Note: some of the images below are generic images…meaning I got them off the internet from last year’s events or from previous events. Most people have not posted all their pictures online so it was hard to get real pictures of the obstacles from this year.
Warrior Dash was very organized. Although there were almost 15,000 people over two days, you hardly stood in line for the porter potties, food, drinks, registration and so on. I had fun. My only regret is that I waited until 4 pm to run instead of just running early in the day.
The actual run is registered for in waves. Each wave of runners have 500 people in the race. So from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. there are 500 people running from the start line every half hour. My wave was at 4 p.m. while everyone else in my group ran between 11 and 1 so they had to wait all day for me. Next year, I am going to register early to avoid running late in the hot hot sun.
Anyhue- the obstacles were not too bad. The first one was the swamp water which was a little tough because people had trampled on the water bed so much that there were potholes deep enough to take you under. Some forgot about walking on the waterbed and just swam. Me, I put one leg in front of the other and made it across, wet and dirty.
The tires were muddy and slippery. I almost twisted my ankles. (Real event picture).
The embankment was not too hard (could not find a picture). Basically you climb up an embankment with a rope.
The walls were not too high…about waist high or tummy high. You had to go over four or five of those…that’s my friend’s daughter Rachel about to go over one. In the background you can see the swampy water you had to cross. (Real event picture).
The tunnels were fine. The key was keeping your knees off the ground and crawling on your feet and hands because of gravel (generic picture below)
The junkyard was kinda dangerous because of sharp edges from the old cars and junk, but I made it through okay (generic picture below).
I did not bother running up the mountain. I just walked. Everyone walked because the trail was so small. It created a backlog of people trying to get up the hill. Besides, running up a mountain is just plain lunacy. Besides, with a name like Mountain City, you know the area is seriously “mountainy.” Plus it was very muddy and slippery. Not surprisingly, I fell. (could not find picture)
Now the mud pit was brutal. First you had to slide down into the pit…you either go in head first or feet first. None was a good choice. I went in feet first and as a result my shorts bunched up into this giant wedgie exposing both my butt cheeks. I had no time to be embarrassed. I had a pit to crawl through. It was hard and because I had to keep my knees off the ground due to gravel, floating in the mud and pulling yourself with your hands was the only option.(Real event picture).
The lake was the best part. I got to cool off and clean up as I rolled over the logs. (Generic image from SoCal event I think.)
Then came the fire barriers. It looked better from the sidelines…but there is something scary about running towards a small barrier of fire (generic image below).
Results are posted. I did not do so well in my age group place 233 out of 405. I placed 1229 overall out of about 3500 runners. Oh well, at least I had fun. Better luck (and early registeration) next year.
