So, after jumping over a wall, we made it to the start line. There was a huge crowd of other participants just as ready as we were to get muddy! The energy at the gate was amazing. Then the countdown started and the airhorn went off…here we go!
The first obstacle was another wall climb. Then the mud started. Then some more climbing, leaping and trudging through mud. I have to hand it to the race coordinators because there was absolutely NO shortage of mud throughout this entire course. One of our team members, Courteney, actually lost a shoe in the mud toward the beginning. Thankfully it was able to be recovered.
One of the obstacles was called the frog leap or something like that. Basically, it was a row of floating plastic platforms that you had to hop across from one side to the other. I managed to cross the obstacle without ending up in the water. I had to use all fours to keep the platform from tipping and causing me to fall in. Some folks tried to run across the obstacle. All of those that I witnessed attempt this strategy fell in!
Then there was an area that was a maze of tunnels dug into the ground that we had to crawl through. This obstacle was not for the claustrophobic, and is where I obtained most of my scrapes and bruises! That was pretty rough on the knees and elbows, but worth it. Because it was kinda muddy, and it was fun!
There were more climbing obstacles. Straight up and down giant pallet-looking obstacles that would be tough for someone who is afraid of heights. There was another wall climb obstacle that I could not have made it over without assistance. That is one of the things that is so awesome about these types of events; the teamwork that you get to witness and experience! It’s really pretty awesome in my opinion! This is the #1 reason I love these types of events so much. I mean, the mud and challenges are great, but the camaraderie is what really makes it awesome.
There was an obstacle that was called something like “Pack Mule” where we had to pick up a 25# or 50# sack weight and carry it for a short (I’m sure it felt long to some) distance. I only took 25# (that’s a bag of dog food! I do that every day!) but wish I grabbed 50#. Next time I’ll challenge myself a bit more here.
Then there was the leaping over the burning logs. That was hot, smoky and not easy! But doable and all of my teammates and I completed it with no problem!
Another obstacle was a trampoline with a rope climb. You climbed up a wall then jumped on the trampoline to try to get up as high as possible (and therefore get over the obstacle as fast as possible) onto the rope mesh. I was watching others do this and thought it would be a piece of cake! Just jump on the trampoline and traject yourself to the top of the rope wall (it had a mat behind it). Turned out that this was the most painful obstacle for me. There were two trampolines. The first one I didn’t get very high and ended up climbing the rope mesh pretty much all the way. The second one I had a plan. That failed miserably. Instead of getting up to the top of the rope wall I smacked into the rope wall and mat with full force! It was like belly-flopping into a pool. Only worse. But I shook it off and climbed the rope mesh and moved right along!
And then, at the end, to finish the obstacle course we had to run up one side of a halfpipe platform. For me, this was absolutely not possible without assistance. But it is something I will be working on. It took me two tries to make it over the obstacle. My hands slipped right out of the hands of the person that tried to grab onto me the first attempt. But I was successful the second attempt. After getting over that and climbing through some more rope mesh we made it to the finishing obstacle. A huge slide with a pool of muddy water at its base! Perfect for rinsing off all of the mud! These race coordinators just thought of everything. Most of our team finished together here! 
The most difficult obstacle for me that I successfully completed was walking across a plank of wood over water. Think “tightrope” or “balance beam” here. This obstacle was in the last third of the course. I made it across, but it took me a lot longer than I thought it would. This obstacle gave me something else to work on.
…to be continued…one more installment for the post race 🙂
AnimalWhiz 