Fifty Dollar Frolic

What?: The Warrior Dash. A 3.4 mile run in Florence that included obstacles such as walls, cargo net climbs, mud pits, flaming pits and more.



Why?: Diane (my wife) and her sister both asked, when I announced that I wanted to participate, if this was a charity event. Why else would you do a run like this.

Here are my reasons:

I enjoy running. It is good exercise at a bargain rate. I think I pay about $100 bucks every 5 or 6 months for shoes and last year I lost a good 15 lbs with running and and other working out, so it makes me healthier. It also is a good way to relax, focus your thoughts, challenge yourself, et., etc.

I wanted to focus my training a little bit, so one of those 5K sort of races seemed like a good way to do it. You know, do one, get a decent time after working hard and get motivated to work harder for the next one. But, I could never get excited about signing up for a race where I knew many, if not most, people would outrun me and you just run a long ways and then you are done.

Then I saw some info about The Dash that a couple of friends shared on Facebook. It looked like a fun way to focus the running a bit and to be in a race that was a bit more interesting than just running around. You get to run with screaming loonies dressed in costume and slog around in mud. What could be better?


The Results:

Time-wise, I thought I would do better. I do not run fast at all. My 3 - 4 mile pace is now around 9 - 9.5 minutes a mile. Even so, I figured I would be a shoe in to finish in around 35 minutes. How could I miss that time.

What I didn't count on was the horrible wind for the first 15 minutes or so, the lines you had to wait in to hit some of the obstacle (not terribly long, but long enough to slow you down some), the extra fatigue that you get from running through mud, and my inability to not make snide comments to people on the course.

So, I finished in around 40 minutes. Not so good, putting me at around 2700th place for the day. Still, I was faster than nearly 5,000 people for the day, and a good 300 - 350 in my wave of 500, the majority of whom were clearly much younger and clearly in better condition than I.

But, I had fun, didn't get hurt and got the honor of running with marines, college kids, Gonzo the Great and Miss Piggy, men in wedding dresses and a variety of mock warrior costumes.

Next time I am taking a group with me. Who's in?