Split Shot is a free indoor biathlon style event you can do in your basement.
Biathlon is cool, but almost nobody has access to it. 10m Olympic pistol is fantastic, but not very athletic, and not everyone has 33+ ft of basement.
So I came up with Split Shot. It combines sprint and endurance rowing with one-handed marksmanship, and it’s harder than it sounds.
What you need: a rowing machine, any .177 pellet pistol (CO2, pump or PCP), a pellet trap, and about 20 ft. You shoot from 5 m (16.4 ft).
How it works: you row a leg, then shoot a stage at a 23 mm black. You do that four times. Every miss is 100 m of extra rowing before the next leg. One clock runs the whole time, and total time is the score.
Short: 4 × 750 m, 5 shots per stage
Full: 4 × 1500 m, 10 shots per stage
Long: 4 × 2500 m, 15 shots per stage
You shoot standing, one-handed, with no support and open sights only. Single-shot and magazine pistols are separate divisions, and so are Concept2 and WaterRower. The scoresheet prints on one page and has a scale check built in, so everyone shoots the same target.
My first short course: 24:22.9, 6 total misses. It was really hard!
It’s free and not a business; I just think it’s a good test. Targets and rules are at [link]. If you try it, post your time and tell me what you’d change.
Be safe and follow all local laws!
