Here's a map of the course
I was looking forward to this all week. Lee wasn't happy with me so I cancelled all other races but this one I kept.
Woke up Sunday morning at 3am instead of 2am. Matt was gonna pick me up at 6:30 so can sleep a little later. Went to walk to dog at 5:30 and it was 54 degrees. Week before I raced in 91 degrees and BOOM! It's freezing. Fast walked the dog.
Matt and Jen picked me up and off we went. Got there fast, got a parking spot and off we went to packet pickup. Got our bib number and went to stand in line to get our stuff. How stupid is it that the line is based on number instead of last name? My turn and it turns out that you have to fill out a waiver first and of course it's not here but over there...
Back in line and we get out stuff and high tail it back to the car. It's COLD! It's freezing. Sit in the car, warm up again and then a quick run to the port-a-pottie. Someone must have been multi-tasking in there: There was a Frosted Flakes Cereal box in there. Good stuff.
Back to car and then Matt and I go to the meeting and to look around the course. The meeting was stupid but had to do it. Looked around and we are going into the water. It's also windy. Saw the 5K-ers go off in waves. From the starting gate, it was very narrow and uneven terrain. About 40 feet in and you have a 90 degree left turn. Go a little and then a 90 degree right turn.
Back to car to warm up with Jenn. Matt's goal was a top 5 finish. Mine was to enjoy myself as always.
Now we all leave the car and make our way to the start line. Showed Jenn the mud carving they had. Cool.
Walked to the mud pit (turns out there were 2). People are getting muddy. There are Marines there yelling at you. One in particular is at the end of it. If he thinks you were not getting enough mud at you, then he would literally throw mud at you, shoving it at your face.
Back to the starting line. Wave 1 is for Military and public safety personnal. Wave 2 is for 7 minute pace. I look around and I don't belong there but everyone is cheating and I don't want to wait around at obstacles. I see Chris Unger and he doesn't belong in wave 2 either but he's there with his friends so screw it.
We start. Uneven terrain for the first 40 feet or so and it's pretty narrow. Stayed on the right for the 90 degree left turn. Survived it. Still running with Chris even on the boardwalk. I felt good and ran and didn't mean to but I dropped Chris.
The 10K was really a 5.8 mile run and most of it was trails. Initially, I felt blah. Why am I here etc but then I realized: No clock except start and finish. No splits. Obstacles. Trail run. Enjoy the moment. Suddenly I felt good. I was rocking. Passing wave 2 people and some wave 1 too. I felt rejuvenated.
Marine Hurdles: No biggie. There were 3 hurdles about 5 feet high. Really no big deal except if you're short. There were some woman there who were short and had problems getting over.
Low Crawl under ropes: That hurt a little. The ropes were taut and they skinned my back a little. Again no problem.
Cargo Net: One of the stupid Marines was annoying. He's yelling "Let's go! Let's go" but I wasn't go fast pace it. Wasn't gonna fall again like in the Spartan Race. Stupid Marine then yelled "OK, maybe not." Idiot.
Low Wall: Ran until I got to a low wall and I see a water stop behind it and here comes my stupid moment of the day...I look at them and ask "What do I do now?". They looked at me and said "go over" and I said "D'oh". Stupid moment of the day! Went over and right into the next obstacle.
Run Through Mud: The mud was at least 6 inches deep. Sneakers and feet went in and it was a struggle getting the feet out. Still, high turn over and high knees and I am out.
More trail running.
Bales of Hay: Climb a bunch of Bales and then scamper down. Guy next to me did the drop and roll. Looked good, very ninja-ish and yet stupid. Big chance of getting injured. Lucky for him he didn't.
Onto Hunter Island.
Mudpit: Smaller version than the big mudpit. Lots of mud. Female Marine yelling at me go get in there, deep in there. I blew her a kiss and told her I love her.
Run Through Mud: Another little mud patch. Not huge and not deep. Managed to stay on the side of it.
