As many of you know, the past year and a half have been a series of "firsts" for me. For the first time in my life I am healthy enough to participate in the fun rather than simply watching it from the sideline.
This "first" was an obstacle course 5k race with my hubby! If I had to have one negative....it would be package pickup for the event. Package pickup prior to the race was required or there would be a 5.00 fee to pick the package up on the day of the race. I cannot recall any other event that charged a fee for race day package pickup. The real bummer with going to the pre-race package pickup site was that it was located in far north Austin, no where near the race location or me! It was inconvenient....but definitely not a deal breaker!
The race was sent in waves.....our wave was 1:00pm. Did I mention it is Texas? Haha.....early September in Texas still means the dead heat of summer! I was prepared for the heat, we hydrated well and dressed appropriately! I think the temperature at 1:00 on Saturday was hovering between 97-100 degrees! There was a DJ that encouraged us to perform a few ridiculous dance moves prior to our wave starting the course! There was also a costume contest....Here are a few pictures of the entries!
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| Still do not understand this guy's look! |
The first obstacle was called the Concree-stadores, we climbed over multiple barriers. This was a great first obstacle because it really slowed people up and thinned out the crowd at the start!
Next up were the Gorilla Bars....monkey bars on steroids with a couple of actual gorillas in the middle of it bouncing around in a foamy, wet bouncy pit! This one was harder than the first one. I made it across a couple of the bars before I fell in the foam and was bounced out of the pit by the gorillas!
After that foamy mess we made our way through some more of the 5k course until we got to the Tire Mile. This obstacle looked easy enough.....but if you actually do it fast like it should be done, it is challenging. I went at a fairly slow pace, but fast enough to scare myself a couple of times....thought I might wipe out, but I didn't!
After the walls we found ourselves navigating through more of the 5k course and past an obstacle called "Cool Runnings" which involved tubes! It looked super fun, but we had to get through quite a bit of the 5k course to get to the point where we picked up our tubes and headed back to the entrance for the obstacle.....which was basically a slip and slide for grown-up with tubes. I could have done this the rest of the afternoon!
After cool runnings we found our way to the next water station, by this time the heat didn't seem so bad, probably because we were drenched from the tube ride! Shortly past that we found the next obstacle, The Belly Flop Drop! The picture shows the fun side of this obstacle......the difficult part was climbing the rope to get to the top so that you could do the Belly Flop Drop! My arms are still sore!
At this point we were more than half way through the course. We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Visiting with people through the course, watching the costumed silliness all around us, it was a really great time! We were coming up on the next obstacle, The Tarzan Swing. Let me tell you, this one was scary! I told my hubby that I would do it first so that I could take his picture on the other side.....I climbed to the top of the platform and looked down.....it was high and underneath was water and mud....the goal was to use a rope, swinging across to the other side....so that the mud and water were avoided! Standing up there looking down, I started to doubt myself. I told my hubby to come up and see what it was.....he got up there and I told him to go first. He did it with ease. I am still on the platform with two other women....all of us wary of this challenge. One of the women decides to climb back down the stairs and go around the obstacle. The other lady and I look at each other and we were not going to quit. We decided to go together (there were multiple ropes) So on the count of three.....we went.....I got to the other side but could not get my footing and I fell backwards, HARD! I think I gave myself whiplash....the girl who had gone around the challenge was there asking if I'm ok. I got up and told her that she was the reason I decided to go.....I was not going to quit! Yes, my head and neck still hurt, but you know what.....it would be far more painful to sit here and know that I had not tried it!
Whew, after that one I was ready for an easy obstacle! Yay, the next one was super easy, the Aqua Drag....basically just a giant inflatable mattress with a small water pit at the end. A simple slide across and through the water and it was over! Of course my hubby thrust himself across it, head first into the water....wish I had gotten a picture of him doing it!
After that one, we continued across the course, my head still pounding from the Tarzan Swing. We found ourselves staring at the next obstacle, The Tight Rope Traverse. This one looked scary, probably because I was still traumatized from the last obstacle involving a rope and heights, haha! I thought about going around it, I really did.....but no way was I quitting on any of them! I went super slow and steady.....and guess what....I did it! I didn't fall....and I didn't quit! My hubby and a few other people were cheering me on, that was so sweet!
At this point the end was in sight! We continued through the 5k course.....a couple of the girls we had been pacing.....they cheated.....took a shortcut to the next obstacle! Not us, we followed the course and made it to the Wrecking Balls shortly after the cheaters! This one looked like it was straight out of the show, Wipeout! The goal was to make it across without the wrecking ball knocking you off and into the water pit below. My hubby went first.....I got a picture of him....just as he was going down! Classic! After that, I went.....about 4 steps in....I went down! Totally soaked now!
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| And he is DOWN! (Sorry, honey, but this is a great shot! | ) |
So close to the end.....only one more obstacle, The World's Largest Inflatable Slide. Ahhhh, the final challenge, the ultimate obstacle! This one looked like it would be so much fun and it did not disappoint! We climbed all the way to the top and slid down together! It was AWESOME!
So there we were, finished! It was so exhausting and so exhilarating at the same time! It was hard to believe it was over! We stood in line to take our picture at the end....totally worth the photo op! I am 46 years old. I have been overweight my whole adult life! I sat on the sidelines of life for far too long. So happy to be particpating instead of watching from the sidelines! To the ROC race, thank you so much for this experience. To my readers......go live life....it is time to stop watching it from the sidelines!
