Ended up starting closer to the front then I wanted by not many people seemed interested in being up there. Started out at about an 8 minute mile pace for about 1.5 miles until reaching the 1st and most fun obstacle - the mud crawl. Jumped over a small mud hill and was immediately face to face with about 15 to 20 ropes about 1 foot of the ground. Had to get and stay under them in order to get through the pit. Was messy but fun. Tried not to go all out under there as was trying to keep my heartrate under control on the obstacles. From here on out not sure if I'll get the obstacles in the right order but ended up on a trail that had about 8 to 10 4 foot hurdles to jump over. The good news is the field had thinned out so I didn't have to contend with others while getting over. Determined if I jumped off my right foot, placed my left hand on top and pushed I could do the hurdles without breaking too much of my stride. By the last few I was ready to be done with them as I was getting winded. Shortly after we ended up going over a hay wall which wasn't too bad but it was a fairly far jump off the back side. The 1st water crossing you had to just jump done into the water and lo and behold there were deep spots where you'd go from knee deep to stumbling and up to mid chest. Walked/trotted through this for about 500 feet I'd guess. The 2nd water crossing you had to repel down the bank using a rope. About 1/3 of the way down I caught my leg on a sticker bush and ripped up my left calf pretty good (sore in the shower the next day - ouch!). Some people were swimming but I just waded through but I didn't realize there were ropes on the other side and wasted some time waiting when there were a whole bunch of available ropes on the left. Some time after this came to another water crossing that you had to walk across using a rope at your feet and over your head. When a girl got on behind me it helped as the rope became more taut and I could move faster. At one point I was just hanging by my arms before regaining my balance. The last obstacle was about a 20 foot high mulch pile that looked harder than it ended up being. Last 2 miles or so was a straight run down a flight deck and then the main road to the start/finish. Here's where I wish I would've looked at the course ahead of time as I never pushed this part of the run as I was concerned about potential obstacles still to come. At the end I could hear someone coming up behind me. I turned and looked to see the smokin' chick who was one 1/2 of the winning team at the Patriot Games. Here I made a conscious decision to let her go and follow her in. Nicest pace booty in the history of pace booty! Finished up in under 1:00 which was really my only goal that and not getting hurt. Oh yeah they had water pouring over your head about 10 feet from the finish.

I need to work on pace in a race. I find that I tend to hold back, hold back and then never pick a time and just go all out. It's starting to get frustrating. I need to work hard over the off season and gain more confidence in my legs and wind so I don't keep finishing with something left in the tank.

Chatted with the hottie for a few minutes and was pointed down to a truck that I was told had hot showers!!! At this point it started pouring rain and cold rain at that but I had to go to the showers as I had a bunch of mud, gravel and other muck all over and in everything. Cleaned off and went and found Dad. At that point saw Jay and found out he finished about 4 minutes ahead and we said everything here looks nice but time to leave given the weather. Went to the car and changed out of all my clothes as I was soaked and freezing at this point.


Just not running hard enough when the opportunity is there and did I mention all the obstacles!


This was the 1st year for the race and November is a bit late for NJ (I heard they are going to probably move it forward a month or so for next year). I really enjoyed the race and can't wait until next year when I should look at the course map and create an actual plan for the race.