You may have heard of the obstacle course races out there that are becoming so popular.  I'm not much of a runner and really never plan on being one, but I don't mind doing the occasionally 5K/10K.  I have done a few obstacle courses in the past, but not since the birth of the Spartan Run, Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, and other crazy races.

The opportunity came up to give the Spartan Run a try, so Emily and I decided to give it a shot.  I have to admit that I was not looking forward to this at all.  Partially due to that fact that I ran only 1 day to train for this race.  But also, I was not looking forward to getting dirty and muddy.  I guess I am just a pretty boy and don't want to get my hands dirty.

I have to admit though it was pretty fun.  I don't enjoy just running, but it was fun to break it up with a few obstacles.  The challenges were hard but not unbearable.  There were only two obstacles that I failed to complete and one that Emily and I decided to skip since the wait was so long for it.  So as penalty we had to perform 80 burpees.  I really don't mind burpees but 80 is pretty much ridiculous.

The race included obstacles like running through muddy water, jumping over/under walls, flipping tires, carrying sand bags up hills, rock climbing-like walls, crawling through mud under barbed wire, rope pulls, rope climbs, spear throws, and probably a few more that I can't remember.  Oh and of course climbing over mud hills and sliding into pools of freezing cold, muddy water.  At the end of the hills you then have to completely submerge under a wall, just to make sure you got muddy from head-to-toe.

It sounds as crazy as it was, but we would both most likely do it again.  It definitely beats the average 5K run.  Below are some pics of us going through a few of the obstacles.