Warrior Dash 2012

It seems appropriate to post about this today, even though it happened back in April. Ben is currently doing a sprint triathlon this morning. (We didn't go along because he had to leave the house around 4 a.m. to get there.) He hasn't been able to participate in as many races as he'd like due to work travel and other commitments. But, back in April, he asked if any of his coworkers would want to join him for the Warrior Dash... and he got some takers!

Here are some of the TI participants (a few weren't in this picture). Notice how clean they all look before the race?

Entering the race area.

Everyone who ran the race got a viking hat that had a big fuzzy brim and plush horns. Some wore theirs while they raced. I think Ben's is currently in Lila's dress-up bin :)

At first when I saw these guys, I thought that is so cool! See, one big thing about the warrior dash is that many people dress up to run the race. I saw several Supermans and Wonder Womans. So when I saw a Stormtrooper? I was like "now THAT is a Star Wars fan!!" But then I realized that they were just there for anyone to have a photo op. Hmm. Not as cool. But, you see that mesh fence behind them? And all those people behind the fence? Those are racers about to begin the next heat! Ben's group was in the 2nd to last heat on Saturday. I think it was at 4:45. I asked him why he picked such a hot part of the day, and he said that was all that was available when he signed up! They had been running heats every fifteen minutes all day! Plus I think they also did the same thing the day before! I think there were maybe 100 people in each heat? That is a lot of people who want to run the Warrior Dash!!!

Here is the actual starting point of the race. Unfortunately I couldn't go anywhere beyond this point (the end was basically on the other side of that tree), so all the spectators could see was the beginning and the end.

Did I mention it was HOT? I wasn't sure what the viewing area would be like, so I had brought along a large quilt to sit on. Instead, I used it to create a small tent by draping it over Piper's stroller and the barrier fence that held the spectators off the race course. Bottles of water and a snack made the kids happy.

This guy ran the whole race as a banana. I can't even imagine how hot it must be in that costume.

The Warrior Dash is basically a 5K but with all kinds of obstacles along the way. Most of these we couldn't see from the viewing area, but I could get this rope wall with my zoom lens. Ben is the guy in red about to go over the top.

Coming around the final bend.

Jumping over the first fire pit.

And the second & last fire pit.

This was the last obstacle - the mud pit. You had to crawl through it to get under the barbed wire. Some people did try to walk around it, but then they got a lot of grief from the crowd. If the guy in the hat hadn't been there, you would be able to see the finish line.

And this Warrior is all done. Just a little dirty :)

They had a cleaning station set up -- two guys spraying fire hoses at the crowd basically. 

Most people didn't even attempt to clean - or keep - their shoes.

Waiting for Daddy to get clean.

Lila wanted to wear the medal.

Ben had a coworder who came to watch, so here they are checking out his pictures. It was hard finding people; luckily I knew Ben was wearing a red shirt and he is tall. He had a blast and said he'd even do it again. It did kind of look like fun :)