They don’t call it the ‘Race Built to Kick Your Ass‘ for nothin.
I came. I ran. I got my ass kicked.
It was AWESOME!
Wow. Wow is all I can say about the muddy course of obstacles I just went through. It freaking rocked!
I had the pleasure of enjoying a sneak preview of the Savage Race course a couple of months ago, but nothing fully prepared me for the craziness that is Savage Race. Sam and his team did a great job bringing everything together. I was just happy to be a part of it.
*disclaimer* I’ve been working with Savage Race on a few side projects. My race entry was comped, but all opinions are my own.
I had registered for the 11:00am wave – which I knew from past experience isn’t the best time slot weather wise (hello Florida heat and humidity!) – but makes sense when you have to drive an hour and a half to the race location. Sleeping in triumphs the heat when it comes to mud races.
I arrived 30 minutes before my wave and quickly found my way to the start line.
Savage Race Pros:
- Despite participating in one of the last waves, they still had small shirts – SCORE!
- The shirts are very soft and comfy
- Having friends at the Mix1 booth means having friends to hold your stuff (thanks Danielle!)
Savage Race Cons:
- $10 for parking
Sam had warned me ahead of time about this (and i know why they did it and fully support the decision), but paying for parking is never fun - The race entry fee was $$ and out of most my friends’ budgets, hence why I ran the race all by my lonesome.
No worries – the race rocked as an individual or a team. It’s easy to make friends during a mud run!
Each wave had about 500 people. Sounds like a lot, but it was the perfect number. I never got lonely on the course, but also never felt like I had to shove my way through people either.
Before shot of the shoes that would late come back and bite me in the butt. Worst. Idea. Ever.
At 11:00am on the dot we were off.
Not even a hundred yards in we were hit with our first obstacle: a quarter mile of straight up mud.
This is where I instantly regretted my choice in shoes. They became stuck in the mud not once, not twice, but THREE time before I finally dug them out with my hands and carried them the rest of the way out. Not cool shoes!
The ‘after’ (and this was only 5 minutes into the race!)
Tire Swings!
Ouch! Who knew swinging tires would be so painful?! I had to hold my arms up to protect my body and head. Barreling through seemed to be the only way to go – the slower you were, the more likely a tire was going to take you out!
Tire hopping. (or whatever you call it?)
It’s slip n’ slide time!
Ahhh…. the slip n’ slide was awesome, but I had trouble sliding my body down. It needed to be just a tad steeper or slicker to get the job done.
Once you clean up on the slip n’ slide, it’s time to get dirty again.
ewww…… this was a ‘natural mud pit.’ It’s best not to think about what’s living in there. 
The next obstacle was by far the HARDEST obstacle of the day.
There were girl sandbags (lighter) and there were boy sandbags (heavier). We were advised to select a bag and run a muddy portion of the course. I grabbed a bag from the ‘girl’ pile, but I swear it was a ‘guy’ bag. It was HEAVY.
I struggled through the entire loop, but was happy with what I accomplished in the end.
^Taking a self portrait with a heavy sandbag on my back is a new skill I learned I have. Running neighbors were impressed.^
Shout out the my Daddy!
My favorite obstacles were the 5 ft walls. I could do these all day. 
The big wall was a little more challenging.
Luckily there were fellow savages who were willing to lend a hand to boost others up.
Another short wall…
I was very impressed with the amount of water stops during the race. I counted 5 for the 3.2 mile course. They were needed an appreciated.
Also, impressed with how cold the water was (some cups even had ice!).
I was getting tired by the time we reached the bales of hay. I was surrounded by fellow walkers and we all took our time getting over them.
Over the wall…. under the barbed wire…
I heard rumors of the ‘big ass cargo net,’ but I hadn’t seen it in person yet.
The photos do not do this net justice – it was HIGH and a little scary to climb.
More. Mud.
This was when I noticed my FAVORITE polka dot sweaty band was missing. Sad face.
Lesson learned: don’t wear your favorite headband during a mud run. You will lose it.
Another high wall?!?! My arms are burning!
At least the view is nice.
Sand dune time.
And here’s where I decided to ditch the cheap shoes.
They were heavy, filled with mud, and giving me blisters. I saw dozens of other runners going barefoot and knew I could do it too. As soon as they were gone I felt an instant relief in my feet. Much, much, better.
The 150 meter swim was next.
The sun was so hot, the swim seemed like a little piece of heaven.
If you weren’t a swimmer, there was an option of burpees on dry land, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to cool off in the water. I wonder if I can count this as a training swim?
Mini cargo net.
A little less scarier than the big ass one.
Rope climb.
Harder than it looks. It took all my strength to lift my leg over to the other side once I made it to the top. I kept slipping down and saying naughty words in the process.
At this point I’m thinking “Where the heck is that darn finish line?!”
All we had left was a quick jump over fire. No biggie.
And a crawl in the mud.
They get you nice and dirty in preparation for the muddy.. I mean money shot at the end.
Done!!
It started raining right when I crossed the finish line, so I lost a lot of the precious mud in the end.
Lovely.
Before and After shots!
Minus one headband and one pair of shoes. Oops.
The race was AWESOME! Not even a mile in I was tired and – thanks to obstacle, after obstacle – I never got bored. I felt challenged, I felt inspired, and I felt muddy. Way to go Savage Race!!!
There were weak showers at the end to hose off with, but it turns out all I had to do it wait around 10 minutes for something better.
As soon as I started walking to my car it began POURING. It was like a monsoon with wind, lightening, thunder, etc. I felt bad for everyone still out on the course, but was glad I had finished when I did. One more wave back and I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish because of weather.
The rain washed off all the mud, but it prevented me from changing into my dry clothes (or risking them becoming soaked too!). Instead I put a towel on my seat and drove 30 minutes to the interstate, where I found a Five Guys to stop for lunch.
I had never had Five Guys before, but figured it was the best options out of the few fast food joints surrounding the interstate.
After (finally) changing my clothes, I ordered a veggie sandwich with fries.
Basically the sandwich was all the veggies they had with cheese on top. It wasn’t bad – just really greasy. I was looking for something warm and comforting and it hit the spot.
The fries were amazing. They were fresh cut and freshly fried. Much better than any other fast food fries I’ve ever had.
There was also a ton of them! Too bad fries grow stale so quickly, other wise I could have brought a whole meal of fries back to Derek.
Considering the crappy weather, I made it home in good time.
Time to relax and enjoy the rest of my Saturday.
{ 83 comments }
