Warrior Dash World Championship 2015 Review

I feel like a Warrior 

First of all, since signing up for the Warrior Dash Tennessee event last spring, I really received the royal treatment from the good folks at Warrior Dash, Redfrogevents.com, and St. Jude's. I initially signed up for the 9am competitive heat, but soon qualified for the 2015 Warrior Dash World Championships at the Savage Race Georgia spring 2015 event. I won in the old geezer age group and qualified for the OCR World Championships and the 2015 Warrior Dash World Championships. Having explained to the good folks at Red Frog Events, they instructed me how to register for the championships and refunded my initial registration. St. Jude's kept me up to date with fund raising challenges, and Warrior Dash provided some great incentives for the elite heat.

Biiiiig hill

The WDWC Pulaski venue is only 40 miles from my house, so I joined the group on a pre-briefing and obstacle walk through the evening prior. I enjoyed meeting champions from around the world, sharing smiles, and pointers on how best to tackle and negotiate the obstacles. These elite racers were very friendly and interactive and I was glad to have had the opportunity to speak with as many as I could that evening. I recognized a lot of faces from the Warrior Dash Facebook pages. Walking the course was helpful and a psych at the same time. The hills were incredibly long and steep. My impression of the obstacles was "this is not your mother's Warrior Dash". This was something more challenging and demanding that the Tuscaloosa Warrior Dash that I had attended almost two years ago. This event really brought it.

I drove home that night thinking about how I would put my preparation to test and wondering how I would compare against these fantastically fit world class athletes.

After a good night's sleep (8:30 lights out), I woke up at 5:00 am, ate oatmeal and a banana and stretched for a long time. I drove an hour and arrived at the event. Yep, the parking was still less than a 1/4 mile from the venue and not just a dream. The pre-registration, membership to the St. Jude's booth, bag storage, and showers made the race transition flawless. I got settled in, warmed up on the Warrior Dash hangout rings, stretched, and ran. The pre-race prep included the many and well maintained port a johns, water, and other sundries. Soon it was time for the 7:45 briefing and 8:00 start, huaaah!

On the way up I had a chance to greet Yuri Force and his family. There were others that I didn't know, but got to learn a little about. Lots of champions there, but I had recognized Yuri from the Savage Race where he kicked butt. I also saw the Batman, a Viking, and the Tie Guy; I was in great company.

Goliath, the only place to rest

I settled into the middle rear of the pack and waited for the countdown. At 8:00 am, we were off. My middle of the pack suddenly turned into almost dead last as the group took off at a very fast straight up hill pace. I kept my pace which soon allowed me to pass many folks and get closer to the front as the race progressed. Our championship route was about 4.1 miles and we took an immediate left, ran down and up another steep hill. I focused on running hard and resting during the obstacles. I am pretty fit obstacle wise as I incorporate a lot of strength and obstacle training into my workouts. Soon I was back to the middle front of the group.

The mid race shower was cool

I scurried up, through, and over obstacles such as the four sets of mud mounds, Diesel Dome, Alcatraz, Goliath, Deadman's Drop, Giant Cliff Hanger, and more. I won't talk too much about them here, other than they were tough, challenging, safe, and fun. I do have to reiterate that this was the toughest Warrior Dash event in my personal experience. I'll be sharing more about the obstacles during my daily workout as I try to improvise and incorporate similar exercises in my training. Ok, there was one surprise at the second to last obstacle. It felt like quicksand and I was stuck for a good long time. The smarter and more experienced racers practically leapt over the trench, but I jumped right in the middle of the muck. I heard the spectator's laughter as they cheered those to "leap over" the trench. I watched as those who I had passed on the run, were now effortlessly passing me; helplessly stuck. Oh well, it was almost the end, but I wasn't done. I accepted that I was stuck, put on a big smile, took a deep breath, and rose to the challenge of clawing my way out. I immediately reflected on the image of an insect trying to free itself of fly paper.

Stuck

Eventually I made it out (did I tell you I was really stuck) and accepted my WWDC 2015 finisher's medal. I entered the, at the time, fully pressured and pristine Warrior Showers. Once semi-clean, I made my way to St. Jude's for a hot shower. Once fully clean I made my way to the festivities and to cheer fellow athletes on in the later heats. I met a few great WDWC racers and spent a great part of the morning meeting new people. At some point Hobbie Call stopped by to say hi and talk with us for a while. I saw in the audience that he had some fans. Their eyes lit up and they came by to introduce themselves and take pictures. He graciously and enthusiastically greeted all and posed for pictures. On my way out I entered a chin up competition. I finished with 23, in the lead, but didn't think it would last long.

As a bonus of being in an earlier heat, I got to eat the famous drumstick. The last time I tried, they had sold out by the time my later heat was finished. I soon left, feeling both satisfied, motivated, and tired.

Friends I met at the post race party

Thanks for a great time Warrior Dash.

US Army Physical Readiness