Packet pickup was at REI on Saturday and went very smoothly--well-staffed and friendly people got us in and out in about 7 minutes even though there were probably 50 people there when we arrived. The "one free beer at the Dark Horse" certificate was a nice touch. For non-Boulderites, the Dark Horse is a bar in south Boulder with a lot of video games, pool tables, air hockey, and such, so it's a popular family hangout on weekend afternoons. The bug had a great time walking around the air hockey table, which was blacklit so glowed in the "dark."
Oddly enough, the information packet we picked up contained no race information. No starting schedule, no directions to the race site, no course map, no parking suggestions, nothing. Much of this info was contained on the website somewhere, but usually one expects an info packet to contain, well, race info.
Sunday morning we arrived at the Boulder Reservoir, bug in tow, just after 7 a.m. We had to pay for parking (this should have been included in the race fee in my opinion) but got a nice spot close to the end of the course. Shortly after arrival we discovered our race wave didn't start until 8:54 a.m., so we would be standing around for two hours with the bug before the race even began. Wave start information would have been helpful to a lot of people, as there were amazing numbers of small children hanging out with their parents at this event and they were getting pretty cranky as the morning progressed. There was a "Mini Muddy Buddy" event for kids from 4-12, but the bug was still a bit young. In a few years she won't have to watch.
Once the race started, the course was great and things went pretty fast. I wish I had pictures of all the obstacles, but I'll do my best to describe each one.
The way the race worked was that Matt started out on the bike and rode the first 1.1 miles, then left me the bike after the first obstacle and started running the second leg. I ran the first 1.1 miles, then rode the next leg, and so forth. In total, I ran three legs and biked two, while Matt did the reverse. Each of us had to do all the obstacles, too.
The first obstacle was a balance beam, probably about 20 yds. long. It was a piece of cake. The second obstacle was a pirate-style rope climbing net about 10 ft. high. After this obstacle, the bike rider had to carry the bike through a waist-deep section of the reservoir. (I got lucky, Matt was riding/ carrying on that leg!)
The third obstacle was a climb where you had to be able to pull yourself over a wall ledge that was about 5 ft. off the ground. This one seemed a little unfair to the very short women, and I saw a few who took a couple tries and then just skipped the obstacle. Can't blame them.
The fourth obstacle was my favorite. It was a huge inflatable climbing wall with a rope net, probably about 25 ft. in the air, and then a big slide down the other side. The final obstacle just before the finish line was a mud pit about 25 yds. long and about 2 ft. deep that people had to go through on their bellies. Thus, our finishing picture:
We got fairly slimy along the way, but that was pretty much the point of the event, so it was a big success! Special thanks to Niall who supervised the bug while we circled the course. Here's a picture he took of our biggest fan, getting cranky in the sunshine:
We all cleaned off by jumping in the Reservoir at the end of the race, bug in tow, and she loved the wading in the sand part, so the day ended happily for all.
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