Dances With Dirt: 100k relay

Dances with Dirt has been on my bucket list for a while now. The group that puts it on is from Michigan - Running Fit. They have this series in Gnaw Bone, IN, Hell, MI, and Devil's Lake, WI. You see a theme? They have an unique sense of humor. At the Gnaw Bone (near Brown county, IN) event they claim to have the world's toughest 10k. They also have 50m, 50K, marathon, and 100K relay. This race falls on the same May weekend as Dino's Mission Lite adventure race which I had a done for a few years with my husband.

This year, I recruited my husband, brother, dad, and cousin from MN to be my team for the 100K relay. (I still have the 10K on my bucket list.)  For the relay, they encourage you to have a team theme. With my brother active in the Indiana Beef council, we all got red Team Beef shirts and decorated my mini van. Our team name was 3 T-bones and 2 Skirt Steaks to continue the theme.

3 T-Bones and 2 Skirt Steaks all ready to take on DWD 100K relay

For the relay, there are 15 unique legs with varying mileage, difficulty (aka ski hills), creek crossing, bushwhacking, etc. (My dad's first leg was definitely the muddiest - or at least he got the muddiest). There are great descriptions of each leg on their website. As a team, you decide who runs what. We divided it all so everyone had 3 legs. Some legs you stayed and waited, while others you drove to the next destination. I saw very few race related volunteers at the exchanges which surprised me. Your team was self-sufficient - meaning you brought your own fuel and hydration.

See the red dot? That is me bushwhacking under a road through a creek.

My dad finishing up the muddiest leg.

After about halfway through, the teams started to distance each other and there were fewer teams waiting with us. The weather was unseasonable freezing for May in Indiana. So some teams, may have skipped some legs and had teammates run together.  This brings up their unique scoring system. They allow this for time cutoff reasons, but it is marked on their card. Also for scoring there are handicap rules, which my dad being 70 was our ringer. For the handicap rules, I recommend just reading about them from the website. It continues with the Dances with Dirt's uniqueness. We finished the race in 9 hours and 57 minutes, but our handicap time was 8 hours 39 minutes.

Finishing up

Overall, the race was a fun time despite the weather. Lots of stories were shared about each leg. We knew a few other teams, that also made it fun. My dad was our last leg and we all crossed the finish line together which was topped the day. Bonus we finished 5th out of 39 teams in the handicap division and received a DWD buff and beer can glass.

After the race, there was a complimentary beer and bbq dinner.  Since the weather was so cold, most teams just stayed in their vans instead of setting up chairs at the transitions. I think this took away from the overall feel of the race, but it was great hanging out with my family though. The course was tough, but fun since you knew you were only running between 3-6 miles before you took a break.

I would recommend this race for non-beginner runners based on the difficulty of the course and time limits. And go in with being just a fun race to hang out with your teammates. The 2017 Gnaw Bone entry is open if you are ready to give it a try!

5th Place! Winter coats in May!