BY FAR THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER DONE!
I think it took me about 5 minutes to think "Everyone at BootCamp would love this!" Then 5 minutes later I thought "Holy crap, everyone I train would love this," and by the time it was over I was thinking "EVERYONE I KNOW WOULD LOVE THIS!"
The drive wasnt awesome and the wait to get into the parking lot wasnt great, but it was all so worth it. We registered for the 11am take off but quickly learned that didnt matter. I think we finally took off around 11:30 and it was immediate fun. The race started off with a couple hundred people waiting by the start line (they say a few hundred take off every 30 minutes). Started off on a nice little run down a hill and maybe 1/4 mile down the trail we came up on our first obstacle. Actually we knew it was coming long before we saw it because we could here people yelling, laughing, splashing, screaming and could eventually see them trudging through "Deadweight Drifter," which was a small section of the lake... about 3 feet deep and had around 3-4 logs floating in the middle. If you werent willing to launch yourself over them, it took a bit of a team effort to push them down and climb over the top. Thought this was nice because it kept you cool early. From there we were straight up what seemed to be about 1/4 mile hill and back down... but pretty much loaded with mud or at least very unstable conditions. Actually alot of the first half was very muddy and you really had to be on your toes or you were going down... which I did.
Once we made it out of the woods and mud, we were on to the "meat," of the obstacles, about every 100 yards or so was something new. The order in my mind is a little shotty and actually the website has them out of order to but I remember; about 15 yards of car tires to run through, in and out of a dumpster, then more tires, then another dumpster, then more tires, then one more dumpster; 2 or 3 different rope and wall climbs; about 40 feet of balancing beams; and a really nice over/under obstacle (over a 3 foot wall, crawl under a wall without 2 feet of room above you).
However, the best was definitely last. We get to the top of the last hill which was pretty exhausting and there are two fire "lines," in front of us and across the path. Definitely not too crazy, just pretty cool because they take your pic jumping over the fire which can be purchased a few days later on the website. But that was the coolest part. We approached a mud pit and I saw people crawling and I thought they were doing it to be funny and just to get dirty because you actually could telling it the were walking or anything. So we walked in... and immediately sunk at least 3 feet... tried to walk and it was so thick it was nearly impossible. The only way to get through it was to basically doggy paddle through the top layer. By the way, if you could stand and walk through it, you werent allowed because there were lines of barb wire about 12-18" above the mud... so you had to get into it. And again a picture station right when you crawl out to capture you at your "hottest," which is also where you cross the finish line.... but its not quite over because now you have to get clean.
So you're covered in mud and making your way down a slippery slope and into the lake where everyone else is mud sliding in and bathing together! Which sounds really ridiculous and maybe gross but trust me, the event is so much fun you just buy in to everything going on.
AND NOW YOU GET TO CASH IN YOUR BEER CHIP AND LISTEN TO LIVE MUSIC AND EAT AND DANCE AND BUY VERY COOL WARRIOR DASH 32 OZ MUGS FOR $20 AND PUT ON YOUR VIKING HELMET!
Next years Ohio event is already on the site for June 2nd/3rd and I will be creating a FaceBook event to get as many people in as possible, no doubt the more involved, the more fun it will be. We'll probably camp next year as well if anyone is interested. Pics will be on the site soon.
In re-reading this, I really cant capture 1/10 of the fun this thing was. But I know if the Boots are willing to flip those tires, run through the woods, bear crawl and all that other crap we do, this will be your super bowl!
