OHventures' Greatest Hits!

With over 500 posts over 6 years, OHventures has definitely showcased a plethora of ideas to spark adventure in your life. We've whittled it down to the BEST of the BEST in this special edition post of "Greatest Hits" from OHventures! 

1. BrewBoat Cleveland: Part bike, part boat, and part bar, the BrewBoat on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland is a one-of-a-kind experience that will guarantee to be a hit for you and your adventure-and-beer-loving friends.

2. Escape Room Downtown: While I am usually posting about adventures that exercise the body, escape rooms exercise the mind. They bring people together to use their brains to accomplish the goal under the given time limit, which is a huge adrenaline rush! Join us as we head to the Escape Room Downtown in Canton to tackle "The Missing Detective's Office"!

3. Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad: ALL ABOARD! The CVSR can be found in Northeast Ohio, running through the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (the one and only national park in the state of Ohio). The main portion of the railway runs northbound from Akron in Summit County, all the way to Independence in Cuyahoga County.

4. SegAway Tours of Columbus: SegAway Tours of Columbus offers a series of tours for anyone interested in uncovering hidden secrets about the city while leisurely gliding through the parkways, riversides, and sidewalks of downtown, Arena District, Short North, and Victorian Village. It was a challenging experience, but one I will never forget. I am hooked on Segways!

5. Findlay Market Cincinnati: Even on a Sunday afternoon, the Findlay Market located in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is booming with activity. As Ohio's oldest public market, the Market shows no signs of slowing down. 

6. Spartan Race Ohio: The Spartan Race was one of the greatest challenges I have ever embarked on, and one that was unforgettable and incredibly fulfilling for the adventurous spirit within me. On May 8, OHventures traveled to Cumberland to tackle all of the mud, obstacles, and burpees that make up the grueling course.

7. VeloSano 100-Mile Bike Ride: This epic fundraising event was held in Cleveland, with over 2,000 cyclists signed up to raise money in the months leading up to their bike rides. I raised over $1,500 for cancer research, rode 100 miles, over 4,000 feet of elevation, in the 90 degree heat, which took about 9 hours!

8. Kalahari Indoor Waterpark & Resort: With the nation's largest indoor waterpark, a candy shop with seemingly endless amounts of treats and desserts, one of the best arcade and gaming areas around, world-class spa treatments, a fitness facility, and a fine selection of adult beverages (including a swim-up bar),Kalahari Resort in Sandusky is anyone's dream come true.

9. Escape To Kelley's Island: Located in Erie County in the western basin of Lake Erie about 4 miles north of the Marblehead peninsula and 10 miles from Sandusky Measuring more than 4 square miles, Kelley's Island is the largest American island located in Lake Erie. 

10. CryoTherapy Plus: I survived -293 degrees Fahrenheit with Cryotherapy! Cryotherapy is an anti-inflammatory treatment involving skin exposure to ultra-low temperatures for a brief, controlled time, in order to help enhance athletic performance and recovery. Join us as we check out this Akron area full-service cryotherapy spa!

11. Cooking Class at Gervasi Vineyard: Being a frequent flyer at all three of Gervasi Vineyard's amazing restaurants,  and being a budding chef in my own home kitchen, I had been wanting to attend a culinary class at The Cucina for quite some time. 

12. Go Ape Treetop Adventure:  The Go Ape Treetop Adventure Course in the Cleveland Metroparks' Mill Stream Run Reservation.challenges participants with an outdoor obstacle course over 3,000 feet in length and is suspended up to 40 feet above ground, traversing bridges, zooming on zip lines, and hanging on ropes.

13. Bodhi Tree Guest House & Studio: This Buddhist-inspired getaway can be found off the beaten path, hidden among the trees and on four acres of the Appalachian hillsides of Southeast Ohio - complete with a Thai massage and a 60-minute float in a state-of-the-art float tank!

14. Stand-Up Guys Paddle Boarding: In the Akron area, at the Portage Lakes, there is a great company aptly named The Stand Up Guys, who offer paddle boarding rentals along the PLX for very reasonable prices! 

15. Rhinegeist Brewery: Nothing beats the atmosphere at Rhinegeist in Cincinnati. The wide open interior is available to reserve for private events, or you can come anytime to play cornhole, ping pong, foosball, or watch a ball game - all while relaxing with some locally brewed booze. 

