Warrior Dash

Since parents are supposed to lead by example, we decided that we needed to have fun (and exercise), too. This weekend, Darin, my Dad, & I raced and survived the Warrior Dash, held at Lake Elsinore.

The Warrior Dash is a "mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from Hell," or at least that's what they say. The course is basically a 5K with obstacles. So we arrived happy and ready to go.

Jack, Jenny, & Darin - Before the Dash

Since we weren't in top shape and trying to win, we had a great time. Besides, we were standing at the starting line with hundreds of people, many dressed in crazy costumes, so it was hard to be overly serious. After the start, we ran for maybe a mile until the first obstacle, and then the obstacles continued to come with a stretch of distance to run/walk between them.

The obstacles we experienced were:
* Tower of Hay Bales (climbing over giant steps of hay bales)
* Junkyard Challenge (over old cars and high-stepping through tires)
* Warrior Wall (climbing over multiple wooden barricades)
* Over and Unders (over walls and then under barbed wire)
* Walk the Plank (balancing over planks and then up a hill)
* Giant Warrior Wall (climbing over a 10 foot wall)
* Cargo Climb (climbing over a 25-30 foot high cargo net)
* Deadweight Drifter (trudging through waist deep water and climbing over logs)
* Arachnophobia (threading through tangled ropes)
* Chaotic Crossover (crawling over tangled cargo nets)
* Warrior Roast (leaping over fire)
* Muddy Mayhem (crawling through the mud under barbed wire)

When we finally got to the finish line, we were nice and muddy, but still smiling.

Darin, Jenny, & Jack - After the Dash

The next step was to attempt to get some of the mud off of us. This proved to be another obstacle as the rocks were a bit slippery and there was a drop-off that my dad found.

Attempting to clean off some of the mud

Honestly, this was a ton of fun and I'd love to do it again next year. (And next year, I'll bring my camera with me to take pictures on the obstacles.) When you're running alongside guys in kilts, girls in cheerleader outfits, guys and girls in tutus, guys in barely-there warrior outfits, blue avatars (yes, I said avatars), indians, and a myriad of vikings, you just can't take yourself too seriously. Good times!