Warrior Dash- How To Have a Fabulous Time

On Saturday I did the Warrior Dash with my college besties and it was SO MUCH FUN! Even though I went around quite a few of the obstacles due to my nagging leg issue, I still had a fabulous time and got oh-so-muddy. If you have a chance to participate in one, I urge you to gather up some friends and go for it!

Here's a few tips for you:

1. Clothing: Anything you wear that is not black or navy WILL GET RUINED. Just plan on throwing away your undies and socks. They have a pile at the end for you to donate your muddy shoes in, so wear a pair you are ready to part with.
2. That being said, wear a pair of shoes with some traction. I picked up a pair of $10 tennies at the Walmartz just for the Dash, which was great in theory, but they didn't have any traction and I had a bit of a hard time navigating the mud. Next time, I'll either wear an old pair of my own running shoes, or will try to find a pair of old running shoes at Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Cheap shoes = falling on your ass more than necessary.
3. Be ready to get muddy. Especially at the end, there's just no way around it. You'll have to belly-crawl through a mud pit because there is barbed wire above you. They also encourage everyone to kick over the loud speaker, thereby dousing everyone behind them in the mud pit. You will get mud in your ears, mouth, and everywhere else you can imagine.
4. We wore bandanas to keep our hair back and I think it worked really well. Also, since I wear contacts, I was worried about mud splashing in my eyes, so I wore big sunglasses and they really helped.
5. Gear check: Go ahead and plan on utilizing the gear check. I never do at regular races, but they've got this down to a science and it's quite easy and convenient. They even provide bags for you.
6. Here's what you need to pack in your gear check bag: An old towel, complete change of clothes (nothing you care about) including flip flops, a travel pack of baby wipes and hand sanitizer. You'll also want to apply more sunscreen after the Dash.
7. Wear more sunscreen than you think you need.
8. You'll get a beer at the end when you turn in your chips, and additional beers are $6 (they use a ticket system). They also have a food tent and have BBQ sandwiches for $6 and hot dogs for a bit less ($4 maybe?). I took $20 and purchased two beers and a BBQ sandwich and passed my extra two tickets on to a friend.
9. They had a great band playing and we ended up hanging out for about 3 hours on the grass after the Dash and had the best time. Plan on hanging around and enjoying the festivities. It's a super-fun atmosphere.
10. If you plan on attending to support friends, but not running the dash, wear clothes you don't care about- my running friends bear-hugged our non-running friends when we were done and they got almost as muddy as we did!
11. Go in it with a great attitude ready to have fun!

Have you done a Warrior Dash or another mud run?