Running and Other Adventures: Warrior Dash ROCKS!

What a fun event! Great time at the Warrior Dash this past weekend.

It was challenging... more so than I thought! Even the running... though it was only a 5k distance, we started out in a coarsely cut hay field which was thick and the field was lumpy. You had to be careful not to trip. After the first couple of obstacles, the course went through a wooded area that was rooty and rocky... and pretty dang hilly, too. I could have used my trail shoes!

We ended up having 12 obstacles, but half of them changed! So that was kinda fun, having different obstacles than what I had mentally prepared myself for. I'm hoping to find some pictures of the obstacles. But for now, I will just describe them and you can use your imagination!!

Jon and I got there early and we started with the first wave of runners at 9:00 am. After running close to a mile through this lumpy-bumpy field, we hit the first obstacle... "barricade breakdown". You would hurdle over a solid wall and crawl under wall of barbed wire. I believe there were five of these sets... so 10 over and unders.

Within sight was the next obstacle, the "junkyard jump". This consisted of a series of tires roped together on the ground that you scrambe through football- style. Then there were construction dumpsters set up that you had to climp up, down into, then up and out of. And there was probably 3 or 4 of these. Then another set of tires and another set of dumpsters, which I think were taller than the first ones. During the first two obstacles, we had to stand around a bit behind other folks, because it took time to climb everything... but after that, folks started spreading out.

Next was a longer section of running (trails through the woods), then we reached the "great warrior wall". This is the one I'd been worried about, whether or not I could pull myself up a rope and over a wall. But it was a breeze! The rope did not have knots on it, but the wall had little 1" planks that you could put your toes on, to kind of walk up the wall and just pull yourself up the rope to get to the top. It was maybe 20 feet tall... tall enough that if you fell off that sucker, you could really get hurt! Once you reached the top, you had to straddle the top of the wall and climb down the back of it, using cross-boards like rungs on a ladder. I tried to think ahead for this obstacle and I'd worn a pair of weight-lifting gloves so I'd have better grip. This definitely helped... and I saw some others with the same idea.

Next was the "teetering traverse"... a wooden structure that had a plank you walk up, then a straight section you balance across, then another plank you walk down. That platform was maybe 10 feet high.

Next we had another stretch of running, before approaching the "blackout". This was a really long tent, made from thick black plastic. You had to crawl on your hands and knees through it, as it was low to the ground, and it had flaps hanging down along the way that you would have to pass under. Blackout is an appropriate description... because there was not a crack of light anywhere. It was the blackest black I've ever seen and once I could no longer reach out and feel Jon's shoe in front of me, I was just trying to crawl in a straight line till I reached the exit. A claustrophobic person would not have liked this one.

From here on out, the obstacles were a little closer to one another. Next was the "chaotic crossover". You had to climb up a wooden structure and over cargo nets, horizontally, which was a bit awkward. Some folks were crawling, some were rolling (which made it even more difficult for others), but I stayed on my hands and feet, butt to the sky. I'm sure this was a sight... but it was easy to cross that way. There were 3 sections of nets and then you climbed down the wooden part on the other side.

Next was "assassins escape". You go up a wooden platform of steps, kinda built like bleachers, then slide down a firemans pole. The gloves were a nice help on this one, too.

Next was the "deadwater drifter"... where you wade through waist-deep, foul-smelling, algae-covered water, while dirt and rocks were being suctioned into your socks and shoes. Along the way were tree logs with ropes run through the middle of them to keep them afloat in the right places, that you had to climb over. I think there were four of them, then you walked up and out of the water. After this, I had about a cup of grit in each sock.. not just my shoes, but in my socks, and it felt like it was scrubbing my skin off when I ran. Not the type of exfoliation I need right now!! But we're almost done, so I squish on.

The last four obstacles were all together. Next is the the "cargo climb", where you climb up, over and down a huge set of cargo nets. Then there was the "horizontal hike", a wooden structure that you climb like a ladder, but the top is rounded... so you climb up it, over the rounded part horizontally, and then turn yourself and go down the other side like a ladder.

From there, you can see fire from the "warrior roast", which is two lines of burning logs and coal. You hurdle the flames twice... and then the grand finale, "muddy mayhem"! Now, I knew this would be a mud crawl under barbed wire... but what I wasn't expecting was the pool at the start of the obstacle. When you jump into this and start wading through, your shoes are nearly being sucked off your feet from the thick mud beneath you. I tried to stay upright, but was eventually thrown forward onto my chest... so I'm now covered in good ol' North Carolina orange clay. Then you get out of this section and onto your hands and knees, crawling under the barbed wire. The mud was so thick, it was up to my elbows! It became hilarious at this point as I trudged through... then you stand up and still have to walk through more mud to get out of the pit... then you run for the finish mat.

It was the most fun I think I've ever had at an event! Certainly, running is secondary here. The goal (for me, at least) was getting from obstacle to obstacle, and seeing what they presented to us next. I could have done this all day! Though I'm not a girly-girl by any standard, I've still never enjoyed getting very dirty.. so I was not looking forward to the mud... but I have to say, that was the most fun part! There's no way to do it and stay clean.. there's no way to do it gracefully... you just go for it, and it was an absolute blast!

UPDATE - 9.19.11 - I have pictures of the last four obstacles! Click to make them bigger...