hereness+thereness: I am Spartan!

I had some idea of what I was getting myself into when I signed up for the Spartan Race. I knew it was a 5k race with obstacles, and I'd heard from people who'd done it in the past what some of them might be, but still, I went into it fairly blind. Then, a couple of days before the race, I got the waiver. It gave me some new ideas of what I was getting myself into:

"The risk of injury and/or death from the activities involved in the Spartan Race and its related events is significant including, but not limited to the following: (i) drowning; (ii) near-drowning; (iii) sprains; (iv) strains; (v) fractures; (vi) heat and cold injuries; (vii) over-use syndrome; (viii) injuries involving vehicles; (ix) animal bites and/or stings; (x) contact with poisonous plants; (xi) accidents involving, but not limited to paddling, climbing, biking, hiking, skiing, snow shoeing, travel by boat, truck, car, or other convenience; and (xii) the potential for permanent paralysis and/or death."

Oh crap.

Then I arrived at the race for my start-time (they had staggered start times all day long), and saw people coated in mud—some limping—and got a few more ideas of what I was in for.

And now, having done it, I can tell you how it went down. What I was in for was a 5km run through mud—über-thick, suctioning mud most of the time, slick mud the rest of the time—bogs, forests, fields, and rivers, all the while tackling random obstacles including, but not limited to: scaling an 8-foot wall, crawling through culverts, climbing up and over tall nets strung between trees, hauling heavy sandbags and cinderblocks, a 100-metre military crawl under barbed wire (through mud, of course), rope climb, javelin toss, and burpees for any unaccomplished task. And just before the finish line, you have to battle your way past two gladiators set to pummel you with those giant q-tips (which were a lot softer than they looked!). Also, there was a second military crawl under barbed wire, right near the finish line. This one was only about 10-metres, and as I was going through I felt a strange and painful spasm in my shoulder, which I found out later wasn't a spasm, it was a shock from the barbed wire, which was electrified!