2013 Tour deCatur

Carter has been training for this 1 mile run for weeks. The morning of the race was cold and pouring rain. We gave him a choice, and he did it! He and Thomas ran the whole thing in the rain. And then T ran the 5k, also in pouring rain. John and I were there to watch both strong finishes!



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Tour DeCatur 2012

Thomas and Carter ran in the Tour DeCatur today. They did a 1 mile fun run together and then Thomas did the 5K. Carter did a GREAT job on the mile! He ran the whole way, and they clocked in at 10:28. Pretty impressive for less-than-6-years-old. He now wants to run the 5K next year. I told him if he runs a couple more 1 milers, we'll do it!

Warrior Dash!

This past weekend, I ran the Warrior Dash with Park and Ashley, and it was quite the event. It is basically a 5k race...with obstacles. It takes place over 2 days, with race waves starting every half hour, with over a hundred people per wave. Lots of people in costume, lots of beer, lots of general merriment. My wave was at 3:30 in afternoon, so we had a chance to watch and absorb before we took to the...street, lake, mud, trails, barbed wire, walls, and fire.

Well, I've had some pretty crazy days, but this was certainly fun!

Eli and a reluctant Carter before the race.

Carter feeling better after getting the official warrior hat and shedding his shirt to look more like lots of other people.

Before the race, looking serene, thinking "this will be interesting, I believe...."

Off we go, with FIRE! The first mile or so was a regular run around the lake/pond. I decided to avoid the crowds and make some decent time, as I was wearing actual running shoes and clothes and not a wedding dress or superhero outfit....

The run around the lake ended with a jump INTO the lake for about a 100 yard wade/swim (see in the background above). Then you slog out of that into 3 sets of burned out cars and a field of tires. And mud.

Over the top.

Just after that you hit a 4' plywood wall to scramble over, then a barbed wire fence about 2' off the ground to scramble under. Through mud. Repeat that FIVE freakin' times! I was okay with the going over, but the going under was hard for an old man.

After a little more trail running (and mud), you hit the BIG wall. After that it is another hill of tires. And mud. Seemingly several more miles of strictly uphill trails. With mud. Then several more obstacles that I was too busy conquering to take pictures of (and they were back in the woods away from spectators, so no photos). A suspended horizontal cargo net 40' long to crawl over (which I busted a$$ coming off of and was bleeding and massively brusied from), a 2' high blackout tent also 40' long that required an army crawl to avoid the giant wood beams in the dark put there to (apparently) knock people unconscious. Then a giant hill covered in plastic and hosed down for a super long slide into a pile of hay and likely another runner. The 18" deep mud pit with barbed wire just at head high you had to crawl under, the other pool of (slightly less) muddy water with floating logs to swim over. Then, finally...

FIRE!

2 sets to be exact, back in front of the adoring crowd. Grace under pressure is all I can say about that photo.

After.

"WTF did I just do to myself?!?!?!"

Park and Ashley before.

And after.

I would highly recommend seeking this race out in your area and getting a BIG group and being warriors. Next year, we are getting more people, and more drunk. It should hurt less. Thanks to Eli and Carter for being a great cheering section and support team!