Yes. I did it! I completed the Warrior Dash! And it was a blast! I thought I would write about my experience to help others who are thinking about doing it. And let me just say, it was an experience! I did the one in Channahon, IL. Yes, it’s far. They do it at the Dollinger Family Farm. It’s beautiful! But definitely a hike for those of us who live up North.

So, I’ll start with getting there and parking. At about 6:30 in the morning, me, my mom and dad and 2 year old started the drive. It took about 45 minutes to get there from my parents house. Early on a Saturday morning with no traffic. I was in the 8:30 AM wave so I had to be there by 7:30 AM. Once we arrived, we had to pay $10 cash for parking (which is ridiculous because we all already paid for the event) and then they told us where to park. This is where my anxiety REALLY started to kick in! We are in the middle of nowhere, on a farm. There is no concrete parking lot. All cars have to park on grass. Muddy, wet (because it had rained the entire day before) grass. Well, I got stuck! Thank God I had my dad with me! He helped some other guy push my car out. If I was by myself I would have been crying. But they got it out, I parked and we were on our way! Already filled with mud.

The first thing you see is a booth for the waivers. This was great because I didn’t print mine out due to lack of ink. But they have you covered! I filled out the waiver and continued in. There are people greeting you and passing out green glasses that say Warrior dash on the side for free! Bonus! I’m wearing them in the pictures. Then you need to bring your waiver and ID to pick up your bib. Here is my picture right after I put mine on…

Then, you go to the next booth to pick up your t-shirt and warrior hat. Everything was easy, and people were so nice and at this time, it wasn’t too crowded so I was happy.

I met up with my friend and her sister-in-law which was so great! I definitely recommend running this with friends. Here is us before the race!

All clean 😉 The music was loud by the start line and everyone was getting pumped up! And then… we were off! Let me just say, I was really nervous. Like, I have never done anything like this before. Sure, I have done running races, but this was 3.1 miles of 11 obstacles! I’m not going to go into detail, but the obstacles were definitely challenging. Doable but challenging and scary especially if you do not like heights.

My favorites were jumping over fire (because, when do you do that willingly?) and climbing up a wall with only a rope to pull you up. Then you climb down and have to go through yucky, muddy water. So fun! At one point, this guy next to me said, “We actually PAID to do this!) Yes, yes we did 🙂

The last obstacles are the Goliath slide and then crawling through muddy water under barbed wire. Then you run to the finish line and get your medal! So much fun. Here I am at the end…

And with the girls…

Afterwards, you can go get a beer and your picture taken and shower. I surprisingly didn’t get a beer but the showers were great and much needed! I’m highly impressed with the entire event.

It was such a great experience! I’m not sure I’ll do it again, mainly because it’s so far for me and the parking situation was awful. But I’m so glad I did it and completed every single obstacle!. I’m sore, my legs are all scratched up but I can say I’m a warrior! Tips:

-Drive an AWD vehicle
-You need waiver, ID, towels for the car, and cell phone or camera for taking pictures
-They have a gear check if you need it but you are also able to go back to your car once you check in
-Run with a friend!
-It is not timed! Only the first 25 girls and 25 guys who finish move on to the championships
-Obstacles are optional if you feel you cannot complete one
-Have fun! You WILL get muddy!