Dirty Dash Recap

Recently I ran The Dirty Dash. This was my first time running The Dirty Dash and my first mud and obstacle race ever. I had researched this race so I knew a little about what I was up against. My team name was the Filthy Fairies, so myself along with 6 others put on our fairy wings and prepared to get muddy.

My husband got talked into running this race with his best friend. It was his first race and I am beyond proud! He did not want to run in fairy wings so him and his buddy put on their mustaches and got ready to run! We started at 9:30 then we were off, since we planned to get filthy we left all phones and electronics at bag check. This was the first time ever not running with a phone and it was kind of liberating. Since I didn't carry my phone I don't have any pictures of the obstacles. I will try my best to explain them the best I can so you know what to expect should you ever do The Dirty Dash. The beginning was very bottlenecked and most of us were walking because there was no room to run.

Picture of the starting line

The first obstacle was jumping over hay bails. For dramatic effect I rolled over the tops of them. You would see one then a minute later you would see another. After doing that a few times we came across the first obstacle crawling through big tubes. Thankfully I am short (or as my daughter likes to say "tiny") and was able to shrink down and walk through. Others had to get through on their hands and knees. I did that for 2 seconds and my knees were getting cut up on rocks. After running up hill for some time we came to the monkey bars. Did I mention that this race was on a ski hill. Lots of uphill running. After more uphill then we came to my favorite obstacle of the whole race! It this obstacle you climb over PVC pipes while trudging muddy water and having someone blast a high powered hose in your face. Doesn't sound fun but I assure you it was fun. Then we climbed over two walls. I was most afraid of these because I am not spiderman. After seeing them it made me feel lots better as it was a slanted tent like wall with ledges to help you. I'm terrified of heights but didn't have problems with any of the obstacles. 

Then it was uphill again. It was super steep so everyone was walking. Once we got to the top of the hill we had our next obstacle, jumping over vertical walls. If you couldn't get over the wall you could climb under it. There were three of these and unfortunately due to being tiny and getting stuck in the water, I decided to army crawl under the walls after failed attempts to make it over. We keep running a little more and came to a super high net wall. Pretty simple, climb up one side and climb down the other. Right after that it was time to refuel with chugging a can of beer or root beer if you were underage or preferred that. Chugging beer then running is an adventure!

It was all downhill from there and did that feel good! We had about a mile and a half left in the race and the end obstacles were easier than the first half. Running across a one foot wide balance beam, through a small pool of mud with small mud explosions and running through tires. All of those were very easy but still fun. The mud explosion pool was so fun we did the obstacle twice. We circled back by the spectator area and could see the home stretch. An amazing long inflatable slip and slide. They only had two lanes open so we had to wait in line for 5 minutes but it was totally worth it! After that I was feeling great and couldn't wait to dredge through the almost waist deep swimming pool of mud as our last obstacle. My husband and his friend thought it would be a great idea to attack me in the mud. For those who don't fully know me, if I am in mud I plan to get covered in it. I don't need any help because I will cover myself all on my own. My husband knows this but he thought I might need some help. While being attacked, I got mud in my eye. This mud is super gravelly. Instantly my eyes were on fire and I couldn't see due to the pain. My husband lead me by the arm out of the pit. I managed to open my eyes for a few pictures. Rushed over to the showers to wash my eye out. Finally after an hour of rinsing, drops and ointments I could finally open my eye longer than 2 seconds. After two days I am now the proud owner of a non-red eye.

Tips for future mud runners:
-Wear goggles, you might not think it is cool but everyone will be jealous when you reach the end.
-Don't duck tape your shoes, you WILL get gravel caught in the duck tape and it will be a pain to get off once it is muddy.
-Try all the obstacles. There is no shame in not completing the obstacles but you might regret it if you don't try.
-HAVE FUN!!!!
-Make a before and after collage

So over all the Dirty Dash was my favorite race I have ever run. Maybe because of the mud, maybe because of the freedom of running without a time clock, or maybe because it was the first race I have done with my husband. Either way I will be sure to sign up for this one again!!