We ran as a group again in July, this time on the 6km obstacle course, Mud Hero. It was a blast. I’ve already registered for next year.
It really was a great time – and frankly a person of just about any fitness level could do it. Sure, if you wanted to be competitive about it, you could be. But you’d have to be in one of the first heats of the day to make a real go at it because after that, your heat runs straight into the ass end of the heat in front of you on the obstacles and that certainly slows you down.
The obstacles themselves were ideal – some obstacles were presented with multiple difficulty levels, which certainly made it more enjoyable for those that weren’t looking to challenge themselves too much. I opted for the “hardest” route each time specifically to challenge myself. Whether it was sliding down a huge water slide into a giant pool of mud at the bottom, or scrambling across a cargo net 25 feet in the air, it was consistently fun.
A bunch us started the run together, dancing and carrying on like kids (a few of us actually weren’t that far off anyway) while a couple of DJs revved up the crowd before the start. A small group of us charged up the hill at a pretty solid pace – I was grateful when my coach, who I was running beside the whole time, dropped to a walk with about 100 meters to the top. My calves were about to explode, but I didn’t want to stop unless he did. Of course when we got to the top, he had already recovered. I had a bit more walking to do before I picked up my pace. I never saw him on the route again.
But that was fine. I was joined on occasion by others from Rocky Lake Crossfit. And then when Nicole – also from Rocky Lake but doing private lessons rather than CF classes at the time – caught me on the course, we went back and forth with one of us leading, then the other, for at least the last 3km. We met up at the finish line and then went looking for the rest of the group that finished ahead of us, keeping an eye on the finish line for the people behind us.
The party afterwards was about as much fun as the course itself. There was very talented live band playing music spanning at least 4 decades. There was a vendor village for shoes, clothing, and various other items. There was a hot dog stand and a beer tend – how does that not go perfectly together?
