Saturday May 2

RAW today stood for Rained on Amazing Women as Team JI Jane took on the obstacles of the course.

Our group was signed up for the 9:00 am slot.

It has rained hard off and on for days and the area was so wet that they couldn’t get the large excavators in to create some of the obstacles.  Still there were plenty.

We crawled through tunnels just to get into the starting area.  Knees and hands now already muddied. A short run and then get under fifty feet or so of cargo netting.   We were then off through the woods for about 3/4 mile run then up a barrier wall and another 1/4 mile to a series of three of those large wire spools of large and larger variety that you’re  to go up and over the large spool portion.  The larger ones were probably amost 5 feet high.

Then it was a four foot wall, a six foot wall and a twelve foot wall to get over.

Around to the sand bag carry for a few hundred yards.  Run a few hundred more yards to the push-up station for 25.  The mud in the field sucked the shoe off my foot.  Thanks Marie for fishing that out for me.

We looked onward and saw long tubes on a hillside and took glee in that we could easily slide down the insides of those.  Joy soon was replaced with groans as we realized we were meant to slither up them with the assistance of a rope inside.

Another run section was followed by short walls to go over, under, over, under then the balance beams.

By this time we are well muddied and soaked as rain has been coming down steady at times.  So when we see the foam slides which might have been a bit dreaded if you were dry and knowing your going to get wet, it was instead a bit of a soapy cleaning.

More running around an arena and over and under the ropes that made up the charlottes web obstacle.Through  another wooded area to que up for a fifteen foot wall with some boards nailed in for hand/foot holds that had a cargo net draped from it to another wall fifteen feet away so that you crossed the net to go down the other wall.

Jog a bit, 25 jump squats, jog, 25 burpees (those not being good on my shoulder, jane had me hold a plank for the time it took the others to do the burpees- I was hoping for a pass!)

Jog a bit more – we can see the finish!  Crawl through small black tunnels where I whacked my knee vigorously. Ouch! We are at the station for 25 sit ups. It is raining steady and there is nothing dry on us at this point but it still feels rude to have to lay on the rain soaked ground face up in the rain and have to do the exercises.  It was probably the most surreal moment for me.

The guillotine wall and the inverted wall were the last to conquer and we had completed the challenge!

I can recognize how truly awful the entire event sounds – especially in sometimes pouring rain, but the conquering each challenge, helping and being helped, seeing everyone on every team out there try their best was a great feeling that no amount of mud or rain could dampen.

Now that it is complete, everyone can see the tiki shot glasses I made the day we did pottery together.

Still morning, it was mainly coffee and biscuits (cookies) for the celebration, but Wilma likes the commemorative gift.

We did all of the obstacles and it feels great to have done so.

Thanks Wilma.

Love Betty