Warrior Dash Rockies 5K

I figure since it's a 5K, it still qualifies as a run and not just obstacle course so I'm posting my race report here!



This was one of the craziest and most fun races I have ever done!



My wave was at 3:30 but I knew a lot of people doing the race throughout the day so I grabbed my BFF and we headed out about 9. We got there and it was a crazy party already. Bands rocking, beer flowing, people dressed up, and a lot of already muddy people. It was so awesome! A party! So I had a beer. Then a shot. Then another beer. Gee dangit!







Not really knowing what to expect, I used 45 minutes for my goal time. 11 min miles and a minute for each obstacle. Hoping I would run at 10:30 pace, I didn't think that would be hard to get. I just wasn't sure though.



I stopped drinking a couple hours before my wave and just drank water but the first half mile, I felt it a little bit.



Gun goes off and we start off. I was nice and asked my friend if she wanted me to walk with her and thankfully she's a good friend and told me to go on. I wasn't going to ask again and I was off. The run started off with legs that felt like 1000 pounds because of those stupid beers. Stupid!



Obstacle 1 - Swinging tires - This was lame. I avoided getting hit by them and just kept running. Able to make up some time with my slow start on the run.



Obstacle 2 - Climb up a steep wood wall. People used the ropes but I thought that made it more difficult so I just ran up it.



Obstacle 3 - I ran up to the next obstacle and there was a crowd of people waiting. You had to jump over a wall and then crawl under barb wire. I think there were 4 walls. I thought I would suck at this but I rocked it out. After having to wait for a minute or so, I was through it in 30 seconds.



Obstacle 4 - The mud pit. Why the hell did this have to be in the beginning? We ran down a steep hill and I was starting to feel better so I increased the pace down the hill. The terrain sucked though. No path. Just running all over the base of the ski resort by the lifts. So... before the race (under the influence) I told everyone I would do a round off into the mud. When I actually got there, I didn't want to. Then I heard everyone scream my name so I man'd up and did a cartwheel (purposely missing the mud pit). I didn't want to go all the way under!!! MY HAIR! So I stepped in.......ducked under the first barb wire. I wasn't prepared for the bottom of the pit. I just sunk into the gravel.... AND THERE I WENT! Completed submerged! Mud splashed up in my eye and I was having problems with my contact. Thankfully, I was able to fix it. My friend told me that the only advice he had was to get as much of the mud off as you could. Being completely covered made it a little hard but I sat there and tried to wipe some off. Like that helped My whole body was brown!



Then it was up a thick muddy hill and it was all you do not to slide back down into the mud pit. I would like to add that this was not an obstacle. It was just a result of doing a late wave hahha. The next obstacle was a bunch of muddy ropes you had to go through. I go to a lot of haunted houses so I easily made it through.



Then it was up a very steep hill. I actually just power hiked this. My damn shoes were so heavy of mud, I couldn't run that damn thing. I actually had to stop at the top because my heart rate was so high!



Somewhere in there was #6 and #7. One was a big black tent you had to crawl through. Not on your knees though so it was crab crawl. LAME obstacle. I am super scared of heights as many may know so the next one was a little freaky. You had to walk a plank up and down and across. I was surprised it was as high as it was. I had to shut off my fear and just focus. Up and over I went. No issues. After it was done, I thought Lame.



Next one was a cargo net about 6 ft up and you have to crawl across it. My buddy told me to just roll down. With that many people, there was no way I was doing that. So I started off and figured out taking it sideways was much easier. So I crab crawled sideways and off I was. Easy.



Next one was the Deadman's Drop. It was about 8 ft off the ground and on the other side you pretty much have to go down as far as you can and jump. OVer that easy and I got down. Some girl told me I was about 2' from the ground. I laughed thinking I was much higher. Off I was!



Now it gets good. I was feeling fucking awesome at this point. I was rocking the obstacles. My run wasn't what I wanted it to be at that point but I was gaining with the obstacles so I felt like I was still on track. I just set off and was sprinting to the next obstacle. Feeling great! Had a nice pace going and there was a rock path ahead of me. The rocks were large. I was not expecting to hit one with my toe.



