Bellefontaine, OH Outdoor Activities

A collection of adrenaline-pumping ziplines whoosh through the forest on Markin Farms Zipline Adventures' 80-acre farm. The multilevel platforms, built high in the trees, connect the course's ziplines, which pass above bubbling creeks, over ponds, and through time. The scenic course includes challenge areas and ends with a double-zip setup, where two riders race to the finish directly above or below one another, overlooking the sparkling water. The farm also offers specialty zips that glide through the forest after twilight or just as the sun sets.

BlastZone Paintball's 20 acres of outdoor playfields incorporate the area's dense trees and open fields. Across six wooded courses, fallen branches, trails, and leaves set the stage for stealthy play, and a speedball field fosters quicker games. As colorful barrages fly, BlastZone's safety equipment absorbs the shots and protects the body from welts or hail damage. Away from the paint-covered battlefield, certified techs man an on-site gear shop. A free-to-use grill cooks up visitors' brought-from-home eats, which they can nibble at a covered picnic area.

Zoom Multisport Racing encourages triathlon and duathlon racing in the Midwest with events that welcome athletes ranging from average to elite. Its signature race series is the Zoom Triathlon & Duathlon Championship Series, which hosts three races spread across the summertime. During each event, competitors swim through 1,000 yards of open water in Caesar Creek Lake (or run 2 miles for the duathlon), bike through 18 miles of Warren County, and run across 4 miles of dirt and concrete pathways in Caesar Creek State Park. Since each race is identical, athletes can track their progress by the change in time it takes to complete each race and number of hot dogs they can consume afterward without going cross-eyed. Zoom Multisport also teams up with Trimble Triathlon Multisport Coaching Services to offer the Couch to Competition training plan, designed to help chisel beginning muscles into Grecian works of art.

Tac Force Challenge tests the strength of racers by putting them through the rigors of an adventure 5K obstacle course designed by power lifters, martial-arts experts, and special-operations professionals. The muddy, muscle-straining course houses 31 obstacles, such as rope walls, river dashes, unbalanced beams, log trips, and tunnels that force runners to use all their strength and jet-pack fuel to reach the finish line. Participants begin their first race ranked as a Private and advance closer to General as they complete each run. This progress is saved in the Tac Force database, which catalogs completion dates so that the government knows whom to call in the event of a sweaty-bicep shortage.