Warrior Dash (Part 2)

(this section is light on pictures due to my inability to run, take pictures, breathe, and focus on more than one thing at a time)

...5...4...3...2...1...Huge bursts of flames shot up from the starting gate as we "dashed" onto the course. The first 100 yards or so was a nice grassy path. I started with a light jog, keeping pace with most of the pack. I was feeling good. However, as we rounded the corner and headed into the woods, I glimpsed at what was ahead. This must be the "hill" obstacle we had heard about. The website described it as "Hell's Hill: Sprint to the summit." Yeah. How about hike to what you think is the top, then find another half mile of 20% incline, then level out before even more climbing!


Finally we traveled a short distance downhill to the first (man-made) obstacle: Rubber Ricochet. Tires were suspended torso-high across the path. The secret to this challenge was to not follow anybody. As I pushed tires out of my way, I could hear those behind me (mainly Terry) complaining. I did great as I maneuvered through until the very end when a tire came out of nowhere. I was able to stay on my feet though, and headed for the next station.

Rounding the corner, we could see the next obstacle. We had to hop a 4' wooden wall, then immediately slide under a wall of barbed wire, then repeat. Not too difficult. I was still rather winded from the hills, but had no problems moving on.

A little more jogging and we came to what was known as the Deadwater Drifter. This was a large pool, maybe 50'x200' (That estimation could be way off; I'm an engineer with no sense of real-life scale). In the pool were a series of floating logs. No problem. Either climb over or swim under. The swim under option was quickly abandoned as I jumped into the water. My white dress shirt immediately turned a brownish-orange color and the stench of 8000 previous warriors filled my nostrils. I wanted to keep this filth as far away from my lips as possible. I don't recall reading anything about being able to swim on the waiver we signed, but that skill was very helpful since the pond was neck-deep with about a foot of muck on the bottom. After conquering the four logs, I did a little back stroke and exited the pond.

The next obstacle was Road Rage / Knee High Hell.  This field consisted of a series of tires and junked cars over (or through) which we had to pass.  I kept a pretty good pace through the tires, but was not making any NFL training camp highlight reels.  The cars were interesting.  I've never been very destructive, and the thought of stepping on somebody's hood gave me a brief moral conflict.  I overcame that hesitation by swiftly kicking the door of a silver sedan.  I was ready to destroy!!
Note: muddy, wet car hoods tend to not provide much traction.

After the junk yard, I saw a beautiful sight: WATER BREAK!!  I was half way done with the course...