Rugged Maniac 5K

If you were to have asked me a couple months ago whether I would be interested in a Muddy, 5K, Obstacle course; I am pretty certain I would have said "No, Thank You".  However, recently a good friend approached me with an idea.  She had a race she could no longer participate in due to scheduling conflicts and she wondered if I wanted to take her place.  Um... Zero Training and it is Two Weeks Away... Umm... O... K...?....

Before the race - showing off 3 of the obstacles and the Big Hills.
That's a nice white t-shirt.

So, I jumped in full force and was ready for my race.  I learned after I said yes that it was to be held at the Thunder Valley Motocross Park.  I have never watched motocross; however, I can now tell you ... those bikes Love HILLS!  This race was pure torture ~ AND ~ So Much Fun!

Amy making her way to the first obstacle

You can spot me in all the pics as I am apparently the only one who didn't get the memo about Not wearing White to a Mud Race.

"Made it to the top, one obstacle down... Many more to come..."

"Up and over the wall, when do the hard obstacles start?"

"Finally breaking a sweat on the downhill"

The race was 3.1 miles in length with over 20 obstacles and trust me when I say more hills than I could count.  The obstacles included log jumps, a tire pit, a cargo net, crawling in a mud pit under barb wire (3 Times!), Eight A-frame wall climbs, crawling through a 25 foot long winding tunnel (can you say Claustrophobia!?!?), a 100 foot water slide, rock climbing, a rope pull, a balance beam, jumping through fire (not kidding!), and don't forget numerous mud pits to weigh down your shoes a bit while you charge up those countless hills.  Wait - What part about this is fun again?!?!

"OK, this wall is a little tougher"

"Whee, a water slide"

"I think I got mud up my shorts - Yuck!"

"Whew - Got it! Still having Fun!"

"This is ridiculous, who puts this many mud pits in a race"
ps: Hated the barb wire crawls (did I mention there were 3 of them?)

"Finally through the mud, wanna hug?"

"The finish line" PS still smiling

Yes, it was incredibly tough - Yes, given advance notice I would train next time - Yes, I think this race Needs to be done with a friend - Yes, I had a great time and in fact signed up for one with My Sister in June!  Number one thing I learned?  Bring knee pads to the next one and remind yourself that it is ok to "run" 25 minute miles (completed in 1 Hr and 16 Min).  Don't tell Melissa, but the obstacles definitely take longer than a minute to complete.

"I AM a Rugged Maniac"

After the race.  Not so much a white t-shirt anymore, but still smiling!