A wild finish in the Windy City! A few friends and I drove up to Chicago to participate in the first Urbanathlon! I was a run with multiple obstacles during the race along Lake Shore drive starting in Grant Park. With five different obstacles this made for an interesting challenge for everyone involved.
The first obstacle was at the end of the Navy Pier. These were the Jersey Barricades with culverts in between. This was quite a challenge after running about 4 miles and with my heart rate maxed, it was true pandemonium for everybody to get through.
The second obstacle was the most difficult because it was after running for 5 miles up Lake Short drive and these Marine Hurdles were over 6 ft tall so many individuals (women) had a difficult time getting over with out help. Fortunately there was sand to cushion the fall on each hurdle.
After running for 9 miles it was time to do some climbing - Soldier field style!! Yes, we starting at the entrance and worked our way all the way up to the nosebleed seats and it was timed as an individual stage. I was able to finish in 5: 44 which was 455th out of 850 total. This part could have been much faster but as you can see, it was single file up to the top so it was hard to speed up and pass. By far, this one tasked the heart the most, it was the heat of the day and after 10 miles we were getting tired!
Yes, we had to jump, slide, roll, or whatever you could do to get over the Taxi cabs. At the end of the race even the windshields were broken. This was by far the easiest of the obstacles but it was the most fun too. I jumped over the cab, much like it pictured here, I didn't have time to do a Bo and Luke Duke slide!
After jumping over the taxis we were confronted with this very colorful wall to get over. At this point my adrenaline took over and I just grabbed the rope and scaled it like superman! Some of the women needed assistance but most were able to make it over after running a gruelling 12.2. miles!Well, there you have it. The first Urbanathlon in Chicago, we came we saw and we conquered the Urbanathlon! No age group winners though, however we all finished with respectable times. We also had a great tour of Chicago afterwards although we were all very tired. Time to start training for next year and then we will be ready for the Nija Warrior in Japan! Boo Yahh!
the Red Horse
Brett
