Our Spartan

A while ago Josh mentioned that he had signed up to run a 10k Spartan race up north of us. Since we enjoy watching people do crazy things that are incredibly intense our kids do things they love, Jason and I volunteered to be transportation and cheering squad with extra towels and food in the truck of the car.

Bright and early 7:30a, Josh completed the course highlighted in blue (and sometimes red and blue) below. It is a blurry image, but there are 27 obstacles completed by the 10k folks and all of them are more fun to watch than to complete.

Josh started off pumped, caffeinated, and excited.

Less excited when I insisted on a group selfie, but still.

We realized, and Josh remembered just that morning, that he had registered for a competitive heat for the race. I think he found it intimidating when he looked around waiting to start, but smaller group also means no waiting at the obstacles. 

There were some sections of the course that spectators could not see, but luckily there were some professional photographers to capture some of the obstacles. Please note this is the last image we have of him smiling for the race.

I don't think the Spartan race is technically a mud run, but they made sure to have plenty of it. And while it did rain this morning, there was a huge water hose on the side of the trail.

Not just mud, but some dirt for the races to slide in before getting in the water.

We did get to watch Josh pick up this 100lb concrete ball which is possibly more than 2/3 of his weight.

This was towards the end of the race and a huge challenge that he refused to give up on.

I can only assume that the look of pain on his face here means that he is really enjoying himself. Right?

Of course many of the obstacles were clustered at the end of the race after the racers had already done a bit of running. Also, everything was wet. A great combination!

The last obstacle designed to show off how very tough and Spartan-y these folks are involved jumping over a line of fire.

Upon completing the race, a couple of folks on the side asked Josh if he wanted to run an extra distance for a pin and he said, "Sure!" Which convinced me that he was both crazy and not completely exhausted. 

Check out that medal!

And here he is at the end: exhausted, sore, and elated.

Aaaaaannnnddddd he still posed for another group selfie.

Apparently he had so much fun, he is planning on doing another one. Though, he admitted he didn't want to do it anytime soon. We are so proud of him!