Warrior Dash

[Coopen87]

Hey guys, has anyone here ever done a Warrior Dash? I'm seriously considering signing up to do one here in England in June, I'm not in great shape but with 7/8 months of training I reckon I could probably make it through without dying lol.

So anyone had any experience, any training tips or anything?

[signalguy]

Warrior Dash is a fun time but it's definitely one of the easiest mud runs out there. Usually 5k with a handful of easy obstacles.

[Hob]

I did a Warrior Dash this past Summer and did not train for it. I found the obstacles to be pretty easy, but I also got pretty winded just running up and down ski slopes. Having said that, I also had a really fun time and will probably do it again this Spring. You should give it a shot!

[Orpheus]

Warrior Dash is a fun affair work on 1-2 mile runs and do full body workouts in between 2 runs if you can. Doing tha warrior Dash with friends is the best way to do it. I had a blast when I did mine, even though most of the time was helping others it wasn't a race that I worried about my time.

[67alecto]

It is a 5k with 10-12 obstacles scattered throughout the course. Because the obstacles will create a natural break, you don't need to train to run a continuous 5k.

What I would recommend would be to find a hilly route, preferably one that is unpaved, and do a majority of your running on it. The Warrior Dash will have natural obstacles of rough terrain (perhaps muddy or rocky) and hills to go with the man-made ones. Locations are specifically chosen to incorporate these.

Your strength training can compliment this - either bodyweight or freeweights.

Many Warrior Dashes near a body of water (pond, lake, stream) will involve them through crossings, wading through them, or negotiating obstacles that are in the water (over floating logs is a common one). Do a bit of research on what you can expect. Keep in mind, though, that the obstacles listed may only be a general idea. I've read reports of obstacles that weren't listed on the map beforehand, and specifically for the one that I did, less than a week before the race, they totally changed the obstacle list that had been on the web page.

The obstacles themselves are not difficult, but you should be prepared for basic tests of agility and strength. If you have a wall to get over (a staple of the Warrior Dash courses), there will be a rope and/or boards too help you so you can get your legs to do more of the work. There will also probably be at least 1 obstacle (apart from the mud pit at the end) that will require crawling. I've seen this go through tunnels or under netting, for example.

The three walls presented the most problems for people in the Warrior Dash I did. The first one was a 25-foot vertical wall with a rope and some boards to help you climb over. The height was intimidating, and a lot of people freaked out when they had to hoist themselves to the other side.

The 2nd one another vertical wall - no rope, but the side you climbed was "open", so you basically had the equivalent of a ladder with the slats about 3' apart. The top of the wall extended out past the wall, so you had to climb out and over it (think of an arrow shape like ->, only vertical). That one was freaky, and the other side was a plywood slide down backwards after a single step.

The 3rd one was an angled wall with a rope to help you get over it. This one caused the most problem because the knots in the rope ended about 4' from the top and many people had no idea what to do at that point since the top was a bit out of arms' length.

[smurray]

If you have never done this type of run, the Warrior Dash is perfect for giving you a taste. I agree with all the comments above and it is more fun when you do it with a group.