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

Warrior Dash to get Away

When I signed up for Warrior Dash last year on Cyber Monday I thought to myself well I don't have anything else to do that day so why not. I wish that I could have looked into the future and seen that I could have spent my day watching grass grow in the desert which would have been better use of my time than go to the race. We got to the venue an hour early to make sure that I got to my heat on time. I registered for my first ever elite heat. I got close to the starting gate to make sure that after the 8:00 a.m. heat goes off I could get to the front for the 8:30 a.m. heat. Well 8:00 came and went then 8:15 and still no heat has gone off. Well 8:30 a.m. came and I worked my way close to the front. So they combined the 8:00 and 8:30 heats. It was 8:35 a.m. and they finally let the elite heats go. As I was running I noticed there was a lot more white bibs then there should be in an elite heat. I chose the elite heat for a reason and that reason was to stop the bottlenecking and keep the slower, non regular OCR runners out of the way. I in my elite black bib got stuck behind a large group of slow non elite runners in their white bibs. That put me too far behind to catch the front of the pack. I am not a really fast runner but I can hold my own and pick up my time on the obstacles. I got to the first obstacle and the less battle tested runners where clogging up the obstacles and slowing down the line behind them. Also the obstacles were entirely too close. There was seriously 4 obstacles within 1/8 of a mile from each other. I understand that it was at a baseball complex so that makes it more difficult to place obstacles but with that being said I would not have chosen to have an event there. There are a lot more choices to have an OCR in Phoenix. The difficulty of the obstacles were a joke. As I went over a dome looking obstacle there were two guys standing there with hammer in hand waiting to see if a board was going to fall out. There is something a little uneasy feeling about that. As I continued along the course I breezed through the very easy, novice level obstacles. I kept thinking to myself at least there is a fire jump towards the end, that will be cool. As I circled the track I can see the smoke, I get up to the area and see there was no jumping over the fire you had to run in-between two areas about 30 feet apart that produced more smoke than heat or fire. I climbed up and over one of the last obstacles and saw Goliath the newest obstacle for WD. I climbed up the rope ladder to the top where there was a slide, about time something fun a water slide. Down I went thinking ok I am done, nope. There was a very weak barb wire crawl. The barb wire was 3 feet above me and the water was really soupy with mud. I feel that was WD way of saying "Hey we are a mud run" instead of a fun run. I crossed the finish line very disappointed for a few reasons. First I was disappointed because if I wanted to wait for people to go over or through obstacles then I would have signed up for the non -elite heat. Secondly, really the only mud at the very end of the race. So I got my medal went to find the shower area, it was all the way across the venue. I got cleaned off and went to the changing tent, if they would have had a changing tent. So I went out to my car and changed out there. Maybe I have been spoiled with the more elite and better put together event such as Spartan, Tough Mudder and Terrain Race. I would not recommend this race to anyone that wants to compete or be part of an organized event. My suggestion for the coordinators of WD is to get a more enthusiastic MC the girl they had was really boring and seemed like she didn't want to be there. I think they should have people checking bands for elite heat vs non elite heats. I am sure I am not the only person that was upset about that. So with that said I do not think I will do another WD until they get things right. I will use my hard earned money on the events that test me and I feel accomplished at the end and not disappointed.

2014 Warrior Dud Arizona

I don't even know where to begin to express my disappointment with the Warrior Dash folks. A group of 10 of my coworkers have been traveling to compete in WD events for the past 3 years. We made the 7 hour trek to Glendale AZ from ABQ under the assumption we would be competing in a chip timed RACE with age group results. The event was NOT timed and obviously was not sorted by age group or an awards ceremony. The only people that should bother to show up for future WD events are the top 3 Males and the top 3 Females. Those were the ONLY participants that were recognized out of the thousands that competed. I don't understand the rationalization of the organizers of the WD events. The information director on site stated that this will be how they run future WD events. The director stated that ONLY the competitive wave would be timed. That was also not true. We all raced in the competitive wave and none of our times were recorded. As far as the course goes it was entirely run through parling lots and around baseball fields without any hills, rugged terrain or change in scenery. The WD Roast (leaping over the fire) was non-existent. We ran adjacent to a fire. I always used to purchase the photo of the fire leap. Not sure why we signed a waiver. The only way someone is going to get hurt at future WD events is if they choke on a turkey leg afterwards. There are far too many options for chip timed races for me to participate in any future WD events. I sincerely hope the "RACE" organizers reconsider the many bad decisions they have made in 2014. In previous years I really enjoyed COMPETING in this event. Also, participants can't even view their photos unless they have a social media account with either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. So I can't even view or purchase our pictures from the event. I would also rate this event 0 if it were an option.

