Well – my last and final OCR of 2014 was last
Saturday and what a way to go out!
We had a fun group this time around and a
virgin! The usual suspects – Fatima and
David, then my sister in law and our friend Shawn. Taylor jumped on board again and our virgin
was my best friend – Libby who as I suspected kicked major ass.
The other great thing – is this will be the best
detailed accurate blog due to Rugged Maniac’s awesome website, race packet,
etc. All the info is there!
We all met at my pad and headed out in 2
cars. This was by far my favorite race
of the year. I remember I loved it last
year too, but it was even better this year!
Since Lib was breaking her cherry and Taylor was worried about keeping
up and Fatima wanted to take it easy since she was going to be doing another
race the next day, we opted for a “Party Race.”
We sort of did the Irvine Mud Run this same way. Take our time, fuck around and take
pictures! I brought my great little
digital camera that Fatima gave me that’s supposed to be water proof. What better way to test it out right?!
Here’s the pre-race shot of our group:
Danelle and Shawn opted to run on ahead so we didn’t
see them until the end. So, our party
group was the fab five! Here we go!
Can’t wait to pop my best friends cherry!!!
We begin!
First up – “Quad Burner”. Killed it.
I think this might be my favorite picture:
Next up – “Barricades”. Little walls.
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| Brilliant Libby Photo Bomb |
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| My new profile picture |
Next – “Jacobs Ladder”. Now I don’t have pics of all the obstacles unfortunately
because my battery started dying so we started to pick and choose. This was a big climb thing. Libby has a fear of heights but she still
tackled and conquered these obstacles with the encouragement of us and other
racers!
Next – “Trenches”.
These were the same things I remember from last year – scary! You basically have to run and jump over
multiple trenches. There are a couple
that are pretty wide across. I almost
biffed it on one last year, but I did pretty damn good this year! Hopped over all of them with no problem.
Next – “Tipping Point”. These were fun. It was like teeter-totters! I was surprised at how many people were
actually having trouble with these. Once
you got the hang of it, it was all about the quad muscles. You just basically – teeter in the
middle! Super fun!
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| "Wait What?" |
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| "Oh got it!" |
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| Another favorite picture! |
Next – “Commando Crawl”. Basically crawling through a tube and
mud. Good times!
Next – “Beam me up!” Another large cargo climb
thing.
Next – “Claustrophobia”. This is a tunnel you have to squat/crawl
through. It’s a bit long and turns a
couple times which makes it fell claustrophobic. I wasn’t sure Lib would due it since the girl
is claustrophobic but she said she’d do it as long as I stayed near her. She of course – killed it.
Next – “Ninja Escape”. We should have taken some photos here. Would have been rad. It’s just like American Ninja Warrior. Boards you’re supposed to ninja jump
across. Now – I always thought I would
ace this – and I did the 1st couple, but the last part was farther
apart and my little short ass did not quite make it. Super fun though!
Next – “Leap of Faith”. You basically jump into water and hope it’s
not too deep or cold! That’s one thing I’d
like to point out here – It was so cold last year. This year was off and on cold, but nothing
was too cold at all. Only got a little
chilly a few times in the water but otherwise perfect racing weather!
Next – “The Gauntlet”. This was fun.
Lesson learned though – go one a time and you’ll make it. What happened to Taylor, Lib and I was a
brilliant comic routine. We went in that
order – well Taylor swung back on of his red things that smacked into Lib who
fell back and smacked one into me and Lib and I went tumbling into the
water. It was hilarious. Between the shot the Rugged guy got and what
Fatima was snapping away – hilarity ensued.
A favorite moment for sure!
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| Here we go! |
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| Dominos!! |
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| Hilarious! |
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| Taylor thought so too! |
Next – “Head Scratcher”. Crawling through mud under barbed wire.
Next – “Napoleon Complex”. This was a toughie. It was climbing over a couple of walls, but
they were tall walls and the board you grab on to, to hoist yourself up had no
lip. No one could get a grip and
honestly I don’t think most people can get over without help. Taylor stepped up and basically let me use
him as a tree to climb over. He and
David then helped Libby over. The next
wall David hoisted me over and tried not to step too hard on his shoulder with
my cleated shoes. Thanks boys!!!
Next – “Pack Mule”. You’re handed a 25lb or 50lb bag you hoisted
over your shoulders and have to carry around in a U shape through ankle deep
water. It was fun, but as I type this I
realize I never saw the pictures.
Damn! I actually posed for the
photographer here but now I’m realizing they must not have come out. Bummer.
