The location was perfect. It was at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The same location as the Spartan. It was still as beautiful as I remember it. Lots of new greenery and running through the mountains and open desert and along dry river beds was a nice visual. The thing that was great here was they allowed you to park close to this location so no long bus ride like last time. Since it was the first year in AZ they were not going to worry about parking issues. And you know I like to be somewhat close to get to my car if I should need to.
There were 25 obstacles laid out over a six mile course. The length was nice. Not too long. And they had the obstacles spread out nicely along the course. They set up the path to wind back towards the start area to give the spectators more to look at so that was nice. They had a nice variety of obstacles as well. There were some new ones I had not done before. That kind of stuff keeps me on my toes. I try to asses how to complete the obstacle as I am running up.
Some of the obstacles that stood out to me. I liked the Peg wall. A small wall with holes in it where you had to move pegs around to have something to step or hang on to get over the wall. It was a nice idea but once you have the pegs laid out you just crawl up and over. Now having to traverse a longer wall using only the pegs to keep you on the wall would have been cool.
I do have to say I was completely disappointed with the water slide. I mean this was awful. I did not even think it was that exciting for the kids. It was a short drop in a narrow channel. It was not steep enough to whip down and there was no water landing. You had to scoot or walk half of it. The kids being lighter had trouble getting down also. I mean you might have to get a lot of water pressure behind each person to flush them down. I was really looking forward to going back and playing here. Not.
The Commando Bridge was kind of cool. It was two wires hung between post and you had to make your way through a zig zag path while staying on the lines. The poles were not connected to the ground. It just kept the wires from bottoming out. So everything moved. Not too challenging but new and different.
There was a could things that were missing from the map. The Evac obstacle. That was some sort of carrying people on a stretcher. They just had to run some buckets full of sand up and down the mountain. an obstacle called Slip Up was not fully implemented. There was also an area they were supposed to have you climb up while they were spraying water down it. I think the later crowds got it since they appeared more muddy.
As a bonus they had a mystery obstacle. The first group to go out, the Elite group, ran into some rattlesnakes. I mean I did not see them. The course officials spotted them and gave us safe passage around them. I heard two others were spotted on the course that were found by runners. Everyone was safe from what I hear. I am surprised they do not have a designated snake wrangler present. Especially not that it is warming up and it is such a rugged area and it is Arizona.
I brought my son with me to have him watch Dadda race for the first time. As well as to do the kids race. The kids race was a good length. It had a nice variation of obstacles. The safety could have been a bit better with the last section. Random stuff spread out to run through. It should have been bolted down. As the kids ran over it, every thing was moving around and my son took a shot to the leg. He did shake it off and we both ran that course again. It would have been been nice to actually have a small finish line for them. It was nice they got a finishing medal. My son's medal is hung up next to dad's.
The organization here was not. The parents were walking around trying to find the start. There were no announcements made. On top of that, my son was very excited to do the Mud Easter Egg Hunt. That turned out to not happen. They had advertised it and the kids expected it and nothing. That was a disappointment.
It is important to note that this is the first Rogue Race held here in Arizona. They are still trying to dial in all the variables to make a fun and well run race. I am sure to come back and try another one next time they are here. Overall the course nicely laid out. It was about medium on the challenge part of it. On the fun side it did not have any repeat value. Everyone that knows me knows I love to go back and play on my favorite obstacles. There was not a lot I wanted to go back and do again. I did a few rounds on the dumpster diving. Some belly flops and some canon balls. Nice way to refresh and clean up. And I have to say I was disappointed on the mud levels. No where near enough mud. But again that is my personal preference. I want as much mud as possible. I want to finish covered head to toe, sloppy and unrecognizable.
Location 10
Length 10
Obstacles 8
Mud 2
Challenging Course 7
Parking 9
Organization 5
Overall Experience 8
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