Here we go:
My friend Fatima was anxious to try a real obstacle 5K and she wanted to do it with someone who has done it before. Well, I've certainly done my fair share so she signed us up! When I was reading up on this race I actually thought it was going to be more challenging than it actually was. As Fatima and I were doing the race, I made this observation and she said "That's good - You're getting too good for these now!" Well...maybe I actually am! Maybe I need to start signing up for more challenging ones? I've never really thought of myself as actually improving on these things because I don't run. But believe it or not, my power walk has gotten even faster and I do quite well on these so who knows. Anywhoo here's the recap:
The process of actually getting there was our 1st obstacle. We got a tad late of a start, then ran into the freeway closure. No signs, no nothing. Every detour we tried it was closed. This was starting to turn into a rare anxiety moment for me because I was thinking we were going to be late. After literally 45 minutes of turning around, U-turns and lots of swearing we were on our way. As we we rolled towards the 60 freeway and hit a police break I started actually wondering if the universe was telling us not to do this race.
We finally arrive in the nick of time and I'm starting to realize already that this is a bit less organized and smaller than I'm used to. But it's cool, we're ready. We go through our post race routine and take our post race shot:
So we had already received an email telling us the coolest obstacle was screwed up and wouldn't be there. This was the Death Drop. But as a consolation they would give us free pictures. I'd like to point out that this was the main thing that pissed me off about this race. There wasn't one damn photographer on the whole course! We also didn't free pictures, we got one free picture. So not cool but whatever. This isn't a race I will do again. Fatima and I of course had a blast, but I was really disappointed. If I had known it wasn't as challenging as I thought I would have brought my own camera. Ah well.
So we headed to the start line when our wave was called, we were the 3rd of the day. Race began and off we went through a giant bubble bog. Yup another race with bubbles (Hence Foam) The race took place at Pomona Fairplex which I love but there wasn't much signage. This was proven when about 5 minutes into the race the group ahead of us was coming back towards us. "Wrong Way!!!" Seriously? A very confused mob turned around and tried to figure out where we were supposed to be going. We did finally figure it out but um hello? Signs? Volunteer? Bueller? Ok then.
1st obstacle:
Electric Mud Crawl. Well I had already decided I was going to have to skip this one. I honestly don't understand with what is with these obstacles that shock and/or electrocute you. Um why? It was barbed wire that shocks you and you crawl under it through mud. Why does it have to shock you!? Since the whole head thing, I don't tempt fate with stupid shit like that, so I told the volunteer (This is the only place I saw a volunteer mind you) I had to walk around. Fatima powered thru it like a champ though.
2nd obstacle:
Small Wall.
We killed it.
3rd obstacle:
Large wall. We killed it. I think Fatima was surprising herself at this point because she was kicking ass. :)
4th obstacle:
We ran through low hanging inflatable balls and through bubbles. Not a challenge but fun!
5th obstacle:
Here is where we started heading up through the shaded area that goes uphill-ish and stairs are involved, etc. We hopped over "Trip Wire". I did better than I thought I would on this one.
6th obstacle:
I think it was called Spider Web. It was a mass of rope that you had to crawl through. You could step through, over, under, however you could get through without getting caught. I felt like a ninja.
I would also like to point out around this time some runners were running the other way...we kind of pass each other the way the course was set up...and the people behind us were passing us running the part we already did. There was a very cute guy saying "Yes...we're going the right way...I remember her!" and he pointed at me. "We're behind them!" He smiled and I smiled. Dammit I couldn't find him after the race! I think that may have qualified as a flirt!
7th obstacle:
This was my favorite. You dove into some freezing cold water (It was ass hot so this was ok) and they had a bunch of inner tubes tied together. The water was about chest high and you had to jump up and in and through the inner tubes. This was an absolute blast and I was apparently entertaining to all those around me by the amount of fun I was having and the total fool I was making of myself because everyone was laughing. There was also some random guy who had his truck pulled up next to it and was cheering us on. I wonder if they couldn't find volunteers and were now pulling random people off the street. But he was great.
8th obstacle:
This lemon head thing. So they had a big inflatable pool with mats that went all the way across. Lemons were low hanging. You had to run across the mats without falling in. Fatima and I did f-ing awesome. No one else was making it but we flew across!
9th obstacle:
Cargo Climb. This was the one that Fatima was a bit nervous about because she's afraid of heights. I was super proud of myself as I flew over it. I'm finding these are the ones I seem to do the best at. When I landed on the other side I turned and cheered on Fatima. She rocked it! She was a bit shaky when she got off but she totally killed it. Ya girl!
10th obstacle:
A moon bounce with foam. Just like ROC but with foam.
11th obstacle:
Another moon bounce like thing with foam. This is where there was a photographer. Funny enough she wasn't with Foam Fest but another company. Well Fatima and I did stop and take our photo op and got this great shot:
The last obstacle was an Aqua Drag with Foam. Fatima's pic came out great:
I know you probably think pictures are almost as important to me as the race. You're right. I loooooooove pictures!!!! I also loooooooooooooooooooove that I can add them along as I blog. I apologize I didn't have more for this one. I hope to have more photos at races, but you can't really carry things when you run unless it's a real fun run. I wish I had known this was more of a fun run. Ah well.
So this was our finish. We were handed a medal (yay!) and some water. We noticed a long line around the corner and realized here was our "free photo". So we of course jumped in line and got these great shots.
We hit all the tents that you got free goodies and changed into dry clothes. We took our post race shot you see below and headed out.
All in all we still had a blast. We never did get our free "Mike's Hard Lemonade" because I couldn't find the damn thing. I don't think it was there. Fatima and I are a great team though. We have a blast no matter what the day brings!!!
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