Warrior Dash

[hoiballin33]

Running one of these in 2 weeks down in KC. Anyone ever done one of these? I'm part of the regular joe release times - not really looking to set a record or anything, just in it for the fun and mud.

Any advice? Stories? Was it fun? Did you train?

 

[CyinCo]

I do a lot of road races. Tried this once. It was OK. The obstacles are all pretty easy. I think Living History Farms is probably tougher and the obstacles are all natural. Personally, I'll stick with road races.

I haven't done Tough Mudder before but that sound like much more of a test than Warrior Dash.

 

[hoiballin33]

Everything that I've heard says there's a lot of hurry up and wait. Run a half mile, wait at an obstacle, run another mile, wait, etc. Might be an ok thing though because I'll be sucking wind hardcore.

 

[mj4cy]

If they're smart they'll stagger your starts out well. I did it back in 2013 near Van Meter. The obstacles weren't too hard but for me running the hills kicked my butt. I grew up a strong/compact sprinter. Not made for running distances.

I had trained myself up to being able to do 4 miles, but I didn't train on hills and should have trained more on running on grass and not paths.

It's a cool atmosphere and the mud at the end is a lot of fun. Something different and worth trying for sure. Good luck!

 

[ClonesFTW]

I did one in Earlham just west of Des Moines a couple years ago. I don't think Iowa had one last summer or I would have done it again.

Pricey, but it was definitely a good time. Had a band playing and beer flowing for everyone after the run. Your scheduled time did not matter, people who were scheduled at 1pm were running at 9am. We finished around the 50 minute mark which was slightly better than average time, but we were just out there for a good time.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

I think I'm going to do the titan mob run this year. It's a long ways out (August 20th) but if you register now it's only $45. I've done plenty of running events (numerous 5k, a few half marathons) but nothing like this yet.

http://titan-mob.com/

 

[isufbcurt]

Shameless Plug: My wife works for Girl Scouts of Central IA and puts on this run in September.

http://www.girlscoutsiowa.org/en/events-repository/2016/gimme_s_more_mud_run.html

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Everything that I've heard says there's a lot of hurry up and wait. Run a half mile, wait at an obstacle, run another mile, wait, etc. Might be an ok thing though because I'll be sucking wind hardcore.

I've done the Rugged Maniac (5K mud obstacle course) here in KC three times and the hurry up and wait thing is by far my biggest gripe. There were 10-15 minute waits at several of the obstacles and it took a lot of the challenge-fun part out of it. The first one was great because very few people knew about it. Popularity is great for the organizers, but it took some of the appeal from the competitors.

As far as training, yes, you'll want to train. Since it's only two weeks away, you're not going to improve much, but any little bit will help. It's going to be in the 80's here this weekend, so just start hydrating now to get yourself ready for that.

The best thing about these runs is the people. I never really encountered anyone that wasn't having a good time. Hopefully you are going with another person or a group. My last time out, my friend got sick the morning of the event and I ran by myself and it takes about 95% of the fun away from it. Like I said, the other runners were cool, but try to stick with someone else, especially if you're not doing it for time.

If this is your first mud run, a few tips. Don't wear anything you might want to ever wear again. I've torn a shirt and snagged my shorts on rocks crawling through some of the obstacles. Bring towels, a bag for your dirty clothes and extra clothes. If you can, bring extra water to wash off once you get back to the car. The showers do a good job taking care of most of it, but you still walk through mud on your trip to the parking lot.

For the course itself, once your shoes get caked with mud, it feels like you're running with 5lb weights on each leg. It's worth it to take an extra second to knock off some of that mud if you have the opportunity.

Let me know how it goes. I've considered doing the Warrior Dash, but haven't done that one yet. I'm curious to hear how the obstacles compare/differ.

 

[isu_oak]

Shameless Plug: My wife works for Girl Scouts of Central IA and puts on this run in September.

http://www.girlscoutsiowa.org/en/events-repository/2016/gimme_s_more_mud_run.html

That mini course looked like fun for my kids, until I saw the 24th is a home game weekend. Maybe if it's a night game there will be time to head over there and give it a shot.

 

[isufbcurt]

That mini course looked like fun for my kids, until I saw the 24th is a home game weekend. Maybe if it's a night game there will be time to head over there and give it a shot.

Yeah she's hoping it is a night game.

She came up with the idea late last summer and had to rush to get the 2015 version in. For the 2016 version she had to pick that weekend before the football schedule came out and was pretty upset there was a home game. But here's to hoping it's a night game.

 

[Skidoosh]

I've ran a warrior dash and a tough mudder - in my experience the warrior dash had more challenging obstacles because A) people treat the dash as a race so few if any people help people help each other on obstacles and B) shorter distance means you typically run faster which tires you out quicker.

Best advice would be go to a local park and hit the monkey bars, upper body strength and grip strength are your friend. But honestly, you could complete the coarse with no training, just be prepared to be lapped by the runners from the group behind you.