Warrior Dash 2011

Today I participated in the Warrior Dash in Glenworth Valley, NSW. This is the only Warrior Dash in 2011 outside of the USA, and touted as “The best frickin’ day of your life’, how could you not want to give it a go?

My verdict?

Absolutely glorious fun! Obstacles and mud were the order of the day and there were very happy people all round, in all states of dress (or undress) and covered from head-to-toe in mud. Mud, glorious mud! I ran the race with my buddy Ben and once I got stuck in the mud and lost my shoe, I knew Ben would have gone on ahead. The odd thing is, once I caught up to him he told me he was attempting to catch me as he thought I was ahead of him! Still, the mud pits, water crossings and obstacles were all a great challenge and helped me scoot past some of the field, even with only 1 shoe! I had made the decision to stick with Ben and race together rather than blaze ahead and achieve a great time.

Ben’s friends Alison and Shaun came with us and ran in the next wave, with Alison achieving a sub 42-min run! For some reason the men’s resiults were broken so neither Shain, Ben or I found out our time. It wasn’t a worry as we’d had pies (the meal of champions), Turkey legs and beer and were all very happy bunnies!

What I learnt:

• Dried-on mud does keep you warm…for a short while
• Dried-on mud causes chafing
• You won’t be the first nor will you be the last – there were sprinters, walkers and everything in between. This is something anyone can do of almost any fitness level. I promise you will have fun should you wish to do it 🙂
• The black mud was the worst – it stains and stinks and removes shoes very easily!
• I lost a shoe in the black mud and donated my remaining shoe to Shoes for Planet Earth. I hope there is a one-legged person out there who can make use of the right shoe!
• Turkey legs are pretty meaty and filling, and were a great way to end the day 🙂

If you get the chance to run in one of these, I strongly recommend it! What’d you do this weekend?