Run Amuck Race Report!

Run Amuck was so much fun, I can't even tell you! I guess I'm not all that surprised that I loved it so much - my inner tomboy was in heaven!

We drove down to Quantico on Friday evening and went straight to the base for packet pickup. Did you know that on base, they have an entire building and and staff for the MCM race events? Obviously the marathon in October is their biggest but now with the half marathon in the spring and various smaller events, coordination is a full time job! Anyway, we got out packets and watched about 5 minutes of video from last years race (which I'll admit, freaked me out a bit) then on our way out, found a very helpful (and large) Marine who pointed out where all the obstacles on the course were. Sufficiently scared, we headed to our hotel. As I was prepping my gear for the next day, I grabbed my shoes to put on the d-tag only to find that I had no soles in my shoes!!!! The shoes I wore for this race were the same ones I wore for the Shamrock Marathon. After that race, I bought new shoes. When I did, I pulled my orthotics out of the Shamrock shoes and put them in my new ones but obviously never put the cushioned soles back in the old pair. So. I had to run this thing with no soles and let me tell you, you can feel every little pebble when there is no cushion in your shoes. I doubled up my socks but I'm not sure that helped much.

Saturday morning, I rode to the base with two friends who were also running. They were so excited and super chatty but for some reason, my stomach was doing flip flops. I'm really not good at facing the unknown and this race was about as unknown as it gets. I had no idea what to expect and it was really getting to me. We were in different waves - I was in wave 6, they were in 12 - so I quickly got up there and waited for my start.

We started by doing a half lap around the track then we hit the streets for about a mile and a half. I wanted to run the street portion quickly because I was assuming there would be a lot of walking once I got into the woods. It was really humid and I was still coughing quite a bit from this chest cold so I only managed a 7:40 for that first mile.

There was a water stop at the edge of the woods then you hit the trails. We have gotten so much rain in Virginia lately that the trails were essentially mud. It was challenging because it was so sloppy and slippery that you had to really pay attention to each step. We hit a few hay bales then two sets of tires. Then the hills started. I can't even describe these hills. You would literally run straight up - and it was rocky and slippery - then once you got to the top, you could see the next one straight ahead. It was like a roller coaster - yes, seriously! Downhill was a bit tricky again because of the wet surface. I was able to run....ok, jog....most of the hills but there were a few that I only made it halfway up and had to walk the rest. One of the hills was so steep going down that they had ropes that you were to grab on to and go down backwards. That was really hard for me because I was so worried about falling.

In between these hills were a few more interesting obstacles. The first mud pit we hit after climbing over a short, a bit higher than waist high, wall. I took a step in and the water was up to my waist. No problem, I thought. I'll just walk through as quickly as I can. Just then, my left foot landed in a hole and I went down. The water came up to my neck! I (along with everyone around me as you can see in the picture) started cracking up at that point. It was one of those moments when you are thinking, "Why the hell am I doing this??"

They also had fake barbed wire in the form of caution tape cris-crossed across the trail. You had to do a full commando crawl under it and I swear they hosed down the mud you were crawling through because it was the sloppiest, nastiest mud ever. We also had to go through these giant tubes. They were big enough that I didn't have to get down on my hands and knees but I did have to stoop over pretty far.

The race was so physically demanding. Just totally exhausting. The miles seemed really long too. After we hit mile 3 and there was no end in sight, a woman behind me said, "These must be Marine miles!" When we thought we couldn't do any more hills, we got slammed with another mud pit that you had to crawl out of because you had to go under a cargo net (hard to see in the photo but that black thing is the net you had to go under)...up hill. Trying to get enough traction to pull yourself out while on your hands and knees was so hard. Then once you get through the cargo net, you have to go up this steep hill which they had ropes criss-crossed across so you could hold them and try and pull yourself up.

After that hill, we were out of the woods. We ran through a fire hose then back down to the track where we had to run only a quarter of to the finish. Once I crossed, it took me forever to catch my breath and my husband said, "You look way more exhausted than you did after the marathon!" And it was so true. I felt it too! But I'm so going back next year. It was so different and so challenging. I just loved it! (And can I just say, I'm only posting the photo at left as a public service announcement. Please, please, please, when you cross a finish line, do not stop! Do not slam on your breaks! Move to the side! That woman just came to a dead stop and as you can see, I slammed right into her. Seriously people. )

When we got home and I looked at the results, I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw I came in 3rd in my division. Never saw that coming! I wonder what my prize is...a jar of mud perhaps?