The Dirty Dash

Today I got dirty. Real Dirty. I raced in the 5k Dirty Dash with 8 other people on my team. Team Commando.

I first heard about the Dirty Dash last year. They had one in September and I really wanted to sign up and do it, however... I was in India. So Obviously that didn't happen. I knew they would be doing another one, so I had been waiting since then to do it. I am actually glad that I waited... because the one in September was a 10k and I am glad I did the 5k. A little over 3 miles is enough for me to be stomping through the mud and going through obstacles and up and down hills.

Since you are in teams... and it is all for fun and just getting dirty (you are not even really timed) people dress up as a team. We were trying to think of what we should dress up as... so a few of us went to the thrift store the night before to see if we could find something. My idea was to have camo shorts and black shirts. We cleaned out the thrift store of their camo and found something for everyone amazingly enough. We also decided to do some face paint too... to snazz things up a bit. So when we first got there... we put on our face paint while getting pumped up and took some before pictures. You need before pictures... because everyone knows you are NOT going to be coming back looking the same.

We walked down to where the race started. The race was held at Soldier Hollow (where my co-workers and I went tubing) and everyone started the race at different times. So people were running the course all day long. Our team's time to run was at 3:20 pm. I was glad for this because it was a warmer part of the day and with all the mud and water... you want all the heat you can get. So we got there just in time to start the race. The beginning was all up hill in the mud. After that... you run a bit and then throughout the run you go through the obstacles that you see below on the map. There was one part where you are just walking through this deep thick mud. The kind that you can loose your shoes in (and some people did). As I was walking through it, I thought of the "Never Ending Story" when he is walking through the swamp of sadness. I wanted to yell out "ARTAX!!" but when I mentioned my thoughts to those around me, they all looked at me like I was a weirdo. Oh well.

No matter what pace everyone run's the race, towards the end of the race, you have to wait for the rest of your team and go down the water slide as a team. Me and two other girls were at the end of the train of our team. Then we all got into a mud fight and  went down the water slide together.

Then it was back into a big mud-pit and another mud fight before crossing the finish line.

Here is our after picture.

The worst part of the whole race was rinsing off in the showers after. Seriously... I am pretty sure that water was coming straight from the melting snow off of the mountains. It was brain freezing cold!

After the race is over, your shoes get pretty nasty... not that they won't wash out... but in case you don't want to take them, they have a program where you can leave your shoes, they will clean them and send them to Africa. I thought that was awesome, so I donated my shoes.

The race was fun. SO glad I did it... and with such a fun group too. Got to know some awesome new people AND I always love to get dirty. The only downfall to the whole thing is that I was a little sick when doing the race, so not only did it make running a little harder, I think it made me more sick. I had just waited SO long I couldn't pass it up. I didn't want to wait until September... plus, I will probably be gone again for it anyway. So... in the end, it was worth it.