16. The Lodge At Geneva-On-The-Lake: The romanticism of Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline is encapsulated to perfection at the upscale yet affordable Lodge at GOTL. I stayed here for a weekend in June and saw for myself all the fantastic pleasures that can be unearthed while staying at this hot vacation spot.

17. Mohican Tree House Cabins: Halfway between Cleveland and Columbus is an adventurer's paradise, an outdoorsman's dream, and one of the most unique attractions found in all of Ohio: I stayed overnight like Swiss Family Robinson in these AWESOME accommodations!

18. Tree Frog Canopy Tours: The tallest, fastest, and longest zip line in all of Ohio! Pictures say 1,000 words.

19. Columbus Pedal Wagon: My family & friends hopped aboard this contraption that required us to use our man-power to wheel the wagon from bar to bar to bar in the streets of the Short North one football Saturday in October. 

20. Kayak The Bay at PIB: Between drinking wine and barhopping on 4th of July weekend in Put-In-Bay, a group of college friends decided to get a workout in and kayak the beautiful waters of Lake Erie surrounding South Bass Island. 

21. Open Air Safari at The Wilds: Seeing camels, giraffes, ostriches, and antelope within hands-reach was an experience I will never forget, thanks to my visit to The Wilds in Cumberland. Think of it as a zoo but 1,000 times cooler.

22. Columbus Brew Adventures: Being driven around in a van and taken to various breweries throughout Columbus for grub, fun facts, and of course booze? Can't get much better than that!

23. Horseback Riding at Faith Ranch: If I could go horseback riding every weekend, I would. The city boy in me became a little bit country when I ventured to the town of Jewett to embark on an hour-long horseback trail ride at Faith Ranch.

24. Monumental Workouts in Canton: The McKinley Monument in Canton is not only a massively historic landmark, serving as the resting place for President William McKinley, but it is also becoming a hotspot for fitness enthusiasts who run the stairs and attend boot camp classes here!

Running Recap 2015!

Photo by Zipper City Blog

Most all runners love to look back at the end of each year to reflect on their accomplishments and milestones. While I only ran in 10 races this year (as compared to 14 in 2015 and 20 in 2013), many of them were significant in my career: I ran in one of my fastest 5Ks ever (Warren Fit 5K in 23:02) and I ran in my 3rd ever half marathon (the Pro Football Hall Of Fame Half Marathon in Canton). In addition, I did some runs that had a fun element or theme added in unlike any I have done before (such as carrying a pumpkin the entire way in the Great Pumpkin Run and stopping to chug beers in the Ultimate Beer Run).

Included on the list is one run that was not done in Ohio (the Across The Bay 10K). I do feel a bit like a cheater for putting that race on this site. But, it was a very significant race for me in 2015! Either way, I am happy to have successfully completed over 47 competitive miles in one year!

Below, you can find links to all 10 of these events from 2015 in chronological order! Hopefully these can give your ideas for races you can run in the New Year!

1. Pro Football Hall of Fame (Half) Marathon (April 2015 – 13.1 miles in 2:08:00 - Canton)
2. AkRun & Crawl (May 2015 – 3.1 miles in 24:45 – Merriman Valley)
3. Ultimate Beer Run (May 2015 – 2 miles, in about 1 hour, with beer stops - Columbus)
4. Thirsty Dog 8K (June 2015 – 4.97 miles in 42:37 - Akron)
5. Warrior Dash Ohio II (August 2015 – 3.1 miles, untimed – North Lawrence)
6. Warren Fit 5K (August 2015 – 3.1 miles in 23:02 - Warren)
7. Wellness Walk & Run (September 2015 – 3.1 miles, untimed - Stow)
8. Akron Marathon Relay Team (September 2015 – 5.8 miles in approx. 48:00 - Akron)
9. Great Pumpkin Run Cincinnati (October 2015 – 3.1 miles in approx. 31:00 - Clarksville)
10. Across The Bay 10K (November 2015 – 6.2 miles in 58:21 – Chesapeake Bay, MD)

Warrior Dash Ohio II 2015 Recap

Photos by OHventures

Another year, another Warrior Dash! After 5 years of muddy mayhem at one of the most popular obstacle running series in the world, I am thinking that Warrior Dash Day should be a national (or international) holiday! While some running events have been fizzling out, the Warrior Dash keeps gaining more momentum and more popularity as time progresses!

