Nothing's Ever Gonna Keep You Down, You're The Best Around

So, as some of you may know, yesterday was the annual Swamp Romp put on be the Marine Corp. I was totally scared this year because I have not been keeping up with my running (work has been crazy and staying at the office til midnight is not really conducive to being able to run after work) and the course last year was completely challenging. Additionally, about 3 days ago I totally jacked up one of my toes. I have no idea how I did it, but it started turning red and swelling and looking like a cartoon toe that got hit by an anvil (I'm pretty sure this is not what actually injured my toe). I cared for the toe as best I could and luckily by race day I was back to non-hobbling form.

So now to the race day itself. I got up at about 5:00 yesterday morning, had a banana and some coffee and donned my team shirt. This year's team name was Swamp Bobbys. The name is hard to explain unless you are a fan of trashy MTV reality television, so take my word for it, it is a brilliant name. Concerned I would fall way behind my team I decided to go with the vibrant yellow construction worker OSHA requirement t-shirt, with my "Bobbie Bobby" nickname puffy painted on the back. Along with my bright teal duct taped shoes, I was a complete eyesore, but confident I would not get lost.

When we got to the Kaneohoe Marine Base the scene was complete chaos. Apparently a new group had taken over organizing the event this year and was not doing a very good job. There were lines everywhere and for everything. There was a line to register and pick up your race packet, a line to pick up your timing chip, a line for the bathroom and a line to start the race. Since there was no real way to tell the lines apart, you very well could have ended up relieving yourself at the packet pick-up booth.

When we finally picked up all of the components that we needed to start the race and signed all the necessary waivers, it turned out they had already passed our number. Luckily, they feed us into the line and we were able to start immediately rather than having to wait until all the other 300-some teams had begun.

The race started out the same as last year, a series of mud pits, several waste high barriers that you needed to jump over and a wooden ladder-like structure with an incline down the back. Sliding down the incline caused you to create a huge splash that sent mud up your nose and all over your face. Yes, this was all seeming very familiar.

After running through a few other pits we arrived at what must have been a 9 foot wall comprised of wooden logs that you had to pull yourself up and over. Everyone got themselves up and over successfully and we headed toward the long stretch of quicksand-like mud. The distance this year was substantially less than last year, probably a quarter mile or less. After traversing the mud we took off on the long stretch of pathway leading us around the base. I was completely proud of myself at this point because I was keeping up with the team and feeling pretty good about the pace we were keeping.

As we passed one of the race officials who was leisurely lounging in her beach chair, she taunted us all with her shout of "half-way to the half-way point". As if on cue, Heather steps on a rock which had no business in the middle of the road and goes down. The fall resulted in a sprained ankle. Being the trooper that she is, Heather decides to push on by walking the course to the little medical checkpoint that ended up being about a mile or so away. When we get to the checkpoint, the medics tell us that they can either treat the injury or transport her back to the starting point. Heather decides to think about it and treat the injury in the meantime. After pulling off the ace bandage that we re-purposed for her ankle, Heather's puffy swollen ankle was revealed. That rock was not messing around. Once she is treated they give her one last chance to be taken back to the start, apparently one of the other race participant had a few blisters and could not hack the remainder of the race. Heather notifies everyone that she is going to finish. which resulted in cheers all around and high fives from the medics. It was pretty much equivalent to that scene in Karate Kid when they announce Daniel Laruso is going to fight!

So we started back on the course walking the rest of the way, though a few more mud pits, a beach run, low crawl and final stretch of mud. Making it to the finish line in a respectable 2 hours or so. Teams without injuries were still trickling in behind us.

The core group of us who finished the race for the second year decided that this year's race was drastically easier than last year. Where was the giant A-frame, the monkey bars, the huge mud pit that was so dense you could only crawl on top of it, or the stretch of sewer pipe that you needed to crawl through? Why was this years race so much shorter? Oh well, there is always next year.

Before the race I was expecting to wake up this morning feeling like 7 different kinds of awful. But my minor bruises, small scrapes and sore thighs only really total up to 2 kinds of awful. I guess I'll need to come up with 5 more kinds of awful so that I can feel accomplished. It is still early so leptospirosis and/or pneumonia can't be ruled out yet. Pray for me...