Well it’s been a while since I posted, so I figured I would break the drought with a write-up on the Warrior Dash. For anyone who’s reading this and doesn’t know about the Warrior Dash, you can always check out their website to get an idea of what it’s all about. Let’s just say it’s crazy and absolutely the best race I’ve ever done.
So I didn’t really train for this race like I do other races because well I have no idea what I’m about to experience. So, I just go into it completely untrained and planning on just having a good time. The day before the race I read an article in a New Orleans Newspaper talking about the 7500 racers they were expecting. WOW 7500 for a 3.18 mile race. That’s crazy, but the obstacles and party atmosphere must bring everyone out. The race promises to be pretty messy anyway, so just for good measure it absolutely pours for the two days leading up to the race. Pretty cool.
Well the morning of the race (also the morning we are going to leave to drive to north Georgia) started fairly late for a race. My wave (first wave Oh Yeah!!) didn’t start until 0900. We show up to park, and they have the parking setup in the spillway on the grass. Well with the two days of rain, the ground is super sloppy. No fears, the van made it in and out without getting stuck. Once we parked, we waited in line in the rain for the school bus to arrive and shuttle us to the race. Me, Emily, Cohen, Nan, and Pops all lined up trying not to get wet would have been a sight, but we were surrounded by hundreds of racers in costume. It was great.
The first wave all lined up just before 9 to get the race going. They line us up between some chain link fences and start the countdown. To start a race this crazy, a gun just won’t do. They fire off two flame throwers above the starting gate. It’s really hot and really cool all at the same time.
I’m expecting the people to just go all out and leave me wondering around, but when the flames shoot out. A large portion of the group starts to walk or slowly jog. I figure oh well, I’ll just set out through the higher grass to the side and pass people for the “flat and fast” first mile and a half before the obstacles. Well as it turns out, they didn’t stick to the original setup. I figured it would be a rough race because my feet were completely soaked after the first 20 yards, because there were huge puddles everywhere. Well to make it all better, we hit the first obstacle at about 400 yards into the race.
Of course the first obstacle would be none other than the chest deep water. Yep that’s right, we are barely started into the race and we are wet up to our chins in very cold water. Then, the next half of the race was run in mud and ankle deep water. Super.
The next obstacle we came to was the hay bales. This one wasn’t too bad. Just a few bales high and they were fresh. Not long after this one we get to the high low walls. This is the first real test. The wall is just over waist high, and it would be no problem to jump normally, but I’m soaking wet with muddy feet and already sucking air. So in the few yards leading up to the wall I start the argument in my head. “Can I make the wall? Sure go for it. No, you’ll catch your feet and fall flat.” Anyway, I decided I was going for it. I didn’t enter this race to take the easy way out, and I’m happy to announce that the feet actually made it over the wall. I breathed a few very deep sighs of relief and kept on running.
After the walls, we are running through a lot of mud and some good sized puddles. This made it fun when you would step in a small hole under the water. It’s always hilarious for the people running behind you. So, after stumbling around and actually NOT FALLING (Woo Hoo), we hit what I guess was the half way mark (no actual signs) since water stations usually mark this point. The water station is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but it was nice to see. That was until we actually tasted the water. I don’t believe it was officially listed as an obstacle, but seeing as how the water was warm and tasted like it was dipped out of the spillway, I’m calling this a hidden obstacle.
Once we had all gagged down the water, we were faced with the balance beams. This was 1X1’s (ok it was actually 2X8’s but with jelly legs it seemed smaller) that were stood up on an incline. Thankfully they had toe boards nailed on it so our muddy shoes could get a grip. We ran over two sets of these wavy contraptions and headed to the horizontal cargo net.
The structure was built up to a large horizontal rectangle supported about 4-5 feet off the ground. Inside of this rectangle was a cargo net that we had to crawl across. This was also the first part in the race that I got really frustrated. The guy in front of me had just come flying by me on the run, but he had zero coordination. I got stuck behind him on the net and had to wait for him to get across. I realize we are all tired, but I’m pretty sure Cohen would have been faster. Once we clear the net I took great pleasure in running past that guy.
(Disclaimer: These may be somewhat out of order. Oxygen was not flowing freely to the brain during this next section)
We round the corner a little while later and come up to the dark tunnel. This obstacle was really just black trash bags or tarps strung up to look like a really short but long tent. We hit the ground and started crawling, and once we got inside it was pitch black. I got a kick out of the girl the entered this section with me. She was a few feet to my right and kept calling through the pitch black, “I can’t see!! This is way too dark!! OK I apologize in advance for anyone that may be in front of me. “ I was cracking up. Thankfully, we didn’t have anyone in front of us, and no one got rear ended. Although, I have to imagine that with that many people out there, not everyone was that lucky.
The next challenge was the spider web. I was a little nervous about this one after I read about it on the website because there weren’t a lot of details. As it turns out, it was a bunch of bungee cords stretched across the trail to resemble a web. Not really a tough obstacle but it did slow me down some. From there the trail made it to a section that wasn’t clear cut. The entire time we had been running, the trails were clear. Here, they left a lot of new growth trees that were just big enough to really whip you as we passed through. This was not the most pleasant section.
But, I didn’t realize that the rest of the run was even less pleasant. The water for most of the last mile was between ankle and knee deep. That was absolutely no fun to try and run through (OK it was fun but tough). I learned real quick that you walk through knee deep water. I didn’t have to step in many holes and fall flat on my face in the water to figure that out. At one point in this section we passed by one of the obstacles. There were supposed to be floating logs in a section of water, but the water was so high and moving so fast that they had the logs tied up on the fence. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to see that. I was really looking forward to it, but seeing as how I could barley breathe, it was probably for the best.
From here we had the good fortune to once again pass through the chest deep water (always funny to see a lifeguard standing out in the middle of a race). This section opened up to the cars. Now this was the part I was most excited about. Ever since watching the Duke’s of Hazard, what little boy didn’t want to go hood sliding? I considered it when I was younger, but I didn’t want to face my dad if a dented the hood of his car. SO here was my chance, and what did I do? Yep, I completely punked out. My legs were really tired and I didn’t think I could jump, so I grabbed onto the first hood and drug myself up so I could do a very un-athletic roll across the hood. After falling to the other side I realized that we had to high-knee it through some tires. This gave me enough time to consider the next two cars I would have to jump. I decided that if I jumped and didn’t make it over the cars it would be worth it. I couldn’t run a race like this scared. As I approached the next set of cars I flung my legs up in front of me and did one of the sweetest hood slides. With the wet shorts I shot across the car and landed on the other side. Once more set of high-knees and then I repeated the slide on the last set of cars. It was awesome. I did collapse one of the hoods, which I’m sure made it tough for the people behind me (haha).
The last section grouped three obstacles together for a great finish in front of the spectators. First up would be the cargo net.
Once the fire is cleared we all headed into the mud pit. It would have been an awesome and messy section, but the rain had filled it with a lot of water, so the mud didn’t stick that bad. In fact, we could almost swim it. They had barbed wire strung above the pit to keep you from standing up. That made it even cooler.
And this face pretty much summed up the race. It was completely worth it and I’ll be back again next year. Will you join me????
Here are my biggest fans hanging out after the race. In case you are wondering, Cohen is in the process of talking me out of a few bites of banana. I think that’s why he enjoys the races. He always gets banana when we are done.
The Finishers
I just love this picture
Already talking about the experience.
So did you miss the tornado obstacle? That was my least favorite.
ReplyDeleteMade it out of there just before the tornados. That would have been the most difficult.
ReplyDelete