As with all years in the past (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) in which we have run and reviewed the Warrior Dash you never know what you're going to get. They are always changing it up, adding different obstacles and altering the course, tweaking it to make the elements harsher and more challenging. This is why me and my friends & family keep coming back for more. 

(For those of you who do not know what the Warrior Dash is - get with the program by reading our "What Is Warrior Dash?" blog)

Again, Warrior Dash Ohio II (named as such because another Warrior Dash takes place in Logan, Ohio earlier in the year) took place at Clay's Park Resort in North Lawrence in Stark County. It was on Saturday, August 8, and my brother and I were running in the 9:00 AM heat! Our course was "moderately hilly" at 3.2 miles with 14 obstacles.

List of Obstacles

1. Great Warrior Wall: Scaling a 14-foot wall caked in the slick mud of the Battleground.

2. Alcatraz: Climb/swim across cargo nets that are halfway submerged in a muddy lake

3. Plunge: Crawl up a cargo net and scale back down a 16-foot sheet of plywood

4. Trenches: Stay low and crawl quickly through the dirt and under logs

5. Chaotic Cargo: Climb up and over the tangled cargo nets

6. Dead Man's Drop: Scale up a merciless wall 20 feet in the air, straddle the ledge, and slide down to hit the ground running

7. Giant Cliffhanger With the help of a rope, clamber up and repel back down a 30-foot pyramid.

8. Mud Mounds: Literally a giant mud pit you slid into from about 10-12 feet above ground. Then, you claw your way out of the mud pit, which was nearly impossible to do without the help of others around you!

9. Pipeline: New this year, these were a series of cylindrical (pipe-like) cargo nets that you had to shimmy through at an incline. Many seemed to have a TON of trouble with this, but my brother came up with a great solution to crawl on your back rather than on your hands and knees. Doing that was tons easier than the traditional method!

10. High Tension: Cross a 30-foot slackline hovering over a water pit (this one was tough for shorter people like myself - and especially even shorter people like my sister-in-law who couldn't even reach the cargo nets and had to fall in!).

11. Two X Fall: A series of balance beams that go up, down, and across while being squirted with water.

12. Goliath: This is the largest obstacle, starting with a rope climb, then a two-story balance beam before making a splash at the bottom of a 30-foot-high slide.

13. Warrior Roast: Leap over the warrior fires
14. Muddy Mayhem: Scramble under the barbed wire and through the mud as you near the finish line

When all was said and done, my group felt that this year's run was not as difficult as previous years. A few things can be factors in that. One factor is that this is the 2nd year the race itself was untimed, and also the 1st year that none of us really were trying to be competitive. Another reason is because we are getting stronger each year!

Regardless how the course and the obstacles were, the real fun is the finish line! It's always a great time redeeming our free Shock Top beers, listening to the live music and meeting up with other friends who were running the event! The sun was caking in the muddiness, and it was getting more and more crowded, so the time we spent at the after party only lasted a couple of hours.

Pictured: Me, Ryan, Stacey, Marc, and Erik - Stark County Mudders!

Just like Christmas, New Years, or any other holiday, I always hate it when "Warrior Dash Day" comes to an end. The excitement leading up to it, the adrenaline pumping through your veins during it, and the celebrations afterwards is all why I keep coming back for more. Now if only I could get a day off work for this...

Running T-Shirt Quilt

Photo by OHventures

As an avid runner, my dresser drawers slowly began to overflow with race t-shirts I have collected over the many years of hitting the pavement. 

At first, it's really cool to get a new t-shirt every time you run - it can serve as a memento of a great accomplishment and fantastic experience had with friends. But, if you do 10, 15, even 20 races a year like I do, then it begins to take over your wardrobe, and your storage! A friend once asked if I had anything other than suits and running t-shirts, because he'd see me wearing them so often. Unacceptable.

