Badass Dash 5K Obstacle Race

Did the Sears Center 7k last weekend. It was ok. I’m more used to the farm field type runs and found it a little disappointing to be running back and forth and back and forth in a parking lot for much of the run. That being said, it was still a good time and the obstacles were fun. The finish line area in particular was very very unorganized. The spectators were not separated from the runners in any way and there were many instances where the spectators were in the path of the course.
The timing of the race was also odd. We signed up for the 9am heat, and they released the 9am heat in small batches at a time in 5 minute intervals so we were at the starting line for about 30 – 40 minutes after 9am waiting for our turn to go. They should have had a 9am heat, a 9:05, a 9:10, and so on. Then when we finished we checked the time of day, but had to wait a good 45minutes or so to find out what our race time was. We didn’t know what time we finally started the race, so we couldn’t figure out how long it took us to run it until they posted the times.
All in all it was a good time, but I’ll probably choose a different race to run next time.

The Badass Dash 5K Obstacle Race is pretty new to the Chicago area. Last year was the first year and they held it in Rosemont. This year, they have two races. I completed the one at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates. They are doing another one in August in Rosemont again too. Usually, these types of races are held pretty far from the city in rural, farm areas. I couldn’t picture what this would be like in the burbs, but they did a really good job. The obstacles were really unique –there was no mud, but plenty of water oriented ones! Most of it was done either in or around the Sears Center (running up and down the stadium stairs were killer!) However, I was really pleasantly surprised by how pretty the prairie path was around this area too. It was the perfect combination of urban and «farm like» environments. The obstacles were pretty cool and many were unique to this race. My favorite was the end –climbing up the rope ladder and then sliding down into a pool.
I would do this again next year –it was really fun and challenging! My advice, though; do not buy the spectator VIP package. I did and it wasn’t really worth the money –this part was a bit disorganized and my parents didn’t get any more «VIP» of a view than anyone else. Have your spectators sneak around and get a great view from the Sears Center lot.