Warrior Dash obstacle races, mud run, and OCR information, distance, cost, dates, calendar, discounts, obstacles, reviews, and more

No Time for competition

It was obvious this year that the Warrior Dash has designed itself for grabbing a quick buck from coach potatoes. I have run the Dash 4 years in a row and always told others to choose this over other mud runs which I also participate in. The reason was that it was a great balance of competitive cross country running and obstacles. They say that they used the timing money to create better obstacles, however it was the weakest year, with very few obstacles that all were variations on each other. There was a lot of congestion on these obstacles because nobody was worrying about time. Spartan Race has much more diversity in the obstacles and still manages to time the race. Tough Mudder doesn't time most of there races but offers more of an experience on run day. If Warrior Dash doesn't have a time for me, I guess I don't have time for them. I will be enjoying a free weekend in July next year, while others wait behind out of shape people wearing t shirts with slogans, once reserved for weekend Warriors and cross fit groups.

Warrior Dash Minnesota - 2014

Registration / Check-In:

It was a shuttle from the local nursery/greenhouse to the Afton Alps site. For an event with 5000+ people converging on the same location, I felt the parking/bus process went very smoothly. People were losing patience around me & I heard grumbles about how long it was taking. Remember: this is why WD said to get there 1 - 1.5 hours before your wave start. Check-in was decent, the use of iPads seemed to streamline things compared to the "Check in that box over there" style. Once again, people were impatient and unrealistic with their expectations of speed and ease. I did not visit the merch tent or eat the food so can't comment on that. Shocktop was the main beer sponsor so at least it wasn't a Coors Water or Miller Very Light event :)

Course:

12 obstacles, mostly standard tunnels, dividing walls, balance beams, A-frame climb-overs. The main obstacle in this race was the HILLS! Lots of them, a great challenge and a very well done job by Warrior Dash for use of terrain. The Goliath was a good obstacle, even did it twice (that slide was great, made me feel like a kid)!!

I was there earlier in the morning (10am wave) and heard reports of weather-related issues later in the day. Weather is not created nor controlled by WD so blaming weather-related problems on them is un-realistic and unfair. Their FB page had updates on the situation but haven't heard anything about how communications on-site went. Besides, if you're complaining about getting wet while waiting for the bus... come on, you're at a OCR race, it's expected. The lack of timing chips was discouraging, hence the 3 star rating. I understand the reasoning behind it (new obstacle, more races and the WD World Championships), but it's a major shift in comparison to other races & seems to be expected in a lot of these races nowadays. Remains to be seen if this move by WD will backfire, but at least the opinion can be taken at their HQ and viewed.

Would I do this race again? Yes, if they keep the same course as this year... very challenging and fun. 5 star course by WD, 3.5/4 star everything else. I would work on the volunteers as well...aside from Goliath, the rest of the volunteers shouted no words of encouragement or seemed to be paying attention at all. I understand it was humid and sticky, but a little pep never hurts :)

See you all next year!

This was my third year with my daughter - brought my son for first time. Was disappointed this year and question if I'll return. Packet pick up was ridiculous; never waited that long in past. Staff/volunteers along the way were not helpful except for slide portion, who were great. No chips? Really? Big disappointment in that. It was obvious that Warrior Dash was trying to save money - but at the expense of participants? Just didn't live up to the last two years, very disappointed. Did NOT like beer vendor - no one in our party did. My son says he won't return and will have to see if my daughter and I will. Way too steep of hills to get the most out of our run.

Unorganized and poorly promoted

This was our last race with the Warrior Dash. Like the other reviewer said, no encouragement from the staff/or volunteers other than at the end on the bigger obstacle. Last year there were people at each obstacle encouraging you. The route was more even with a few challenging hills. This year we had to run up so many steep hills. Barely got to run at all the hills were just too steep. No chips either. What's the point if we can't get our time?
Perk - new and more challenging obstacles, but it wasn't enough to make us come back next year.
We're heading to the Rugged Maniac for next year.

No chips? Really? We received no communication that chips would not be used this year. My family and I have run the last 3 years and enjoy the competition. But, with no chip times may not participate again. Good obstacles this year, but no support from staff/volunteers along the run. I've run 15 marathons and the support from volunteers is amazing. Most (except the mud slide people) just sat in a chair and watched. Would it kill them to offer a little encouragement? You need to do better next year or people will be leaving for better events.