So I decided it was time to do something about it. As part of my 30 Things To Do Before (While) I'm 30, I set out to have a quilt made using some old running t-shirts! It was a genius idea that I had seen before on Groupon. But rather than sending shirts off to a random company, I put the call out to my friends on Facebook to see if anyone had any ideas of where or who I could go to for a t-shirt quilt.

Many people stepped up and offered ideas, but one friend of mine, Rick, stepped up in a big way. He said that he had always wanted to try to make a quilt, but never had a reason to. If I trusted him, he said he would be willing to make a quilt for me. Instead of monetary payment, he said he would like to have a sampling of wines I gathered from all of my various wineries I visited across the state. It was a perfect match! 

I had to figure out which shirts I could use. He said he could take 20. There were some that I didn't want to give up because I really enjoy wearing them and they are too cool to give up. And there are some that - let's face it - are so ugly that I didn't even want them on a quilt. I wanted ones that looked good and were from races that had special meaning to me. So, after meticulous planning, I came up with a good mix of shirts. 

The shirts are, as displayed on the quilt:

Row 1 (l-r)

Capital City Quarter Marathon - May 2013, Columbus

Boardman Memorial Mile - May 2013, Boardman

Capital City Half Marathon - May 2012, Columbus (my first half marathon)

Run With The Pack 5K - June 2012, Columbus (first run I did with my dog)

Row 2 (l-r)

World Fit 5K - May 2014, Warren (my brother helped organize this race)

Selfless Elf 5K - December 2013, Akron

Glo Run Columbus - April 2013, Columbus

Arnold Pump & Run 5K 2014 - March 2014, Columbus

Row 3 (l-r)

Hubbard Public Library Zombie Run - October 2012, Hubbard

Oktoberfest Brat Trot 4 Miler - September 2012, Columbus

Warrior Dash Ohio 2014 - August 2014, North Lawrence

Out Of The Darkness Walk - October 2014, North Canton (in honor of my cousin)

Row 4 (l-r)

Team OHventures T-Shirts (a shirt I designed for the blog)

Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot - November 2012, Warren (started our family tradition)

Funny Bunny 4 Miler - April 2014, Canton (took place on my birthday)

Foam Fest 5K - June 2013, Logan

Row 5 (l-r)

Akron Marathon Relay 2014 - September 2014 Akron

Bike Columbus Festival – July 2012, Columbus (first biking event)

Dirty Dog 5K Run & Wash - July 2013, Avon Lake

Akron Gen. Birthday Bash Dash 5K - August 2014, Stow (I was Race Director)

These shirts were the perfect shirts to have made into a quilt. And, Rick certainly delivered with a high quality and great looking quilt (not too shabby for his first quilt making experience). Having this quilt has transformed a pile of t-shirts shoved in a dresser into a unique, meaningful and timeless piece of art (that also doubles as a comfy blanket). 

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Rick for making this happen. This is an item I will always value. One look at it brings back a flood of memories of friends and stories I have made in my running career that has truly changed my life in a number of ways. It's something you can't put a price tag on. No amount of wine can show my appreciation for this great creation!

14 Runs In '14

Photos by OHventures

It wasn’t planned, but I ran 14 Races in 2014 (AKA “14 in ’14”) in Ohio. 
Most of the events had a fun element or theme added in, such as running in nothing but your underwear (Cupid’s Undie Run) or running to get delicious food at the finish line (Slavic Village Pierogi Dash)! Many were done to support a cause, such as the World Fit 5K or the Selfless Elf (to support the local Foodbank). Most were 5Ks, but some were longer, such as the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon. 

I also added two more runs that were not done in Ohio (both in Pennsylvania). I do feel a bit like a cheater for putting them on this site. Either way, I am happy to have successfully completed over 76 competitive miles in one year!

Below, you can find links to all 14 of these events from 2014 in chronological order! Hopefully these can give your ideas for races you can run in the New Year!


1. Cupid’s Undie Run (February 2014 - 1 mile, untimed – Cleveland)
2. Arnold Pump & Run 5K (March 2014 – 3.1 miles in 21:46 – Columbus)
3. Funny Bunny Run (April 2014 – 4 miles in 32:23 – Canton)
4. Pro Football Hall of Fame (Half) Marathon (April 2014 – 13.1 miles in 1:56:27 – Canton)
5. World Fit 5K (May 2014 – 3.1 miles, 24:00 – Warren)
6. Tough Mudder (May 2014 – 10.5 miles in approx. 3:30:00 – Mansfield)
7. Slavic Village Pierogi Dash (June 2014 – 3.1 miles in 23:38 – Cleveland)
8. Warrior Dash Ohio II (August 2014 – 3.1 miles in approx. 45:00 – North Lawrence)
9. Akron Gen. Birthday Bash Dash (August 2014 - 3.1 miles, untimed - Stow)
10. Akron Marathon Relay (September 2014 – 5.5 miles in 44:35 – Akron)
11. Spartan Race Ohio (October 2014 – 11.5 miles in approx. 3:30:00 – Cumberland)
12. A Christmas Story Run (December 2014 – 3.1 miles in 23:36 – Cleveland)
13. Selfless Elf 5K (December 2014 – 3.1 miles in TBA – Akron)
14. The Great New Years Eve Run (December 2014 - 3.1 miles in TBA - Stow)

Additionally, we ran in two races abroad in Pennsylvania, which deserve their own category:
1. Foxburg Nature Festival Run (May 2014 – 3.1 miles in 25:27 – Foxburg, PA)
2. Buhl Park Gobble Wobble (November 2014 – 3.1 miles in 29:35 – Hermitage, PA)
For kicks, you might also be interested in the 3 walking events I took part in for charity this fall:

1. Stark County Mutt Strut (September 2014 – 2 miles, untimed – North Canton)
2. Walk A Mile In Her Shoes (October 2014 – 1 mile, untimed – Canton)
3. Out Of The Darkness Walk (October 2014 – 2 miles, untimed – North Canton)
You can also now visit the NEW OHventures Running Archive Page – which has ALL runs we have completed to date in chronological order!

Top 10 OHventures of 2014

Out of any other year, I feel that 2014 put the most miles on my odometer. I drove to every corner of the state - Toledo to Athens to Geneva to Cincinnati visiting friends, attending weddings, working, and of course adventuring. In doing so, I definitely had a year full of unique experiences. As with every year (see 2012 and 2013), I give to you the Top 10 OHventures of 2014. There were many to choose from, but if you needed to see the best of the best, here they are (in no particular order)!

Use this list to start planning some awesome bucket list items to do in 2015.

1. The Lodge At Geneva-On-The-Lake: The romanticism of Ohio's Lake Erie shoreline is encapsulated to perfection at the upscale yet affordable Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake. I stayed here for a weekend in June and saw for myself all the fantastic pleasures that can be unearthed while staying at this hot vacation spot.

2. Mohican Tree House Cabins: Halfway between Cleveland and Columbus is an adventurer's paradise, an outdoorsman's dream, and one of the most unique attractions found in all of Ohio: The Mohican Treehouse Cabins. I stayed overnight in these AWESOME accommodations!

3. Bon Appetit Appalachia!: I had the privilege to witness a glimpse (and sample a taste) of this innovative farm-to-fork concept on a visit to Athens - the setting for a large number of these culinary destinations in the state. Follow me as I eat - and drink - my way through Appalachia!

4. Tree Frog Canopy Tours: Another year where a zipline locale makes the list! This time, we made our way BACK to Mohican Country for the tallest, fastest, and longest zip line in all of Ohio! Pictures say 1,000 words.

5. Tough Mudder Ohio: If you think that a 3-mile obstacle course like Warrior Dash is crazy, then you ain't seen nothing yet! The Tough Mudder was 12 miles of muddy mayhem in Mansfield, trumping anything I've ever done before! And how can I EVER forget the arctic enema and the electroshock therapy?! I must be a masochist.

6. Akron Birthday Bash Dash 5K: This was a very special 5K walk/run for me, because it was the first time ever that - instead of running the course -  I ran the ENTIRE event as the race director! The 5K in Stow was a TON of work, but proved to be a success, raising money for Muffins For Mammograms & celebrating the 100th "birthday" of the health system. 

7. Columbus Pedal Wagon: My family & friends hopped aboard this contraption that required us to use our man-power to wheel the wagon from bar to bar to bar in the streets of the Short North one football Saturday in October. Check it out in Cincinnati as well.

8. Kayak The Bay at PIB: Between drinking wine and barhopping on 4th of July weekend in Put-In-Bay, a group of college friends decided to get a workout in and kayak the beautiful waters of Lake Erie surrounding South Bass Island. 

9. Polar Plunge: A polar plunge (also known as a polar bear jump) is for the bravest of brave and the craziest of crazy! I participated in the Polar Plunge at Mosquito Lake State Park in Cortland on January 18 as a benefit for the Special Olympics of Ohio. Even the photos make me shiver.

10. Dragon Boat Festival at Portage Lakes: I competed with my friends Chelsie and Craig in the annual Dragon Boat Festival at Portage Lakes on July 12 in Summit County. We learned just how hard it is for 20 people to paddle in unison to power a dragon boat - but Team Morgan Stanley made it to the FINALS!

Spartan Race Ohio Recap

Photos by OHventures and Spartan Race

I must preface this post by saying: I am NOT a wimp!

I swear I am not! I have kicked butt in countless obstacle races, half marathons, stair climbs, and the list goes on.

But now, instead of kicking butt, my butt has been kicked. I’ve finally met my match: The Spartan Race.

Ah, yes, the Spartan Race. This nightmare of an experience took place on the dreadfully cold morning of October 4, 2014 in Cumberland (Zanesville) in Guernsey County.

The Spartan Race is a well-established obstacle race series designed to push your limits, test your strength, and challenge your endurance. There are dedicated followers both nationally and internationally who travel to compete in these epic events year-round.

There are several ways in which one can experience the Spartan Race. Three main events at most all Spartan Race functions are the Sprint, the Super, and the Beast.

• The Spartan Sprint is comprised of 15+ obstacles over 3+ miles and is a great way to get off the couch and onto the course! 
• The Spartan Super will test your physical strength and mental resolve. Tackle 20+ obstacles over 8+ miles, and show that you're Spartan tough! 
• The Spartan Beast is a true test of will. Tackle 25+ obstacles over 12+ miles, and prove you're the ultimate Spartan! 

Given the opportunity to participate in the Spartan Race when it came to Ohio this month, I jumped on the offer. My brother - who is just the most badass warrior I know (I may be a bit biased) - was up for the task as well. Together, we decided to go "middle of the road" and sign up for the Spartan Super. We had done so many Warrior Dash races in the past, so we thought this would be the perfect match to challenge us.

And challenge us, it did.

Making our way to Southeast Ohio, we knew we were in for it based solely on the frigid weather that was in the forecast that morning. Our run was to begin at 10:30 AM, and it was in the mid-40s at that time! 

When we arrived, the "parking lot" was MAYHEM! It was sloppy, unorganized, and and very frustrating. We were led by the volunteers through a muddy field and we had to literally park on the course itself!! The back-end of our car was sticking out onto the trail as dozens of runners sprinted by. 

So, we had to start a bit late bcause of the parking debacle. I was stressed out and failed to eat my protein bar or energy shots. But we eventually made it to the start line and without much preparation, we were off and running! 

One aspect of the Spartan Race that differs from most other obstacle races is that they did not provide a course map online ahead of time. So, essentially you had no idea what you were getting into. I couldn't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. They claim that the "surprise" aspect of the race is part of the whole "Spartan experience" but I personally feel that it's just something they say so that they don't have to take the time to make an official map and put it on the site. Either way, that's what we had to work with.

Here is where the main problem came. We signed up for the "Super" Race thinking it was going to be 8+ miles as advertised, but there was no way of knowing how long it really was going to be. In our heads, we thought perhaps it would be about 9 miles, maximum. But we were pretty far off.

Me taking on the "Bucket Brigade"!

The Super course ended up being close to 12 miles of HELL!

I love a good challenge, so in retrospect, this "hell" I refer to was something I am proud to have accomplished. But, at the time, I was struggling! Let's give a quick recap of some of the main aspects of the race (not all inclusive, and not necessarily in the proper order).

 

• Wall Traverse & Under/Overs: A series of walls you must jump/climb over.
• Muddy Water Pit: I don't know what it's really called, but it was just a pit of muddy water.
• Bucket Brigade: Fill a bucket with gravel and carry it through a winding, hilly trail.
• Tire Flip: Pick a monster truck-sized tire and flip it multiple times.
• Army Crawl: The classic crawl in mud under barbed wire - for a LONG time!
• Sand Bag Carry: Carry sand bags through a trail. Much like the gravel buckets before.
• Log Carry: Another carrying obstacle?! I was getting a bit bored with these - and drained of strength!
• Atlas Ball: A 100-pound perfectly spherical rock you had to carry about 30 feet.*
• Log Balance: Large logs you walked on over water (I scooted instead of walked).
• Stumps: Tiny stumps sticking out of the ground - you had to walk from stump to stump without touching the ground. We made out-of-state friends who helped us at this stop!
• Cargo Climb: A climb up a large cargo net - emphasis on LARGE!
• Rope Climb: Just like gym class, climbing a rope and ringing a bell (I failed at this).
• Spear Throw: A pretty unique aspect of the Spartan Race - throwing a javelin into a haystack!
• Herculean Hoist: Pulling a sandbag via a pulley system to the top, and slowly bringing it back down. Super HEAVY!
• 1nverse Wall: A wall traverse with a wall slanted at 45 degrees.
• Double Dirty: Jumping onto three long-felled ascending logs about 5-6 feet apart. This was one of the most difficult and most painful, because you had stand up, balance yourself, then jump from one log to the next (jumping both across and up). You'd basically have your stomach slam into the next log and bear hug it, then pull yourself up.
• Fire Jump: Like other mud races, a leap over burning logs.

Again, this was just a sample of what we experienced. The main challenge was the muddy, hilly, treacherous trails we ran on in between the obstacles. There was unfortunately a great deal of walking that took place as a result of how difficult the terrain was. 

My brother looking quite miserable.

Bothersome was the fact that we literally would run well over a mile in between some obstacles. And I was frankly underwhelmed with some of the obstacles. I guess what I learned is that the Spartan Race has many tests of your STRENGTH above all else, which is why there were so many items we had to "carry" and whatnot. 

Also - if you did not successfully complete an obstacle, you had to do X-amount of BURPEES! That's right, burpees. The jump/squat/pushup  combo move that everyone loves to hate. 

To add to the already miserable conditions, it HAILED midway through our run. Yes, hail! Ohio is so weird sometimes.

*But not all was horrible. The Atlas Ball, for instance, was one of my proudest moments. It was so very difficult and I wanted to give up. I almost did, but my brother encourged me to keep trying. I kept at it, and I found a spark within me to accomplish the task at hand. I managed to lift the atlas ball and complete the obstacle! You have the strength to do more than you imagine. And this was proof.

 

Eventually, we finished in one piece. It took us 3.5 hours, but we did it!

 

Here's the thing. This was the very first time Spartan Race came to Ohio. Because of this, I feel like they had a LOT of things that need improved upon. The parking situation was the worst, and I can not believe I actually had to pay $10 to park where I did. Also, there need to be far more water stops and perhaps some other fueling stations (protein bars, bananas, etc. like they have at the Tough Mudder). Lastly, if they are going to advertise an 8 mile race, it should be somewhat close to 8 miles. That was tough for me because I had not properly fueled.

When all is said and done, I did truly enjoy the Spartan Race, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a REAL, advanced challenge (maybe I have been babied too much by the dinky Warrior Dash).

Call me a masochist, but after a lot of reflection, I was able to look back and appreciate the pain, suffering, and struggle I went through to tackle the Spartan Race. It made me feel like I really earned that medal at the end, and I am part of an elite group of individuals who call themselves Spartans! I almost feel bad to have complained on the course. I witnessed a lot of grit and determination, and even handicapped folks who overcame their adversities to take on this monster of a race.

One more in the bag, and it's one for the books. AROO!

Warrior Dash Ohio II 2014 Photo Blog

Who: You and 10,000 fellow runners
What: The craziest frickin' day of your life (AKA Warrior Dash Ohio 2014)
When: Various dates across the country. These pictures are from August 9, 2014.
Where: North Lawrence, Ohio.
Why: To challenge yourself physically and mentally to run through crazy obstacles and get dirty!
How: Visit the official Web site to find out more!

Photos by OHventures and Gameface Media