As Kathy and I prepare for our next adventure (hiking the Camino de Santiago from Portugal to Spain), we wanted to share an adventure with you that is not about us. This adventure is about our friends, Lindsey and Jessie, and their recent obstacle course race. They have raced in more than 200 obstacle course races over the past 12 years from 3-mile races up to 50-mile 24-hour races.

As we learned at the Savage Race near Tampa, FL, this past weekend, the obstacles are much more difficult than the run. The racers climbed walls, walked through mud pits while carrying heavy logs, climbed ropes, and jumped into water pits. In all, some crazy and evil course designer dreamed up 35 challenging obstacles. The race website describes the challenge as “setting personal goals and smashing them. It’s about pushing your limits.”

Lindsey is a personal trainer and life coach. In fact, we have been taking personal training classes from her for over 6 years and continue to take classes through Zoom wherever we are. For years, Lindsey shared her adventures doing these types of races. Sometimes, it was difficult to understand the scope of these adventures. Who would want to race through obstacles, mud, water, and rough terrain? How can that be fun? However, there were times when we asked ourselves why would we want to run a marathon of 26 miles in the cold or heat. It’s the same question, just a different adventure. To each his own.

A few weeks ago, Lindsey mentioned her upcoming race in Dade City, Florida, about 90 miles north of Sarasota, where we are currently living. So, we decided to meet her and her partner Jessie at the event to see what the fuss was all about and maybe answer the question “Why do you do these races?” We didn’t know what to expect.

We drove north through Tampa Bay to a large horse ranch, outside Dade City. Savage Race has ten races across the county and two are in Florida. In this race, there were two categories a 3-mile, 25-obstacle course, and a 6-mile, 35-obstacle course. Lindsey and Jessie opted for the 6-mile course. We felt the anticipation and excitement of the racers as they waited to register and pick up their chips. We met up with Lindsey and Jessie for a quick pre-race photo and then watched them run across the field toward the first obstacle.

We met up with them at mile 2 to see them conquer the 7^th obstacle, called Colossus. It is a giant rope climb and a steep slide into a muddy water pit. It was quite a sight to see the racers slide down the slide at high speed, hit the cold water, submerge, and climb out. Several racers’ sunglasses and hats got blown off, never to be seen again. Imagine running the next 4 miles soaking wet.

As they continued to race, we followed them to each obstacle. All were incredibly challenging and one right after the other. They were never-ending.  Here are some of the obstacles.

Finally, after 3+ hours, they made it to the finish line. When the day began, we were excited, and thrilled, and thought that we might like to do one of these races. However, that thought faded as we saw the soaked, muddy, and exhausted participants completing the obstacles. At each new obstacle, we thought, “Oh my God, another obstacle, when will it end?” Or “Didn’t you just do a hanging, climbing, jumping obstacle?”

Lindsey and Jessie finished the race in high spirits despite Lindsey’s 2nd knee surgery just 4 months ago. They are seasoned veterans of this obstacle course sport. Others did not fare so well. They hobbled across the finish line, muddy, wet, sweaty, and squishy but smiling. One was bleeding. Some of them looked like they lived “in a trailer down by the river.” But, for everyone, finishing was an accomplishment they should be proud of.

 

In the end, this race was inspirational. We saw all types of participants, young and old. One participant had an artificial leg that he had to remove to participate. As he walked from obstacle to obstacle over the 6-mile course he hobbled on crutches. Another participant had his service dog with him. One guy did the race with his arm in a sling. A woman had recently completed chemotherapy for breast cancer.

While this race is in the books for Lindsey and Jessie, there will be another obstacle course race at this same location in November. Hmmm, should we start training for that race now?