It was a little over an hour and half drive down to Manchester for the race. We had beautiful weather. It was warm and sunny, with a slight breeze. We all had different start times so we could watch each other race. I signed up twice so I could run with Shannon. I thought it would be best to be there with her for support because she is scared of heights and there was sure to be plenty of climbing obstacles.
The results tent
Muddy body prints on the side of the results tent
The waves were bigger here than they were in Georgia. Up to a staggering 750 racers began every 30 minutes for almost 9 hours! Total, there were 10,951 racers. I was first for the family to go. This first run would be my serious one. My goal was to try to win my wave like I did in Georgia and maybe get a top 10 in my class. On the start line, I recognized several guys that I have seen at local running events. I knew they were fast and I had my work cut out for me if I wanted to win the wave. I got a good start, lining up near the front.
As usual for a running race, the first 100 yards were a dead sprint, then things started to pan out and the weak began to fade and were left for dead. We ran almost a mile before the first obstacle. The course was flat as can be, so we were running at a good speed. There were four guys off the front by the first obstacle. I was in a group of three chasing them. The first obstacle was a mountain of hay bales that you climbed up and over. About 10 waves had already come through, destroying the shape of most of the hay bales. It was like running through knee-high piles of hay rather than like climbing. You had to watch out for the strings that hold the hay together as they would trip you up. I saw a few people go down because of that.
Following the hay hill was another long run stretch with a water stop at the end. I moved up to 5th by the water stop and was with the 4th place guy. One racer was now way ahead in the lead. We had run almost 2 miles now and only seen one obstacle. I had studied the course map before the race and knew the obstacles were concentrated at the end, but they were in a different order than expected. You can't see the actual course beforehand, so you are going by what you can see from looking across the field ahead of you.
The obstacles finally started coming in succession when we entered the woods after the water stop. First up was running through tires. In the middle of the tires were two rows of junk cars to climb over. There was a short run following the tires to take you to a series of short walls for an up-and-over. The walls were about 5 feet tall. You went over the first one, under the second and then repeated through about 10 walls. Then it was a run on a gravel road through the woods before crawling through a tarped building. It was a low building made from black tarp with flaps every few feet to keep it good and dark inside. The black tarp also made it super hot in there. I was faster than the 4th place guy in the run, but he was shredding the obstacles. We passed each other several times before the climbing wall, which came quickly after the tarp crawl. He was faster over the top of the wall than was I. The wall was 20 feet tall and I was not willing to just swing over the top quite like he was.
After the wall, there was another long run stretch, where I caught back up to him and two other runners. We then came to horizontal cargo nets in a group of four battling for 2nd place on course. The nets were connected by a 2x4 beam in the center. We all four ran down the 2 inch beam, jumping over people that were struggling to get across the nets. We were passing loads of people from the wave before us.
There were a ton of climbing obstacles at the end. One guy from our group fell off the pace as we hit the next wall, which was a 15 foot tall sloped wall with a rope for assistance.
A fairy comes down the backside of the sloped wall
Next up was another wall climb. This one had foot holds on the way up like a ladder, but the foot holds only went about halfway down the backside, so you had to jump the rest of the way to the ground.
Then came Satan's Steps, as they were named. They were giant steps that took you about 10-12 feet up into the air. You slid back to the ground via a metal pole like a fireman.
Then came the 20 foot tall cargo net. I lost some ground over the obstacles to the two guys I had been with. I started fading too and was not able to make up ground over the final open running section.
The pain is setting in as I near the end of my first race
Up the cargo net
Two more obstacles awaited before the finish line. The first was the traditional Warrior Roast, the leap over two small lines of burning logs. Then it was a crawl through the mud pit, under barbed wire, before the finish line finally came. In all, 12 obstacles of fun! I never could catch the two ahead of me and wound up 4th in my wave with a time of 28:58 for the 5K, 3.1-mile course. That gave me 37th in the 25-29 class and 128th overall. The top time of the day was a crazy-fast 21:38!
Me leaping the fire
Me crawling through the mud
I got a little muddy in the mud crawl at the end
My Dad was next to go. He had a good start as well and stayed steady the whole way. He wound up taking 12th in the 50-54 class, and 742nd overall, with a time of 33:48.
My Dad in action
Dad slides down the pole
Dina has not been running as much lately as she did before Georgia and I think she could tell it during her race. She still did a good time though, finishing in 51:35, which gave her 350th in the 20-24 Women class, and 6352nd overall.
Dina running hard
Dina catches a leprechaun
Dina leaps the fire
Dina post mud crawl
Dina got a battle wound
I took the camera with me when Shannon and I went, to document the obstacles and the fun we were sure to have doing this together. We started out at a pace that was a lot more tame than my first race. And we were midpack, which gave the early part of the race a whole new look.
Lots of warriors ahead of us at the start
It was like a herd of elephants running toward the hay bale hill. By this point, the bales were not even recognizable. It was just a big pile of hay over a wooden ramp.
Shannon was running well, picking off people all the time. I was taking pictures and video as we went along. She was making me work hard to catch back up after stopping to take pics. I was really feeling that first run. It was pretty awesome getting to follow Shannon through the junk cars and over the walls.
Still in heavy traffic as we run toward the water stop
Shannon negotiates the tires
Shannon runs over a junk car
The under and over section that followed the junk cars
They opened up the sides of the tarped building due to the heat. It wasn't near as much fun when you had light inside and could see the stobs and rocks you were crawling over. I was so wrong about Shannon and her fear of heights. She is scared of them, but showed no hesitation on the walls. She went right up and over the first wall like a little monkey!
Crawling through the tarped building
Coming up to the first wall
The horizontal cargo nets came next. Shannon chose to run the beam like I did the first time through. This time, I had more fun and flipped my way across, nearly taking down Shannon in the process. Also got myself some rope burn on my arms.
The horizontal cargo net
Satan's Steps and the pole slide
The tall cargo net near the end of the race
She went right over the remaining walls with no problem. I think she got a little annoyed with me taking so many pics. She called me "the paparazzi." We did the fire jump together and got a great picture of me in the air behind her.
Shannon tried to stay out of most of the mud during the mud crawl. I swam through it this time. The mud was the consistency of pudding. Shannon's time was 50:15, which gave her 489th place in the 25-29 Women, and 5927th overall. I finished a few seconds behind her with a time of 50:21.
Shannon and I run toward the mud pit at the end of our race
Shannon didn't get all that dirty
Me after my second race of the day
The four Greer warriors post race
A great time was had by all. It was fun to watch everyone tackle the obstacles, especially the mud. Even with the mud only being 2 feet deep, there were countless people that dove in and bellyflopped. Two people got carted off with injuries from jumping into the mud. Some people just aren't smart, but dang, they sure are entertaining! A few miscellaneous photos and videos are below. Enjoy!
Smurf high-diver. Did anyone notice that springboard buried in the dirt?!
More mud diving
This guy carried a kayak the entire race.
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