Race Report: Waterfront Challenge!

Where has June gone? Summer has officially arrived along with the heat! Hope you are staying well hydrated and enjoying the hot weather from such a long, cold winter we had!

My husband and I recently participated in our first evening race - the Waterfront Challenge. This is very much a social, fun race. It is a 5K urban obstacle race that was held on Saturday, June 21 at the Waterfront Park near downtown Louisville. We bought a living social deal for $35 back in winter to run it. The longer you wait to register the higher the price goes just like any other race, so best deal is to sign up early for it. The first heat started at 6:30pm and one every 15 minutes or so thereafter. Around 10pm or so they had a dance party for all the participants which we missed so we could get back to our 3 kids at home with the babysitter.

This was my 3rd obstacle race, but first non-mud run. Compared to the other obstacles races, this race had lots of pluses: free parking, short lines for packet pick-up, I had no waiting at any of the obstacles, immediate times posted, 2 water stops, mile markers, and marines at several challenges cheering you or 'ordering' you how to do the challenge. This race was easy to run as fast or slow as you wanted.There were about 830 finishers so plenty of people around the course to chase or talk with depending on how you wanted to race.

The course reminded me of my cross country running days -  lots of short step hills, different terrains to run on - with obstacles thrown in here and there.  The obstacles - such as potato sack jump, tire carry, trailer bed crossovers, car crossovers, pushups, cornhole, ammo boxes carry, picnic table crossing, and of course the largest inflatable water slide I'd ever seen- were fun and broke up the running.

At the end of the race they handed you a medal, cut off your timing chip, had water, and 2 energy bars for you. It was just the right amount of stuff. I'd rather keep the race simple and the price affordable. The race is for every level runner or walker looking for a fun race.

Already looking forward to doing the race next year and hopefully recruiting more people to try it out!

After the race! Thanks to Waterfront Challenge, I was able to score an extra medal for my I Run 4 Buddy in Arizona! Check out http://www.whoirun4.com/ for more information on I Run 4 and get matched with a buddy!