The Dirty Dash

Whoa!  I had so much fun yesterday!  I had the opportunity to preview a new race course at Soldier Hollow in Utah.  If not familiar with the area, it is where there were several events held during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, like cross country skiing.  During the summer there are great trails, and one that is being created for an upcoming race called 'The Dirty Dash'.  You've got to check the website to see all the obstacles, but it is going to be crazy fun on race day!  We ran 5.2 miles of the 6.2 mile course at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  Yeah it was a little warm, between 85 and 90 degrees.  Had a nice elevation of about 5500 ft. Quite the training run while trying to be conservative before my marathon on Saturday!

Let me tell you about the race...  There will be hill climbs, hay bale walls to jump over, walls to hurl your body over, a giant slip and slide about half-way through the race, water balloons thrown at you and a huge mud pond to cross before you make it to the finish line!  We were able to run the course, get some water balloons thrown at us and running/falling into the mud pond actually felt great! 

Imagine a giant slip n slide and going head first down this section!  Does it get any funner?

 



We followed the rollercoaster trail...there were way more ups than downs!

 I am grateful to a new running friend, Amy, who invited me out to be a part of the day.  We had a small group of 20 or so runners and it was fun to make to new connections and experience a unique run.  I even ran with one of the organizers, John, who shared some of the exciting details for race day.  Check out http://www.thedirtydash.com/ for all the info!  If you're going to be anywhere close to Utah at the end of September you've got to come run the race!  Photo-ops galore!



Come race day the mud pond will be 10x this size with grandstands of spectators watching with amusement!



That's me in the background crawling... Your feet literally sink as you try to run!



Amy & I lovin the mud - think spa treatment...



You'd think it would feel good to wash up after the run but a fire house is a far cry from a nice shower. Nothing like getting powered washed!



Yeah, that's mud in my teeth. I had a blast!


A special thanks to our friends Jimmy & Jan, who live close to the area and allowed me to clean up after the run!  Didn't really feel like driving home caked in mud!  Also fun to hang out, catch up and let the kiddos play.  I was instructed by Jimmy that I need to bring my kids out to the country more often because my 2 yr old mooed at a horse.  Hey, I try!  My kids were completed enthralled with the chickens running loose around the yard.  So much fun.

Here today I have my own Dirty Dash.  A course constructed by a family of seven.  It consists of many uphill climbs of stairs, mounds of shoulder high piles of laundry, mud ponds otherwise know as the kitchen floor and a slip n slide made by a 2 yr old on our bathroom floor.  My in-laws are coming into town tonight and the race is on...  This could be a PR for house-cleaning!  Better go down some Gatorade and stash some Gu in pockets to get me through the day... : )