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Health & Fitness

Patch Blogs: I Am a Warrior

Are you a Warrior? I am now and can't wait to be again. Check out an account of the craziest race I have run so far (and actually want to run again).

Several months ago, at the request of a friend who wanted to do something "special" for her birthday, I entered the Warrior Dash, which took place June 4 and 5 in Logan, OH.

What I signed up for was a 5K run with a few obstacles thrown in. What I got was a crazy, uphill most of the way, muddy, wall climbing, absolutely insane, water pit swimming, tire dodging, junkyard jumping, muddy, laughter inducing, balance beam walking, rope ladder scrambling (and did I mention muddy?) event to remember.

The Warrior Dash took place Saturday and Sunday and our group went with a Sunday time slot. Saturday night there were severe thunderstorms in the Hocking Hills area and so by Sunday, the course was an even muddier mess. We spent what felt like at least half of the course trying our best to climb muddy hills that went on and on and on. 

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The rest of the course was then sliding down those hills, a good deal of the time on our bottoms. Thrown in at every flat spot you could find and sometimes right in the middle of those darned hills were those crazy obstacles that had us laughing, yelping, screeching, groaning and having a blast.

We went into the race with absolutely no regard for our finish time. Most races you go in with a pace in mind and a goal for your finish time — but not this race. There were times when I found myself in front of my group or behind my group but we always got back together with a battle cry of "leave no warrior behind." I did not want to leave the group because I thought there might be times when I would need help and I wanted someone around me who I knew I could count on. 

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Turns out, I didn't have to worry about getting help when I needed it. This was the most polite group of warriors you could ever find. There was a spirit of camaraderie and respect for your fellow dashers. When I couldn't get over a car in the junk yard, there was the hand of a stranger there to help me. When another couldn't figure out how to get over a particularly high and difficult wall, I stopped at the top to help her conquer her fear of heights. Time just didn't matter and it was refreshing and nice. We were in this together to have fun, test our limits, and just get muddy (in places I never knew I could get mud!). I did not think I would like extreme racing but come to find out, I really do.

At one point during the race, as I was climbing through the cab of a truck, I yelled to my friend that next year, I was planning her birthday. Come to find out, the next Warrior Dash in Ohio is my birthday weekend in Carrollton and guess what we are going to be doing!

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