Are You Rugged Enough?

Photo from ruggedmaniac.com

A year ago, I would have laughed at the prospect of myself competing in any race, let alone a 5K obstacle course.  But last Saturday, May 19^th, as I ran across the finish line with bumps, bruises, and cuts all over my body, covered in a layer of mud, I was shocked to revel in what I had accomplished.

The course is designed by Navy SEALs, with a wide mixture of different obstacles one must accomplish to make it through the course, ranging from crawling under barbed wire and jumping over fire, to attempting to run up mud slick hills (and usually taking a couple tries). In addition, true to their Rugged Maniac beliefs, weather does not halt or slow down the race, as proved by Denver last weekend.  In all the years and races of Rugged Maniac, Denver 2012 proved to be the coldest event yet, in addition to a constant onslaught of rain.

The race was held at Thunder Valley Motocross, providing terrain that was easier to run on (where mud hadn’t been put down). The race started off with a bang, having different heats of runners starting every fifteen to thirty minutes. The first obstacle proved to be one you had to face several times- an extremely muddy and slippery hill; a hill not just wet from the general course terrain, but also the weather. Some easier obstacles followed, like climbing over wood structures, going through hanging tires, facing more mud hills, and jumping over small barriers. But farther along came some of the most grueling obstacles: Large mud hills with rope to help the climb up was definitely not easy, nor was crawling under barbed wire through pools of mud.  My personal favorite obstacle was one of the last, called the Normandy Crawl, in which you slid through pipes into a freezing pool, which you had to crawl/swim through under barbed wire, then finally pull yourself out through another tube using a rope.

And once you finally get to the end, slipping and sliding in your soaking wet shoes, standing underneath the huge finish line banner, you can look back and think of all you have accomplished. I know this is definitely a tradition I am going to keep up, and it’s also inspired me to try some of the harder courses, like the Tough Mudder, coming up this summer. I would definitely recommend this race (after some training!) to others who want a fun challenge!