2017 WARRIOR DASH "RACE" REPORT

Before the race. Unfortunately, no after photos as I understandably did not have my phone with me.

Well, after five years away I finally went back and did the Warrior Dash! I remember after doing the first one back in 2012 Brandon mentioning how much he wanted to do it. At the time, the minimum age was 14, so I told him I would do it with him when he was 14. So true to my word, once he was of age I signed us up! Turns out the minimum age is now 10... don't know when that changed, but oh well! While I enjoyed it the first time, I wasn't really jonesin' to do it again until this year with Brandon.

First obstacle. The pond was probably 55F.

Our start time wasn't until 2:15pm, so we had plenty of time to get ready before the race. I forgot what a winding road it was into Horning's Hideout - gravel too! At one point as we were driving in it started dumping rain. Not a good sign as the weather was supposed to be mostly sunny! Luckily by the time Brandon and I picked up our bibs and the race started it was dry and at times sunny.

We lined up in the corral and tried to get to the front, knowing what a logjam can form at a race like this with people of all paces going onto a small trail. So when the race kicked off we didn't have to weave too much. So that was a good decision. Although in the end it really didn't matter. I'll get to that in a second. Brandon and I ran most of the trail during the whole race, only walking select uphills. I wasn't quite sprinting like in 2012, but I was giving it a legitimate effort.

The course was pretty much the same path as last time. Run around through the woods for about a mile and then encounter the first obstacle, one that requires you to swim to it in a pond. In 2012 at no point in the course did I hit a logjam, I was able to do each obstacle as soon as I hit it. Here, Brandon and I waited a good 15 minutes to enter the lake. Not cool! It was a theme though, lots of waiting. A good 50 minutes at least.

Mud everywhere! Also barbed wire.

Anyways, once we waited our turn we hopped in the lake and HOLY SHIT IT WAS COLD. In 2012 the event took place in early September, this was early OCTOBER. The water was really cold. It took my breath away. I almost started to panic (a number of people did - it was legit dangerous). So I composed myself and then started to walk in the water toward the obstacle. You just basically had to climb out of the water onto a floating dock, run along it, and then jump back in.

Eventually the water was too deep to walk and I just had to swim. Much colder swimming than walking with your arms out of the water. But oh well. I swam as fast as I could and scrambled up the dock. I turned around to check if Brandon was still alive and spotted him, waiting in a long time to get on the obstacle without having to swim (one side you could walk all the way to it, probably four feet deep at most). On the other side of the dock I jumped back in, not realizing I couldn't touch on the other side. So I wasn't ready and got a bunch of muddy water up my nose and choked a little. Gross. I swam as fast as I could and climbed out of the pond. It was so cold. When I got out my whole body was stinging and numb. Crazy.

Sliding down the mud hill in style.

Brandon finished that obstacle a few minutes after me. After getting out he required a few more minutes to recompose himself. This race wasn't fucking around. After some encouragement we started running again. Brandon never quite warmed up, remaining cold the rest of the race. I was pretty much okay a few minutes after getting out of the lake. The adrenaline and running warmed me right back up. Only once while waiting in the shade with some wind did I get chilled.

As for the rest of the race, it was more run of the mill Warrior Dash stuff. Brandon and I did all the obstacles quickly and ran to and from each. So we did really well. We just kept having to wait. Some obstacles had no line, others had 10-15 minute lines. So it was a matter of design and placement. Oh well. They don't even time you at the race anymore so it really didn't matter.

A lot more mud this time. Last time there wasn't real mud until the finish line, this year there were at least three or four dedicated mud hazards. So that was fun. Brandon and I both wore old pairs of my running shoes we scrapped at the end. Memorable obstacles included climbing up a giant net and then sliding down into deep, muddy water, jumping over fire, swinging across water on palettes tied to bungee cords, sliding down a giant muddy hill, and crawling upside down through a rope tunnel.

I got a similar amount of air. *cough*

I will say the obstacles this year were way better than 2012. I thought they half assed a lot of them back then. I swear one was just a bunch of tires they randomly scattered on the ground. So props to the 2017 version for having some really good obstacles. Otherwise, I think 2012 was superior though... no wait times (smaller corrals because it was over two days?), race photos, and chip timing. While there were a few photographers on the course, they were few and far between and seemed to be just snapping some for Facebook. So that was a bummer, but I included a couple to give you a feel for things.

To make a long story short, Brandon and I raced hard and finished in 1:35. Over an hour more than last time, haha. Although, if we didn't have to wait, it would have probably been about 40 or 45 minutes. We were through most obstacles in a minute once we started them. The only one that took longer than that was the first one in the cold pond.

Once we were done we washed off the in another, smaller pond (just like 2012) and then headed back home. I think it was harder than Brandon thought it would be. He had fun though. He really disliked the pond at the beginning but the rest he really enjoyed. I said maybe we'd do it again in a couple years and he agreed. Fun from time to time but every year would probably be a bit much.