The Country Miles -- ~4 miles of
running up and down hills, over weeds, bushes, and some blackberry bushes
that grabbed every once in awhile
The Slalom -- Ran up a steep
hill, then proceeded to zig zag up and down 7 more times -- I was ready to
go back and kick the sadistic SOB's arse who came up with this part.
This was the toughest part of the race for me, and nobody was running
uphill after the 3rd time up ... Holy sheepshit was that hard !
Hay Bales & Low Nets -- This
was a mile section where you would cross the cold stream, jump over 4-5 foot
round haybales, then immediately under 50 feet or so of netting strung 3-4
feet off the ground. Doesn't
sound too hard right -- except that the net was just low enough to make you
bend over and crouch while running, so it burned your back and quads at the
same time -- and the trivial fact that there was about 10 of these SOB's ...
Jungle Obstacles - Run through
bushes and more stream crossings anywhere from waist to chest deep for
another mile
Tiger & High Leopard - Big
sloping nets -- climbed up 30 feet, then back down 30 feet, successively.
Finally after the above 6 miles you were onto "The Killing Fields"
where the spectators got to laugh at your pain ...
Colditz Walls -- 8-15 foot walls
that got successively higher, I believe there were about 8 of these, but
lost count after awhile
The Behemoth -- Giant inverted V
made of logs about 3-4 feet apart -- you climb up logs, then tightrope down
a sloping rope -- saw one guy fall about 15 feet onto his back on tires --
he wasn't moving when we ran by, he may get a refund.
JellyFish Pits -- In between the
inverted V obstacles above was a 30 foot section of hanging wires that were
charged up (they said enough to stop 2 full size bulls).
So I'm running through this wet, and managed to miss all but one wire
-- it zapped like sticking your finger into a light socket and I immediately
got rigormortis and screamed out like a little girl -- freaking hurt !!
Fiery Holes -- After another
chest deep freezing river crossing, we ran through piles of Hay set on fire
with oil ... a little singing hair, but we were wet, so no major burns --
not as bad as it sounds, mainly for looks and trying to choke you with thick
black smoke midway thru the run.
Tyre Crawl -- Tunnels made of old
truck tires -- couldn't crawl through them, had to drag yourself thru on
forearms and shins -- conducive to cuts on the cold hard rubber.
Dead Leg Swamp -- mud got thicker
and blacker on this part -- I'm pretty sure by the smell due to horse and
sheep manure. I was able to
keep both shoes on my feet, although my buddy lost one and had it stepped on
by the runner behind him -- ouch.
VietCong Tunnels -- Very small
concrete pipes laid out in a V so you couldn't any light until shortly
before the end -- I picked
the wrong one and got to slither slowly behind some fat guy that could have
used a good greasing down with Crisco.
Dumped you out into the freezing stream headfirst.
Sky Walk & Paradise Climb --
Pick your poison -- either walk the plank 4 stories up or crawl over nets --
at the end you had to tightrope down the line over a lake for about 50 yards
-- I made it about halfway before falling about 20+ feet into the lake.
Woke me up.
Splosh Pools -- These were
totally black due to cow/horse/sheep dung ... There was a floating hay bale
in the middle of one that I managed to vault the dung pool on -- BONUS.
Water Tunnels & Caverns --
After walking thru chest deep freezing water for about 50-60 yards, you got
the pleasure of ducking under the water to avoid logs on top -- there were 4
duck unders, I brought a scuba cap and still was disoriented after the 2nd
tunnel -- not as bad as I had imagined, but the swim to the side (couldn't
touch the bottom) was tough when mild hypothermia was threatening.
At this point, I seriously thought I would lose an appendage as it
felt like someone had duck taped a bag of ice to "little BK" ...
almost had to stop to empty out my neoprene shorts.
Brandenberg Wall -- 40-50 foot
climb up nets straight up, down the other side.
Death Plunge (aka. Walk the Plank) --
Climb up a 25 foot platform, then walk out on a long springboard to jump
into the lake -- couldn't touch the bottom and was about a 20-30 yard swim
to the edge ... I did a half gainer for style points.
Jesus Bridge -- Floating Barrels
over a lake strapped together with small sticks ... If your balance was
good, you breezed right thru these -- if not, they hurt as quite a few folks
fell thru and off the sides into the lake.
Divers were in all the water stops to drag you out if you were in
danger of drowning or froze up ....
Another mile of running and stream crossings.
Tyre Torture -- Ran through a
narrow path with old tires scatterred everywhere, pretty tough running when
you're wiped out.
Anaconda -- 4 foot concrete tubes
that you had to vault over -- ordinarily wouldn't have been bad, but tough
getting energy to jump that high after 8 miles of obstacles .... there were
about 8 of these.
Viagra Falls -- Climb up a 40
foot hill, then slide down a rubber slide into the last of the lakes while
getting shot with a firehose.
FINISH LINE -- Tim and I
both finished tied for 555 (out of 2900) at 1 hour 31 minutes ......
Great Fun !!
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