After we got out of the water at Deadwood Drifter we made
the short run to the next obstacle, Barricade Breakdown. Here we had to climb
over a short while then crawl under barb wire, and repeat this over and over
again. Another run led us to the Great Warrior Wall, which Tara opted to skip. I
managed to pull myself up the wall with the rope before scrambling down the
backside by hand. Chaotic Crossover was the next obstacle we ran to, and this
required us to make our way across three sections of cargo net. Nothing too
difficult here. Next up was Teetering Traverse, an up and down set of narrow
planks for us to walk across. Again, nothing overly challenging unless you have
a fear of such things. Blackout was the next obstacle, and I can best describe
it as a black plastic covered greenhouse that you crawl on your hands and knees
through in the dark. It was very hot in here, but the bonus was that the outside
air felt pretty cool afterwards. As we made our way into a section of thicker
woods, we came to the Arachnophobia obstacle. This was a section of trees with
bungee cords running between them, looking very much like a spider web. We were
able to step through here fairly quickly. The next obstacle wasn't even listed
as an obstacle, although everyone I know thought it was one... and that was the
mud pit. Or should I say stinky muck pit. Tara and I slowly waded through the
muck, finding it difficult to pick our shoes up off the bottom. It was also hard
climbing up the mud covered hills that followed. Fortunately we did make it
(eventually) and we arrived at a new, unnamed obstacle. This one required you to
scale a wall rock climbing style and then descend down the back on a rope, which
is where I failed to execute the maneuver successfully. Tara was smart and
skipped this one too, but I gave it a shot and came away with a broken finger
for trying. It felt like rope burn at the time, which could be expected
considering I slid down the rope instead of climbing down like I should have
done. It wasn't until later in the day that I pinned down the pain to a broken
finger (and later in the week before I finally went to get my own diagnosis
confirmed). We were nearing the end of our run, with three obstacles left in
quick succession. First was the Cargo Climb, a 25-30 foot high wall of cargo
nets that we both managed to ascend and descend successfully. After that came
the Warrior Roast, where we had to jump over two sets of flames before making it
to the twelfth and final obstacle, Muddy Mayhem. This was a giant mud pit that
you had to crawl through under a series of barb wire. This was the obstacle that
on Sunday a young man was paralyzed at as he dove into the pit head first. I
feel bad for the gentleman, but the waiver clearly warned you not to go into any
obstacle head first.
Here are some more pictures from our time on the Warrior
Dash course...
Our Warrior Dash!!!
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The third obstacle was the Barricade Breakdown. Here you were to
climb over waist high walls and the crawl under barb wire. There
were four or five walls to crawl over with barb wire in between each
one.
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The fourth obstacle was called Great Warrior Wall. It was a 20'
(or so) high wall that you used a rope to pull yourself up with and
then climbed down the ladder-like back.
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This is a look back at the Great Warrior Wall.
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The next obstacle we came to was Chaotic Crossover. This was
three connected sections of cargo nets suspended about 6 feet in the
air that you had to cross.
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Here is the approach to Chaotic Crossover.
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Tara making the transition from the first to the second section
of cargo net.
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Tara making her way across the nets.
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Obstacle 6 was the Teetering Traverse, which was several narrow
boards that you were to balance on as you made your way across.
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A look back at the Teetering Traverse after we had crossed it.
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Obstacle 7 was called Blackout. This looked a lot like a very
close to the ground greenhouse, except it was covered in black
plastic. The only issue was that it was very hot while crawling
through the dirt on your hands and knees.
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Arachnophobia was the eighth obstacle we encountered, and it was
basically a series of bungee cords stretched between trees that you
had to make your way through, over, and under.
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Tara making her way into the Arachnophobia obstacle.
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Although this wasn't officially listed as an obstacle, it should
have been. This spot required you to cross through a muddy, mucky
mess, or attempt to make your way via logs, which were also covered
in mud.
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It was extremely difficult getting out of the muck and up the
hills that followed it, and sometimes a helping hand was needed, as
Tara shows here.
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Obstacle 9 was a brand new one for the Warrior Dash, never used
before in any other race. While it was unnamed on the website, it
basically consisted of a 10' (or so) high wall that you climbed much
like a rock climbing wall. On top was a narrow platform, and you
used a knotted up rope to make your way down.
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Here is a look at the wall. This is the obstacle that Rodney
fractured his finger on while descending down the rope on the back.
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Cargo Climb was the tenth obstacle of the race, at is pretty
much as it sounds. Climb high up a near vertical cargo net, over the
top, and then back down the opposite side.
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Here is the Cargo Climb as we approached it.
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The 11th obstacle was Warrior Roast, which required you to cross
over two flaming sections. Most people jumped over, but the
occasional person stepped right in the flame.
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The 12th and final obstacle was Muddy Mayhem, and as you could
guess it was basically a giant mud pit that you had to make your way
across. The only thing that really made this difficult was the barb
wire spanning the pit, which required you to stay very low in the
pit.
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Here is Tara approaching the Muddy Mayhem pit.
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Please click here for
page three of the photos |
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