And there I flew. Through the air. I had so much momentum that when I tried to catch myself, I just flipped over. Full body roll. Like twice. This guy ran up to me and was asking if I needed a doctor. He was truly worried so it must have looked really bad. I got up to shake it off. I sat there bent over for a couple of minutes. The guy actually turned around and came back for me. I told him that it just hurt like hell and I was fine. Just had to shake it off a bit. My knees were pretty jacked up and my hand. I'm pretty proud of my war wounds today though but the knees and hand still hurt. Graceful.



So I lost time there. I jogged it to the cargo net. I stood there a minute because that damn thing was like 12ft. Then I just climbed it, lifted myself over and went down. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just stayed focused on what I was doing and not how high I was. The top was very slippery because of all the mud building up on it so if someone lost their grip, they were going to get really hurt bad.



The next obstacle was the hardest. The Wall. A steep wood wall with knotted rope. My first mistake was picking the rope on the edge. If I fell, I wasn't just going to slide down, I was going to fall to my death. Getting up it was not a problem until I was up top. I had on arm around the top but my grip wasn't good enough to get my other arm up there to pull myself up and over. I tried everything. Using the knots with my feet but my shoes were so muddy, I had no traction. I finally gave up and used a lot of energy letting myself down with the rope. When I thought I was close enough to the ground to let go, I turned my body and let go. I wasn't close enough. Slid down right onto my butt. Some dude next to me said "You can just skip it and go around"



I thought about it. I really did. My hand and knees hurt so bad from the fall, I really didn't think I had it in me to try again. But that wouldn't really make me a Warrior now would it? There was a group of people up top helping eachother get over so I grabbed a rope, in the middle, and flew up that fucking wall. I then got both arms over but again had no traction or strength to get the rest of my body up. But now I had no rope. If I let go, I was done. I asked this poor girl next to me for help. I just needed a little pull on my leg. She grabbed my thigh, yes it turned me on, but just that little help got me into a position so I could pull myself over the rest of the way. Threw my leg over and down I went.



Then off to the finish I went. Over two piles of fire and sprinted to the finish.



51:36 was my official time. I'm very happy with it. I think if I would have just avoided the cartwheel, the fall, and a 2 time attempt at the wall, I could have made my 45 minutes or better but I had a blast! I am officially a Warrior and I have battle scars! I overcame some height issues and tackled those with full confidence. (well besides the wall)



I have some pics for you guys. I'll post them in the next one so I don't lose my report. Sorry for such a long one but you have to have play by play for a race like this.



Next up is Rugged Maniac in October. My friend from work talked me into it today. It's basically the same. 5K and 12 obstacles.



+ + =



Yeah...let's not do that again hahahaha



Thanks for reading!

A group of friends that did the runaway bride theme. The girl on the bottom is my best friend Holly.







Jon and Stacie. Muddy!







My well deserved beer after the race! I swear!







Me and my Sis in law Tara. She did really great and let me run my own race! I'm very proud of her for getting out there and doing it! She rocked out a great time 1:07!







Me and a few friends before they went off. I still had 3 hours to go and a couple beers to drink







The cartwheel. I look like an asshole. hahahah





You would think the blonde in black and white is me....but it's not. I'm next to the dude in the red. Can you see me??? I didn't think so.





The fire and the finish. LOTS OF FUN!!





Hell yeah I'm keeping the mud on them!







My busted knees







Just a couple pictures of the people

Great job, Chas! It looks like a crazy/fun event.

Nice pictures - looks like a blast! What a muddy mess....

You're a dirty girl.

Awesome!!! Way to persevere and make it over the wall!!

WOW! Crazy race! I love all the pix!!!! That fire obstacle sure is something!! Way to go!

Wow, great race and awesome pictures! Seems like you've found your element.

Looks so Fun!

Thanks everyone! Lots of fun. If it comes to your town, you have to give it a try!

That's great. Looks like a lot of fun.

Crazy looking race...thanks for the report and pics.