Was very excited when I heard about this event coming to Atlanta. I had always told my wife how I wanted to compete on the show and that I could probably win if I had the chance. So once she heard about it, even though I was initially on the fence about it, she encouraged me to go.
The price seemed a bit high, and there's all kinds of fees at the end, including insurance, mailing you the packet, merchandise, parking, etc. I chose to do race day packet pick up since it was the cheapest option. Just be sure to arrive an hour early and you should have plenty of time. The packet includes a t-shirt, bib, and safety pins.
Since the event was held in October, it was rainy and cold. The experience could've been better had it been held in September or spring. There was also a foam pit on the second obstacle course where you slide head first, then leap into a foam pit. This turned out to be a disaster for me as you cannot tell how deep the water is because it is covered with foam. I jumped in expecting it to be much deeper and ended up spraining my ankle when I couldn't catch a good footing and rolled it in the water. I couldn't come all this way just to sit out after 5 mins, so I hobbled my way through the rest of the 5k course, occasionally taking a shortcut or two. But it was definitely a disappointment. Also, since there are quite a few obstacles with water courses, you end up running the course soaking wet. And each subsequent course is dirty and covered with mud and wet blades of grass rubbing off of previous contestants.
The course was well run with plenty of volunteers. And it was a nice space to hold the race. There was minimal wait time as the lines at each obstacle was not too long. Overall I had a fun time "running" the race with a group of friends. And there was a medical tent at the end of the race where I was able to get my ankle wrapped up. If not for the cold weather and the misstep at the beginning, it would've been a lot more fun. read more