Beach: On to the boardwalk, on to the sand and into waist deep water. Water wasn't that cold. Actually felt refreshing. As I was coming out of the water, I saw 2 older people looking at all the people in amazement. Mouth wide open. I don't know if they were support crew (maybe their kid was racing) or just spectators who happened to be there but they were amazed. As I passed them, I yell out "What else do you do on a Sunday morning?" They started laughing.
45 Degree Inclined Wall with Knotted Ropes: At the Spartan Race they oiled the wall and the ropes. Here they liquid soaped the wall. Still, 1 big run and grab and I was over. Much easier than Spartan.
BIG Mud Pit: Here it comes. The big mudpit. The pictures say it all. Big mudpit, lots of soil and a deep water puddle in it. There were some ropes too and you had to go under. The ropes were only a few inches off the ground so there was no other way then dive under. Now some people tried to stay clean but there was a crazy Marine there who made sure to take care of that. If he thought you were taking it easy, then he would throw mud in your face. Not just throw but literally scoop mud on you.
The next thing wasn't an obstacle per se but read on. Got out of the mudpit and you have 30 feet before you have to make a hard 90 degree right. All the 5K'ers went through first and the whole area looked slippery. Guy in front of me, made the turn and fell. I went wide to avoid him and the slippery area. Guy got up and fell again. It was only 20 feet but dude got up and fell, got up and fell again. After 4 falls, he decided to roll across the finish line Blazeman style. I on the other hand made sure to not join him. Stayed wide and to the left the whole time. Dude wasn't gonna take me down.
Finished, got my finisher's medal and a bottle of water to rinse my eyes. Walked to the eye washing table. Table manned by 2 woman holding 3 hoses. Used it to wash my face. Went to look for Matt. Looking for him I wondered over to the shower area and so decided to rinse off. Over and over and mud still coming out of the clothes. Every time an area is clean, more mud comes out of the clothes. Did my best tho. Caught up with Matt and Jenn.
Went to the BBQ line. Wasn't happy with the choices. Either a cheeseburger or a veggie burger with cheese. Why can't they serve burgers without cheese?
Headed to the car and changed. Then I realized I can't find my finisher's medal. Went back to get a new one. Now at this point, I am wearing a long sleeve running shirt, sweat pants and crocs. The medals are only given at the finish line and I make my way there. As I get there, I slip. I catch myself, I don't fall but I did skate. Walking nice and slow and I keep sliding. Asked for a medal and the girl told me to go to the next person. Made my way over there and grabbed the dude by the arm. I wasn't gonna fall. Then I had to make my way back.
Anyway, Matt did well. Managed a 5th place for his age group. Very impressive. I did well too. Got a 49:52 which if it was a 10K translates to a 8.25 min pace. For a trail run it's even better. This was a shorter distance but the obstacles slow you down. Anyway you look at it, it was good.
Besides the food complaint, I only have 1 other issue and I don't think it's nitpicking. I applaud the 5K-ers and their effort and they deserve a medal but they should NOT get the same medal as the 10K-ers. The medal should be different. It should either be smaller than ours or it should say 5K Vs. 10K. How else can you tell the difference.
(Over)Thinking about the Spartan Race and the Down and Dirty 10K and comparing them I have come to the final conclusion. I really enjoyed them both but they were the same and very different too.
Spartan Race (SR) was only about 2 miles and had about 13 obstacles. The Down and Dirty 10K (DD) was about 5.8 miles and had about 12 obstacles of which there were really only 6 or 7 obstacles. The SR obstacles were much tougher. The SR race was really a bunch of obstacles with little runs in between. The DD race was a bunch of trail miles with some little obstacles in between. Still both were fun.
I needed this race after the IM. Felt good to be out there.
Just remembered one last thing. On Wednesday (3 days after the race), I finally stopped finding mud in my ears. HAHA. No matter what I did, how many showers I took, how many q-tips I used, there always seemed to be more mud. It was that muddy!