Last Updated on July 20, 2017
I love when I am presented with an opportunity to take part in a new race where I have not found myself waiting at the starting line before. I love obstacle races because it takes the bore out of my feet just hitting the pavement and adds a lot of excitement through the entire length of the run.
I was so excited when I heard Rugged Maniac was coming to town, but I was also pregnant at the time, so I didn’t think that I would be ready in time to take part. Happily, I bounced back after a week of having baby number three (seriously), Jacob, and I was ready to roll. Many people don’t bounce back that fast, but I give credit to being able to work out during my entire pregnancy and I have come to love Kickboxing as my main workout. I worked out right up until I went into labour (actually at Kickboxing too, funny enough!) and felt ready to get back in a week after birth. So, a couple days before the event, I let myself sign up– at that point, Jacob had hit a month old.
I was expecting chaos at the check-in area, as they didn’t have a pre-race day pickup for your bibs, shirts and whatnot. I was pleasantly surprised how well organized that was and that I really only waited in line for all of ten minutes to get set up.
Rugged Maniac was a solid race experience, excellent obstacles and the course was well laid-out. There were twenty-five obstacles spread out over 5k. The obstacles were able to sustain several racers at once, so there wasn’t a lot of slow-down. I was impressed by how smooth everything went down.
I was most proud when I conquered The Ringer, a series of swinging rings above a pool of water. Going in, I was sure that I would fall into the water, but I made it safely across. I took my time, made big swings and soon found myself on the opposite platform, feeling accomplished. The other obstacle I was unsure of was the Warped Wall. Since I am pretty short, I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it up, and did. If you encounter that obstacle, run at the wall at full speed and when you reach the wall, do not slow down! That was the best advice I was given before the race and it really helped.
Having done other similar races before, like the Warrior Dash and the Dirty Dash, I was impressed with Rugged Maniac the most thus far. The obstacles were on point: creative, fun and I enjoyed each and every one. And as a bonus, we did not have to travel far for this one (we have in the past and totally still would), we were able to walk from our house.
The post-race atmosphere was even exciting. There was music on the main stage, you could take a chance on a mechanical bull, and watch others as they completed the last few obstacles to finish their race.
I entered the race expecting to be absolutely covered in mud, and I sure got what I paid for. Getting all the caked in mud out of my hair though, that took a lot of work. I took part in Rugged Maniac with my 9Round Kickboxing crew. We divided up into teams and that added even more fun to it all. That left Darcy with the kids to take some great shots of all my fun. You’ll see that I’m not kidding; I was COVERED in mud.
I have Foam Fest and Slide The City next month on the schedule, but this experience may be hard to beat.
Take a look at how much fun I had at Rugged Maniac:
