Sand Mine Challenge

I really had no idea what to expect for this race. I've never been to the sand mine (in Crystal City), and to get there you drive on a narrow one-lane bridge and then through a tunnel.

Entering the Sand Mine.

After driving through the tunnel, there is an open air area where we parked. It was a mess because of the snow!! But we found a close spot to the mine opening. We had a while to wait for our wave, so we waited around with everyone else.

Yup, wearing a fanny pack.

We started with the 10:50 am wave. The first obstacle was running through COLD water. It was miserable. Definitely the worst obstacle there. There were several other obstacles, some cheesy ones, had to jump over fire, climb a lot of "mountains", cross more water passes, heavy sand, run in the dark...

Josh, leading the way.

The air circulation in the mine was obviously poor. I felt like I was breathing in a lot of sand particles. But we kept on truckin' and ran most of the course.

It was actually pretty dark here.

Finished!

The race medals were soooo cheesy. It was a waste of money to hand those out, but whatever. This race was a lot of fun!!!! Definitely different than anything I've ever done before. The route kept meandering through the mine and it was always exciting to see what was next. We finished the 3.2 mile route in 42:28.

Outside after the race.

Sandy, wet shoes.

Tomorrow I'm running a 9 mile trail race... We got quite a bit of snow the other day, so this will be interesting. I'll be back with an update on the Castlewood Cup!