Good morning! Several months back, springtime to be exact, I found out about the Warrior Dash being held again in Ohio. I immediately set to Facebook sending out a mass message to numerous women. Off the top of my head .. 20+. My thought was this would be interesting for a group to do. Either way, this lady was gonna be there! I like to do races. Not everyone else does. But my thought was that I could sell them on the fun aspect of the day. Selling that it is about the adventure and not the time on the clock.
At first there were several "biters". Some were concerned that I was gonna be "all about time" because "you do stuff all the time". I assured them that for me this was just going to be about fun. That I would be there to cheer and assist in anyway necessary. And that if we went as a team we would finish as a team. In some Warrior Dashes they have the Wall Climb. That worried everyone. I told everyone that questioned ... I'll throw your a@@ over that wall if I have to.
As the time went by the "biters" dwindled down to one .... Kim. We worked at getting others to sign up but it just didn't go anywhere for a little while. Then one day she gives me a call and says "Can you change start times because I got two more but 11 am doesn't work for them?" Well yes I'm changing times if there are others that want to give it a try. She recruited her best buddy ... Kim. I've actually known both of them for a great number of years. When I sit down and think about it around 20 years! WHAT! Kinda funny how life works out! And Kim 2 had recruited one of her friends Teresa.
It was on! They set out to come up with a costume concept. I told them it didn't matter to me. BUT I would not run in a Wonder Woman bikini! There is a story behind that. LOL They settled on super hero's. Kim 1 has a LOVE for Wonder Woman so that was a no brainer. Kim 2 choose Bat Girl. I looked and decided on Super Girl. And Teresa settled on Spider Girl. Leading up to the race, I know they were nervous and excited. I was excited for them. Truthfully, the day before I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. But that morning, the feeling was gone. I just felt ready for fun!
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Teresa, Kim, Me, and Kim |
After a minor snafu with the directions ... we never found the alternate recommended route. I ended up going the "non-recommended" way and drove right in. We arrived. All pumped and ready. We headed in and I started "eye spying" the flags for directions.
Packet pick-up was a breeze. All in alphabetical order and there were so many volunteers. EVERYWHERE! It was great. We all strapped on our numbers and laced up our timing chips. Since we arrived a little later due to the direction mishap .. well, our time was a little short. After a quick bathroom trip, we headed off to the starting chute. I loved listening to everyone. No matter the event .. the atmosphere is always great!
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I joke about how EXCITED I look standing there. Kinda like ... REALLY?! |
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Probably the smartest outfits of the day! |
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START! |
We went over the river and through the woods. Well really through the woods and over the river. Walls and barbed wire .. check. Creek run .. check. Floating logs in the water .. interesting check. Floating pontoons .. 5 feet then a drop to 7 feet must pull yourself up on the floating pontoons .. check. Spider Girl was instructed to go around this obstacle by race officials and the lifeguard. Everyone knows most spiders don't like water! That was the only obstacle that any of our group by passed. I will admit to noticing one "competitor" bypassing all but ONE obstacle. She didn't even try them. She did have to do the last one also .. there is no bypassing it.
The ditch crawl chewed up my knees at the beginning. Then I just assumed the push up position and scurried across it. All while making sure my butt didn't hit the barbed wire. There was one obstacle that I was worried about. Deadmans drop. It was a wall with a drop on the other side. I wasn't worried about clearing it but landing on the other side. Myself and Wonder Woman scaled it. And yeppers there was a drop on the other side! Just step over, hang, and drop. I maneuvered and kinda gave Wonder Woman a visual. Bat girl and Spider girl were still over coming up the other side. Our plan was to "instruct" them. Well, the step over was a little steep for them but they cleared. I was trying to tell Bat girl what to do when she fell. I felt so bad. She fell right on her hip! Everyone on the obstacle asked "OMG are you all right?" She threw her hands up in the air and said "I'm good!" Jumped up and on we went. Her hip has to be black & blue!
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Heading toward the last obstacle! |
We headed toward the net climb, fire jump, and mud pit .................................................
And across the finish line! We had to walk and have no idea what in the world she was doing with that straw!
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Glad I was there to see them get their first medals. |
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Why wouldn't anyone hug me?!
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The "washing off" didn't go so well for me! Oh well it isn't about being clean!
What a perfectly clean line across my shirt! Couldn't do that again if I tried!
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Good bye shoes! We had a good time together! |
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End of a fun day! |
All in all it was a blast. The other ladies completed their first races ever .. to my knowledge. Received their first medals ever .. to my knowledge. And I think a few of them might me ready to try it again! IDK....maybe I'll give them a few weeks before I come calling again! LOL
I went in for fun. And had fun. Already thinking of 2013 .. more than likely I'll do two races in Ohio. One for fun. And the other to go like crazy. All in all the obstacles were a little less intimidating than I expected. The "log cross" was the hardest because the "limb stumps" were still on the logs.
The day was beautiful. The event was fun. We got dirty. We got wet. We jumped fire. We climbed through mud. The company was great. And the day was a success. We are warriors!
GREAT JOB WARRIORS......Kim Jennings aka Wonder Woman, Kim Plumm aka Bat Girl, and Teresa Alesi aka Spider Girl.
THANKS LADIES FOR SAYING YES AND GOING ON THE ADVENTURE!