Disappointed

The course was poorly managed this year. This was my third year doing the course. I have loved it in the past. This year will be last. I had to wait an hour and a half to even start to race. No dj to tell you what was going on. Lack of communication. No chip times! What did I pay for? I did a competitive heat for a reason and didnt even get a chip. What is the point of a competitive heat with no chip?! What a waste of time and money.

A Shadow of What it Once Was.

Likely will never run this one again for the cost. $65 dollars for terrible organization.
Their cost cutting measures are showing. This is now a poorly organized event that used to be something fun and special.

This was my 5th year running the Illinois Warrior Dash, and likely my last.
The Good: The new obstacles
-The Medical Team did a great job

The Bad: 15 minute wait times at the obstacles.
-Overflooded heats.
-Large Sections of course where you had to go single file, making it impossible to actually race.
-1.5 hour start delay.
-NO CHIP TIMES?
-Understaffed ID check and Packet pickup tents. Resulting in an hour plus wait.
-No announcer at the start line.
-ATM vendor pulled out last minute.
-Total lack of communication between the employees and each other and the employees and the participants.
This event has turned into a shadow of it's former self. If you are doing it for an experience, do a color run, foam run, neon run or something else. If you are looking for a challenge, do a Spartan or Tough Mudder, they are much much much better organized, and listen to feedback to get better each year, unlike this event which is consistently getting worse.

disappointing

This is the third year I've run Warrior Dash; the course in Amesbury was far superior to the disgusting course in Barre, MA last year (on a farm site so the mud smelled like...you can probably guess) and more interesting than Thompson, CT, which was at the Speedway and had a boring first section. The obstacles were too easy - I'm guessing they are trying to make it enjoyable for every single participant. There were way too many walkers in my wave - there are many sections of the course too narrow to pass people without running them down, and when you have a dozen people walking in single file with no room to pass, it limits your ability to run. The busing to and from the parking area was ill run - waits for over an hour. Packet pickup seemed a little better, but there was some confusion about the waiver - FAQs said to complete and bring with you; they didn't want them at the event; instead wanted you to complete an online form. No chips or timing; no race results. The beer was a little better this year anyhow - marginally. If the race were only $25 or so to do, I might do it again, but at $60+, forget it. I'd rather do something more challenging and better organized.

WD NC 2014 - Very different

I ran the Warrior Dash last year in Virginia, and I had a blast. I've since done many OCRs and mud runs, including Tough Mudder, yet I've consistently told people how WD has been my favorite. However, this year was different.

I had a great time with my friends of course, which included two OCR newcomers, and I was more concerned with them having a great time than myself (which they did.) This year was just so different than last year. While, unlike other reviewers, I wasn't too upset with the lack of chips (all emails leading to the event stated we wouldn't get them unless we registered for the competitive heat), the packet lines were RIDICULOUS. We got there around 10am and probably waited around half an hour. People getting there after waited over an hour. They should go back to sorting by last name.

The obstacles were a lot easier in NC than I remember in VA. Maybe I'm just stronger, but aside from Goliath (which I did really like), the obstacles seemed very few and far between. I specifically also remember having the best washing off experience at WD VA, and this year paled in comparison. Instead of hoses with awesome water pressure, there were huuuuge lines leading up to two solitary people holding fire hoses that could rinse one person at a time, aside from water trucks raining water down. It was sorta neat, but not very effective.

All in all, a good beginner's OCR, but disappointing to those more experienced.

Warrior Dash Maryland

After running in last year's event, I was excited to run it again with my wife, who hesitantly agreed to run it with me, and some friends of ours. Right from the start I recognized that this not like last year’s event. The lines for packet pickup were organized by last name last year, which helped reduce the amount of time in line. This year it was a complete cluster... it was a mess. And a lack of timer was a bummer, as I would have liked to have known how I did compared to last year’s time. The course itself had a substantial more amount of mud on the course than last year. I enjoyed it, but I heard more complaining about it than not. I enjoyed the obstacles. Nothing too challenging, but entertaining IMO. I enjoyed the new Goliath obstacle and the cargo net tunnel was tougher than it looked. After crossing the finish line completely covered in mud, we headed to the rinse off station. This was such a disappointment. It was run so efficiently last year that I was expecting to be able to rinse off quickly to get back to the festivities relatively washed off. More than half of the water stations didn't work and the ones that did barely sprayed the recycled muddy water they were using to draw from a muddy water pool. After "rinsing off", we grabbed some overpriced food and watched the end of the course by the beer tent. I hope that the organizers for next year’s event read these reviews and make an effort to make this an enjoyable experience like it was last year. Overall, we enjoyed the day. I'll be back again hoping to see marked improvements. Next up is the ROC race.