Warrior Dash 2013

The 2013 Warriors

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @mycents on Twitter

In mid 2012 I decided I wanted to do something more than just a typical 5K race. Some of my fraternity brothers invited me to join them in the Warrior Dash.  It's a 5K, but with about 8 or 9 obstacles thrown into the course.  I did it last year and loved it, so naturally I wanted to return in 2013.

I expected the course to be the same or at least similar to last year, but much to my surprise, there were several different, and in my opinion more challenging obstacles.  Probably the most difficult was the muddy hills.  I don't know what the actual obstacle name is, but you start in a pit of muddy water and have to climb a hill of mud.  The process repeats three or four times.  But it's pretty much impossible (at least for an old balls like me) to make it up these hills without help. That's where the brotherhood of Sigma Nu kicked in.  My brothers helped me and my wife get up and over those hills. This was Lisa's first Warrior Dash and she was the only girl in our group.  I'm proud that she got out there and did it.

The rope wall

In addition to climbing the mud hills, there were also monkey bars to conquer over a small trench of water.  There was a new net wall this year that you had to go across instead of over.  There were walls to climb, trenches to crawl through, and fire to hop over.  The event ends with the pool of mud with barbed wire strung across the top.  This is where you truly get down and dirty, and just like last year,  I lost my footing and fell climbing out of the mud and the muck.  Lisa and I held hands as we crossed the finish line, proud of what we'd accomplished.

The medal

Volunteers stood at the finish line and put our medals around our necks.  This year's doubles as a bottle opener.  After spraying off with the hose and changing into a clean set of clothes, we toasted each other with the complementary beer.  It was a great day, and even better we were helping a good cause in St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

I ran the race this year with a WingMan HD camera strapped to my forehead.  I'm sure I looked like a fool, but I think I got some great footage.  Check it out.