Cure for the "Just Running" Blues

Often times, when I'm trying to get my friends on the race running 'bandwagon', the response I get is, "So, all you do is run?  That seems kind of boring!"  Well, I have the cure for the "Just Running" Blues...I've found (and run) several races that involve obstacle courses, scavenger hunts, costume contests, and all sorts of other fun activities for those of us that need that little extra incentive to get off the couch and lace up the running shoes.  I'll start with one of my favorites, the Warrior Dash!

This race has it all...it's a 5K (for those of you new to running, that means the course is only 3.1 miles long) race, where people dress up in crazy costumes and run, but along the course, there are such amazingly wonderful obstacles as a chest deep body of water with logs you have to make your way over, a cargo net wall that you must climb and descend, a sea of tires that you have to run through, a pitch dark tunnel to crawl through, an abandoned car yard where you get to climb and run over the vehicles, towers of fire to jump over...

...(that's me and my friend Nate getting ready to clear the second set of fire piles), and finally, a huge pond of mud you get to crawl through as you make your way to the finish line!

Adam, myself, Nate, and Steven good and dirty after our adventures at the Warrior Dash in Oregon!

After getting the mud washed out of my eyes at the First Aid Station, I got to start enjoying the yummy snacks at the end of the race (which include the usual post race fare of fruit, bread, and energy drinks, but also there are turkey legs and beer...AWESOME!)  And yes sickos, I am wearing pants...you just can't tell because of all the mud!!!!  Such a fun race, and with locations all over the country, you are sure to be able to find a WD near you.

Another obstacle race (one that coincidentally I'm currently trying to get a team together to run) is the Winter Pineapple Classic 5K.

This is another 3.1 mile course where people dress up and run the obstacle course, many of them dressed up in crazy costumes, but maybe the best thing about this particular race is that you run with a team, and you must help each other through the obstacles, you start as a team, and you finish as a team.  You can run the race individually, but if you have the option of running with friends, why wouldn't you?

The next race I found out about through competing in the Warrior Dash because it is a sister race (put on by the same company)...the Great Urban Race.

This race is part run/part scavenger hunt through the city as you and your teammate(s) compete against other teams to solve 12 clues and get to the finish line first.  Again, people dress up in crazy costumes, teams get to stretch both their mental and physical muscles, and you get to see your city in a whole new way.  And just like the Warrior Dash, there are races all across the country, meaning you shouldn't have to look too far for this fun time (there are ones in Seattle and Portland, just to name a few PNWers).  I personally can't wait to try my hand at the one in Seattle next year, and I might even do the one in Portland as well, just to get to know that city a little better...it's such a fun place, I can only imagine how fun of a scavenger hunt it will bring on!

My New Year's Resolution back in 2010 was to run a race for every major holiday (New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, etc) and I quickly found out one of the best things about holiday inspired races...TONS OF COSTUMES!!!  Do not underestimate the ability of lots of people running around you in hilarious outfits to make running a race that much easier and that much more fun!  If you go to this AMAZING website, www.runningintheusa.com, you can click on any state, and it will show you the races coming up in your area, including all of the fun holiday races with costumes (this site is coincidentally how I found most of my races for my resolution that year, which I completed by the way...11 races for the 11 major holidays in 12 months!).

My totally green outfit for the Shamrock Run I did for St. Patrick's Day down in Portland.

My friend Amy and I dressed as clowns (although, we ended up looking more like 80's back up dancers if you removed the red noses) for the Starlight Run in Portland which I ran for my Father's Day race in June.  Funny thing about this race, I swore up and down that it was a costume run and that year it was Clown Themed, so Amy and I searched for 'clowny' type outfits.  When we parked near the race and got out, the first 20 or so people we saw as we were walking to the starting line were in regular running clothes, not in costumes, prompting our friend Jessica to ask, "Umm, are you sure this is a costume run?!?!?!"  Thankfully, just as I was starting to panic, we saw a guy dressed as a human port-a-potty with a race number taped to his front, so we no longer looked like the silliest ones there.  Race ended up being super fun!

Have you ever dressed up in costume to run a race?