GREENWOOD, Ind. -- Center Grove High School graduate Brooke Van Paris knows a thing or two about overcoming obstacles. She's a professional obstacle course racer, after all.
However, her biggest obstacle to overcome might have been a devastating car accident on October 29, 2009. She's coming up to the eight year anniversary. "I shattered both of my hands and ended up legally handicapped for the next two years," explained Van Paris
For two years, she dwelled on the disappointment of that crash and what it meant for her future. "I couldn't bathe myself or feed myself, or even do the simplest of tasks," said Van Paris.
Then, a friend introduced her to obstacle course racing. The rest is history.
"In the next 9 months, I did 48 races, dropped 40 pounds and represented the United States," she said.
The path of obstacle course racing and becoming a nationally qualified body builder has led her to an interesting opportunity on CMT: Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge. "It's kind of twofold: You have a lot of strength stuff but you also wrestle women and at the end, you do an obstacle course at the half mile," explained Van Paris.
The competition is a single elimination bracket style competition. The last round is a head-to-head wrestling competition. Then, that winner goes on to the "Skull Buster". That's a half mile obstacle course that Van Paris calls brutal and very physically taxing. The goal in the "Skull Buster" is to beat the women's time from the episode before.
She competes Tuesday night on CMT at 10 p.m. Watch to cheer on a fellow Hoosier!
