Saturday morning we packed up the van and the kids and ventured out to Gilboa, NY, a tiny town in the Catskills, for the Warrior Dash.
It was about a 2:30 minute drive from our home, so we made a whole day of it. Laurel joined us the night before and we went to Tanglewood for a picnic and beautiful music.
We were signed up for the 12:30 wave, so wanted to be on site about an hour ahead of time (thinking that would give us plenty of time for packet pickup, pictures, and potties). We had done a Warrior Dash two years ago in Connecticut, so thought we knew what we were getting into.
We made it out the door by 9am. Go us! A quick trip through Dunkin Donuts (because we are good New Englanders like that!) and we were on our way. The ride was fairly uneventful. A few potty breaks and opportunities for the kiddos to get out of the car. Once we were in NY and off the highway, the drive was really beautiful... long windy roads and plenty of green.
Pre-Race:
We got to the parking area ($10 fee) which was basically a huge field on a goat farm. Parking was a bit confusing since it was really crowded. We made our way from the parking to the campground where the race was being held. The path to the race was already very muddy. I'm glad we had the Bob double jogging stroller because there is no way a regular stroller would have made it down there. It was muddy with deep grooves that made walking treacherous, nevermind pushing a stroller. The walk gave us an opportunity to see some of the race and the obstacles. The race was well underway when we got there, we saw plenty of wet muddy people walk past us back to the parking lot.
We got to the main field where the bulk of the event was set up and were a bit overwhelmed by the crowd. It was full of crazy, manic energy.
Packet Pickup:
When we first got on site it was unclear where we were supposed to go, and it wasn't particularly well marked. It was so crowded it was hard to tell what was going on. There was a giant line snaking its way through the field, which we soon realized was the packet pickup line. Yikes! So we got in line, it was about 11:30am. Ian and Michelle took the kids to find some shade. The line was so long. Luckily, Laurel and I were able to strike up a fun conversation with a group of women in line behind us and it helped make the time go by. It was also really sunny and completely out in the open so it got quite hot. It felt like we were in line forever. Everyone in line around us was worrying that they wouldn't get to their wave in time. It was somewhere around 12:15 when we got near the front of the line, which was chaotic. We just kept pushing our way forward until we made it up to the table. We got our bibs, tshirts, and fuzzy helmets.
No timing chips!
I was really disappointed that the race was no longer timed. I wanted to be able to compare my times to other obstacle races and to my age group. I feel like with the comparatively high cost of this race it really should be timed.
By the time we got our packet we had about 5 minutes before our wave, but since it wasn't timed it didn't actually matter. I took some time to feed the bean, and use the potty. Then we headed to the either the 12:45 or 1:00pm wave- I don't know because I didn't see a clock anywhere near the start.
The Race:
The energy before the wave started was pretty fun. We saw our line buddies again. Pretty soon we were off and running. We began with a pretty long amount of just running on nice wide trails and into the woods. It seemed to take quite some time before we hit an obstacle. I don't remember the exact order of obstacles but I will try my best. There was a steep downhill in the woods with wooden steps and ropes to go down and then I think there were trenches to crawl through. Pretty easy. The beginning of the race was a lot of just running, but it was through a gorgeous campground. There were also lots of people staying at the campground out cheering people on. There was another crawl under things type obstacle and a series of walls to climb over. Nothing too challenging. I do have a height and leg length advantage. There was another wall climb with a pretty big drop to the ground on the other side, quite a few people froze on top and quit this one. Then there was a bit of uphill running in the woods. It was pretty crowded and we did find ourselves stuck a few times, either on narrow trails behind people who were walking, or waiting in line for an obstacle. Before we knew it we hit a sign that said two miles! It didn't seem like we had done much yet, so we figured that the obstacles were going to be pretty stacked towards the end. There was a long uphill, then we turned the corner and we were at the last series of obstacles. First there was a wooden dome like structure to climb over. I didn't find it difficult except for the fact that the woman in front of me was a bit scared of the height and kind of froze at the top- so I again felt stuck.
The next obstacle was the one I wish I had just skipped. There was a big wall of mud that dropped off into a mud pit that was about waist deep with another big wall of mud to climb out of on the other side. It was gross and so churned up by the thousands of people who had already gone through. The mud was goupy and thick up to your knees- it didn't feel solid anywhere. I was worried for my ankles. Then there was muddy water up to my chest. The number of people who had already gone through had worn the sides of the pit so smooth that there was nothing to grab onto or stick your feet on. I stopped having fun and started panicking about how the f**k I was going to get out. I also didn't notice a race official or a volunteer near this, which made me feel uneasy. Finally a nice guy offered to boost me up with his hands and some people who had already gotten out gave me their hands to grab and I was able to pull myself out. Laurel was still stuck in the pit. She was awesome, helping to boost people out. I was there as a hand to grab for many people... men and women. Eventually Laurel was able to get a boost from below and grab my hands and she broke free from the hellish mud pit. ugh.