Next – “Waterworks”. Up and over or under tubes in muddy water.
Next – “Balance or Bust”. Balance Beam.
I recall us all getting across.
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Next – “Lets Cargo”. Another large cargo climb.
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| So proud of her!!!! |
Next – “The Ringer”. Rings!
Now I thought I’d do better on these than I did. They were soooooooooooooo slippery!! I made it a few but went down pretty
quick. Just too damn slippery. I think David made it across though. He said his row wasn’t as slippery. You see him killin it below.
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| Got Shawn's professional shot! |
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| Killed it |
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| Not me! Damn! |
Next – “Speed Trap” – running through muddy
waters.
Next – “Frog Hop”.
Now – this was my moment of glory!
You can see me debating how to do it in the pic below. Only Taylor, David and I did it. Almost everyone was falling off. I watched for a few minutes and realized you
had to just run really fast across them.
People were making the mistake of stopping/hesitating or trying to go
slow. No good. I of course also got a little shot of adrenaline
because we were now near the finish and there were a lot of spectators watching
this one. I of course wanted to nail
it. So – I just went. I shot across super fast, landed on the other
side and heard the crowd cheer and applaud.
Such a great rush. Sadly no photo
though. I was on the other side of the
main photographer and Fatima teased me saying I went too quick for her to catch
a shot. Oh well. You see David killing it below. He also got lots of cheers. That’s right folks – not many were making
it! Taylor made a great effort and you
see he has no regrets – that’s a smile of a winner!
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| Killin it! |
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| I swear this is what I looked like too! |
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| Valiant effort by Taylor but as you see above - all laughs! |
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| Love this shot! |
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| Go D! |
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| Go Shawn! |
Next – “Antigravity” another favorite. There were tramploines that you jumped down
on then it sprung you to a wall with cargo rope. You looked like bugs or something splatting
up against the wall. It was hilarious
and super fun! Loved this one!
Before I move along I must share the raddest picture of D. BAM!
Before I move along I must share the raddest picture of D. BAM!
Next’ – “Slippery Slope”. Now.
Here was my one major injury.
Luckily it was near the end. So
basically – there’s a wall set up sort of like a skateboard ramp. You just run like hell towards it and
up. If you’re a fucking ninja you can
maybe get to the top with no help. If
you’re like 95% of the rest of population you hope to get high enough that the
group of people at the top grab your hands/arms as you leap up. Only David and I attempted it. As we got up there Danelle had already
finished and called us over to advise to make sure you run and keep your hands
up in the air. Cool. Away I went.
Up I leaped. The two guys grabbed
my hands. In a matter of probably 3
seconds. Left side dude lost grip. I slammed into the wall – wind knocked out of
me. Right side dude lost grip. Down I went.
I crumbled down at the bottom and it hurt to breathe.
I staggered off to the stairs (where you go
if you didn’t want to attempt the wall) and hobbled up. David tried a few times and eventually got
it. I unfortunately could not cheer him
on as I was trying to finish the last 2 parts of the race before my injury got
worse since I wasn’t quite sure what I did.
When I got to the top I paused briefly to get my wind back. Taylor, Lib and I climbed the final cargo
climb and then there’s a huge slide that’s the end of the race. We went down together and the pictures are
kind of sad because that’s not joy in my face, that’s pain! Ouch!
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| Ouch |
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| Whoohoo! |
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| I thought I was just happy! |
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| But no...I was hurting |
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| So sad. |
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| Love this picture too! Ha ha! |
We waited for Fatima/David and I tried to asses my
damage I was worried I broke a rib, but it looks like I had just bruised
it. Thank GAWD.
We finished together.
This race was set up nicely that there always
seemed to be a water obstacle after a mud one so we weren’t too bad at the
end. I opted not to rinse off since it
was getting chilly. We all found a table
in the beer garden, ate burgers and fries and funnel cake and chatted with this
hilarious woman who was getting drunk and headed out.
Stopped for the last group shot:
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| So proud of this one! |
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| Rugged Maniac 2014 Finishers |
And home we went.
Rugged Maniac is my favorite of the year by
far. I would love to try it full bore
and see how fast I do it. I think I
could do pretty well! I plan on picking
a race next year and pushing it full just to see how fast I can go. I love our party races and the Weeples are fun
but once I do want to test myself. We’ll
see. I plan on doing Rugged again next
year for sure! Such a great group this
race. We had an absolute blast
together! Taylor did so well! Libby rocked her 1st OCR and
Fatima and David as always did fantastic!
Good bye to another year of OCR fun!!!
Aroooo!!!!
