Ran this race this morning and loved it! I have to admit though, things didn’t start off looking so good. The exit our GPS told us to take on 55 was closed and the alternative route ended up being closed and we spent an extra half an hour driving in circles trying to find the place. We pulled into the lot — that has a $ 10 parking fee just to park in an empty gravel parkway… and there was almost no activity going on at the race site. It looked like the day was going to be a total bust. But then… We started our run and found that the obstacles were in fact split up amongst the course, not all grouped one after the other like it appeared from the starting line. We ran up and down hills, around banked turns, and on and off fields. There were muddy patches, there were dry patches, but basically this was typical 5K fare. The obstacles were where this run really shined. They were all so unique and fun. You had to approach each with a quick strategy chat with your partner, because they all depended on team work and timing. You got to climb walls, traverse water obstacles, and swing from monkey bars. Each obstacle was different from the last and each provided a new and interesting twist to keep things fun. I have done a good handful of «mud runs» in the last year and they are often filled with glorified ‘over under’ obstacles. The only thing that changes is what your going over or under. Not the case this time. It’s hard to pick which obstacle was the best or the most fun. They were all good in different ways. If you couldn’t complete an obstacle, you had to pay the penalty — a partner carry! Either you or your partner has to give the other a piggy back ride for a decent distance until you cross the flag line before you can begin making your way to the next obstacle. Great idea! The only down side to this is that more likely than not, one partner will weigh more than the other partner — so that one person is clearly the designated carry-er and one person is the designated carry-ee. Perhaps they can think of a way to make it more fair so the lighter person isn’t just a burden for any penalties. If I had to make any changes though — it would definitely be to offer an area to hose down and change into clean clothes after your run. Driving an hour home in marshy water soaked undies was not my favorite part of the day ;)