We collected ourselves and headed to the next obstacle, which was an A-frame climb. There was a line to get on it, which was good because it gave me a chance for my hands to dry and to get some of the mud out of my shoes. This was the obstacle I couldn't do last time so I was feeling nervous, but I knew I was in much better shape than the last time I tried. I watched quite a few people struggle as I waited in line. Finally it was my turn. It was tough, but I made it up without too much trouble. I sat on the top and waited for Laurel to see if I could help her get over. She made a great effort, but couldn't quite get it, Again, this is a place where I have an advantage simply due to my height.
The next obstacle was a pretty wimpy leap over some fire. I remember it being a much bigger deal last time... this was just one jump. I think last time we did it there were three lines of fire in a row. Meh. It looks cool but was no big deal.
The next to last obstacle was a new one that was actually pretty cool. It was called the Goliath. It was a cargo net climb, followed by a balance beam about 10-15 feet above a pit of water, followed by a ladder to a platform with a slide into a deep pit of muddy water. It wasn't hard, but it looked cool and was really fun.
Once we were out of the muddy water pit (which was fun, but also cold and kinda gross), the final obstacle was the muddy crawl under barbed wire and cargo nets to the finish. Not hard, just long and kinda gross. I was actually pretty disappointed with the finish line. It felt anti-climatic. The layout of the course wasn't conductive to cheering spectators so I didn't get that super pumped up excited feeling. When we did it in CT the end felt like a bigger deal. The medals were pretty cool. They have a built in bottle opener.
Post Race:
We met up with Ian who had been taking pictures, and found Michelle and the kids, who were definitely ready to go. There was not enough stuff to do besides drink beer. There was music but the festival atmosphere was mostly just drinking, so not the best for kids. I was disappointed, I felt like there was more to do when we did it in CT. There was definitely more shade, more places to sit, and more opportunity to watch the actual race at the last Warrior Dash we did. Laurel and I made our way to the wash-off area, where we were greeted with yet another long line. Again we were able to strike up a good conversation with the people behind us. The wash-off station was a couple of tank trucks and a couple guys with hoses. There were also two guys (who were reasonably clean so I don't think they raced) with their phones out taking pictures and recording people as they got rinsed off. It felt super sleazy and uncomfortable. I rinsed off as best as I could under the circumstances.
We grabbed our IDs and got our free beer. Shock-Top, which was an improvement over the Miller lite we got last time. We headed out as we finished our beer.
Once back to the car we changed out of our muddy wet clothes and climbed back into the van for the long drive home. We used Find Me Gluten Free to discover an awesome BBQ place, American Glory, for dinner in Hudson NY. Everything was delicious.
Once home, my shower felt so good.
Overall Impression: Meh.
I did have a good time, but I will have to think hard before doing another Warrior Dash. I had such a blast at the first one and I think they have gone downhill rather than improving. The whole event felt really cash-grabby. The reg fee was high for an event of this type and then once you got onsite you still had to pay for everything but your one free beer. No post race snacks that I could find- just overpriced fake turkey legs.
There was not enough for spectators to do, and especially not enough for kids to do.
The lines were way too long and chaotic. It should not take an hour to go through packet-pickup.
The obstacles were not spread out well. The first two miles had barely any obstacles, everything was backloaded, which meant lines at the obstacles.
No timing chips was a major disappointment. I thought about maybe signing up for the "competitive wave" if I did another, but a quick google search told me even that wave didn't have timing chips. If I'm spending $60 a race, I expect it to be timed. I think the lack of timing also meant that people didn't care about how fast they were going. I want to race- to challenge myself and got a little frustrated with how often I was stuck behind people walking really slowly or got stuck waiting to get on an obstacle.
I didn't see many race officials or volunteers on the course. I'm sure they were around, but I would have liked to see a bigger presence at some of the obstacles- especially that stupid mudpit. Just in case.
However, the other participants were friendly, supportive, and everyone seemed to be having fun. Most people were more than willing to help you out. The community feel is great.
All in all though, I think the Merrill Down and Dirty race we did last month was a much better example of an obstacle course race, and I will probably choose that over the Warrior Dash in the future.
But it is hard to resist the fuzzy helmet ;)
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