up at the starting line. It is a perfect time to start training…

“The Samson is a four-person team event with each team put through twelve gruelling challenges, which include a farmers walk with jerry cans, a prowler push, a 130 kg truck tyre flip, a burpee challenge, a 2x2 km run, a 1km team swim, a sled pull, and an obstacle course to complete.”

It is a popular event, and people come from quite a distance to compete in it. Only the fastest team to finish gets the Samson Title; however, many participate just to boast they have completed the course.

The excitement is tangible - the Our Kids team, one of the GSAC fitness trainers and one of the sponsors, who is also a volunteer, caught up at GSAC to launch the 2025 Samson event.

Chris Vanbibber, the GSAC trainer, was giving Rebekka Battista (Our Kids Fundraising Coordinator) and Samantha Gordon, who assisted Rebekka, some pointers on the tyre lift. Heaving and pushing, the women triumphed, only to take on the jerry can lift and the prowler push.

Samantha and Rebekka are all smiles at training!

Chris gave a few pointers for those who want to get into it, “It's best to start training now and progressively work your way up. Don't start with all the big and heavy stuff, just start with where you're at. 

“Get around people who've done it before and learn from them. Watch the videos that they have on the Samson website, and find some gyms that can offer some training specifically geared towards the type of exercises in the event.”

This is Chris’s 8th year of competing. “Crossing that finish line is a triumphant experience. It feels like you've dominated a very large challenge in life. 

“It's a memorable experience because you do it with a team - usually people that you really bond with over things that you don't normally do together with people. I've done it with my family members. I've done it with people here at the gym and just friends of mine, and each time, it's been a really rewarding experience.”

Samantha has done a couple of Samsons, and being involved, she revealed a great tip, “Tony Curtis is the man that sets up the course. I joined Tony Curtis’s training that he does during the weeks and on the weekends before the event. 

“So we did the actual obstacles leading up to it to prepare as a team. He even sets up a wall, and they teach you how to get over the wall as a team.”

If anyone is unsure whether they should put in an entry, Samantha has some advice, “Just give it a go. It is great fun. And you're capable of so much more than you think you are. When you get across that finish line, it is a fantastic feeling of achievement.”

Rebekka had the tyre flip down pat, so it was surprising to learn she hadn’t run the Samson event, “Organising the whole thing, I feel like I did the Samson several times in the lead-up, particularly on the setup day!”

Michelle, Rebekka, Samantha and Chris walking all over the tire challenge!

The Samson Event is a fund raiser, and it started 15 years ago to bring a large obstacle-style fitness challenge to Lismore, and raise much-needed funds for Our Kids.

This fundraiser is looking to finance an expensive piece of equipment ($165,000) for premature babies and their eye care called a Retcam. One device will be able to service between Tweed, Lismore Base and Grafton Hospitals, preventing families having to travel to the Gold Coast at a potentially difficult time.

Rebekka explains, “The Icon Go Retinal Imaging System helps our premature babies, who are vulnerable and need examination for Retinopathy of Prematurity. It is cutting-edge technology that will give a picture of the back of the eye so that the local team can send pictures immediately to the Queensland Paediatric Team, which can provide specialist treatment remotely.

“This equipment is needed as some babies are at risk of going blind at 35 weeks. Having this equipment locally and portable means that the local medical team can do a scan on any day and at any given hour, and treatment can commence immediately.

“For context, retinopathy of prematurity was the cause of Stevie Wonder's blindness.”

Michelle Gosling wears two hats when it comes to The Samson. Michelle represents the major sponsor, NBN, “We are really honored to be a part of Our Kids and support this event. It's really important for Lismore and for the regional area.”

Getting involved in The Samson, Michelle plays a very important role as a volunteer. At least 120 people are needed to make the event what it is. 

“Being on the sidelines is probably just as rewarding as doing it,” says Michelle, “Supporting and encouraging people to get through the event and seeing their success at the end, it's just awesome.”

Samantha confirms how much it is appreciated when you are working hard, and Rebekka adds that the feedback the event gets is how great the volunteers are at making the event so good.

If you are interested in getting involved and supporting, keep March 1st free and keep an eye out for the volunteer drive that will happen in February.

“From now on, you will see more groups of four treading the pavement between GSAC and Hepburn Park,” says Rebekka.

The jerry can lift and the prowler push were harder...

“This event has become important to the city, not just for the individual and team achievements, but economically. One flow-on effect is at gyms and their business, which picks up in December, which was traditionally one of their quietest months of the year!”

If you are ready to kick the membership into overdrive, registration for The Lismore Samson Fitness Challenge 2025 is open.

The Early Bird registration fee is $350 per team. Registrations are online, and for more details on the course, head to www.lismoresamson.com.

For more information, please get in touch with the Our Kids office on (02) 6620 2705 and Tony Curtis’ Facebook page for the special obstacle course training that he puts on closer to the event.