Warrior Dash GA 2014

Warrior Dash GA event 2014
Warrior Dash for the Georgia event in 2014 decided to go back to the location they have used in previous year, located in Clayton, GA. Because of the location there is no parking directly on site, Warrior Dash did a great job of arranging parking off site and had lots of shuttles available. From all of the people I talked to who parked in the off site location, no one had to wait for a long time and the shuttle ride only took about 10 minutes. Part of that ease might have come from all of the businesses around the venue and even some of the residents that offer parking in their yards or parking lots for the same $10 that Warrior Dash charges.
It is a short walk up the hill to the venue from either the parking or shuttle drop off. Check in was quick and easy. The festival area was nice and big so everyone had room to meet up and spread out. The beer was flowing early and steady the entire day.
The start line was a little bit of a letdown, not much of a pep talk, no real hype to get the first timers going. They called waves over saying X minutes before the next wave. The biggest thing about the start was the blast of the flames at the beginning, in the first wave or three the blast was welcome as the temperature was not warm yet, but by the afternoon waves the blast of heat was a bit much.
By my count Warrior Dash had the 12 obstacles they stated on their map without calling steep hills obstacles, but I am not sure on the 3.1 miles they said. After running the course multiple times the longest distance I got was 2.9 miles. For the most part the obstacles were well constructed but there might need to be a few changes for a little more safety. I know people don’t run OCR’s for a feeling of safety, but hiding barbed wire in the end of a cargo net without an indicators or signage makes for a lot of cut up people. The first water obstacle, deadweight drifter, needed a little adjustments, which they made later in the day. The pond was deep enough to require some swimming, and cold enough to take your breaths away or at least make guys voices go a little higher. With only a sign off to the side to let participants know that swimming would be required the lifeguards were very busy during the morning waves. After placing one of the lifeguards at the entry point to let people know that there was an option for those who could not swim well, the lifeguards had a much easier time of it. The only other obstacle to have any real issues with Goliath, the backup started very early and was getting crazy, with a 30+ minute wait to do the last obstacle, in some cases almost doubling participants time, even though Warrior Dash is no longer a timed event. The major hold up was on the balance beams to cross; they were a little less than solid. That along with a near 10 foot drop into a muddy water puddle below had participants a little shaky on the crossing. At some point in the day Warrior Dash made an adjustment to the obstacle and added some rope hand rails that made everyone feel a little better and the backup was gone. The only other downside I can think of was the fact that spectators were limited in what they could see. From the festival area the starting line, mud pit crawl, fire jump, sloped wall and Goliath were visible. The finishers’ photo shoot area was not well marked and a lot of people missed it.
The party atmosphere was on in full in the festival area with a lot of dancing, drinking and hanging out. The food was typical venue food. The local residents and businesses were very accommodating and most of the local restaurants had specials for anyone wearing a Warrior Dash shirt, medal, hat, or anything else with Warrior Dash on it.
As for a rating for Warrior Dash, I have to do it like this:
First time OCR - 3 stars
Veteran OCR – 2 stars
After party – 4 stars
Ability to adjust and make corrections – 3 stars – they should not have to make corrections.
Final stars 2.5 out of 5

