Warrior Dash and Other Extreme Races

Lately a new phenomenon has swept the country...well at least here in the Pacific Northwest it has. Last year I took part in a very interesting race called the Warrior Dash. Essentially it was a 3.11 mile obstacle course through some very hilly terrain. Obviously the idea is to get through the course as fast as you can but the race organizers have some very evil ideas about how to slow you down.

Large ponds with logs, rope ladders, tunnels and even fire hurdles make up some of the obstacles thrown in your way. Several thousand people showed up so the race is run in waves 30 minutes apart. They encourage you to invite friends so a bunch of us from my company ran.  Do you know the old adage? When being chased you don't have to be the fastest you just have to be faster than your friends? Well I do have to admit if there was a zombie apocalypse or a bear was chasing us...I would be the one to get eaten. I was only half way through the course when the fastest people from the wave behind us started passing me by...

Well the Warrior Dash is just one such event http://www.warriordash.com/ but there are others that have been cropping up all over the place to take advantage of this new fitness craze. Metro Dash, http://www.metrodash.com/, is for those who like their races a little less woodsy. Tough Mudder, http://toughmudder.com/, appears to be even more extreme.

Why the sudden interest in these races? Probably because flat street based races are so passe and uninteresting. 5K, 10K and marathon races are great for the real racers or folks from Kenya or Ethiopia but for the rest of us schlubs we watch shows like Survivor or the Amazing race and say to ourselves "I can do that!" and these extreme races give us a taste of that.  Plus getting all down and dirty is just fun.

Myself? I finished the 2010 race in 59 minutes. I have gotten myself back into the gym to not be the fellow eaten by zombies this year.  In the last two months I have gotten my 3.11 mile time down to 35 minutes. Factor in the time to do an obstacle and I should be able to beat my very slow race time. We will see.  Maybe I'll see you at this years race.