Worst OCR ever

I have done this before & it was a good beginners course but this yr was one of the worst set ups! For being in the game for so long you would think it would get better each yr right? Well no this was seriously crap......The obstacles were some of the lamest i have done, it felt like it was all running & climbing over wooden obstacles & boom the Goliath at the end witch was decent at best! Local mudruns have better obstacles that WD. I just hope people doing their 1st mud run dont get discouraged & think that all OCR races are like this. The only thing fun was with the group I came with. I knew this was a beginners OCR race going into it but come on, no monkey bars?! Nope... You have a fire pit at the end but cant jump over it?!?! whats the point! WD thats my final time I look into your races...0 stars if I coud

DisappointingArizona Warrior Dash 2014

This was my forth year doing the Arizona Warrior Dash and was by far the most disappointing. This was the first year it wasn’t timed. Who wants to run a race without being timed? The ten minute wait at the Goliath was a joke and the wash off station was broken for thirty minutes. You think as long as they have been putting on these events they would have figured it out by now. I really enjoyed Warrior Dash in the past but I am unlikely to be doing it again.

I have run this before, and the race on balance was enjoyable. The main/only gripe is not timing the race at all. I don't know how a clock is too much to invest in?? Even if chips are too expensive/complicated, just set up a clock at the beginning or end!

Arizona Warrior Dash 2014

Although my teammates were familiar with the general layout of this course from last year, I got to see it with new eyes being a 'virgin' Dasher and I feel that it was a decent novice, well intended, easy course for those seeking out a fun run to do with friends and have a run laden experience laced with a smattering of basic obstacles. I did enjoy the newest addition to the series, Goliath which made for an exhilarating net climbing, wet finish coupled with the deep trenches of slick, thickened mud trenches which I felt ended too quickly and given the layout I understand, but a more dirt laden course could've introduced more mud and difficulty to the experience. In comparison to past runs, I felt this Dash was slightly better than Survivor Az but not as rigorous as say Mudathon and the bottle necking heading into the Goliath was the bear of it all and lasted a bit longer than I would've liked. In terms of aesthetics, it was a pristine course that went up, down and around the mini stadium to start the first leg of the race for what seemed to be the first mile, across dirt and over grass (which was sort've nice) but the obstacles could have been separated a bit more in my opinion. I really liked that the coordinators took into account the heat factor and included a lot more water stations than I've seen on such a short course but believe me, it helped tons! In a more spread out, more open expanse of terrain, more muddy obstacles could have been introduced but the event did what they could to provide a moderate experience to make it easily accessible for all racers. Shocktop and Monster beverage brands were optimum choices and although I never requested my free beer, the Vanilla Monster Energy Shake was mighty tasty! All walks of life arrived to try their hand and even though there were some delays in starting times and crowding towards the end of the event, the course was clearly marked and volunteer presence was fairly decent. I only physically saw maybe one photog [near Goliath] which is understandable given the heat, hopefully some great shots were taken. I think I would make another attempt in the coming race year to fill my schedule with a quick run or to introduce brand new racers to the sport but wouldn't be ashamed to skip it for something a tad more difficult. I really like the new medals and am pleased to say that they are well crafted, sturdy, aesthetically pleasing and how can you go wrong with a bottle opener? ha ;) A fairly solid effort overall and I would still recommend it as a good OCR career starter.


Afterthought:

Eh.

They did a better job this year of keeping water flowing at the hand washing stations and the rinse off area. The obstacles were so-so, and the 2x4's were breaking on one of them (the done shaped one, can't remember the name of it. The Goliath was fun but the 10 minute long wait to get on it SUCKED. Shuck Too as the free beer was a plus. The biggest disappointment was no timing chips this year. But, with the bottle neck at Goliath maybe it's better that way.

fun

Just got home from running the Warrior Dash. It was a fun run and great for the beginner and the moderate OCR runner. Everything was well organized which helped a lot. Only down fall was the bottle neck at the end when we got to Goliath.

Warrior Dash- Great

Course was great... I've done a few OCR, this was a little tougher than I anticipated, I'm not in the greatest shape but it was possible to finish. The cliffhanger and monkey bars were the ones more challenging for me. I enjoyed the free beer after the race. With so many buses going from the parking lot to the event we didn't have to wait long. Overall great event, definitely would do it again.