Warrior Dash began in 2009. I’ve participated in 5 (maybe 6?) with friends and family and we’ve all had a ton of fun..and mud. So when I went to check out the details for the 2016 Colorado event and saw that they had changed something big, I thought you ought to know.

Warrior Dash
Dave Jensen, TSM
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Warrior Dash is a 5K obstacle race/mud run. They started in 2009, starting the craze of 'mud runs' you see today. I remember how pumped my friend Sam and I were to take on that first challenge: Copper Mountain, mud, barbed wire, more mud, huge obstacles, fire, beer. 'We're In!'

It’s a great day. You’re nervous, you’re excited. They countdown to your wave’s start, then you’re off. Taking on the obstacles, some tough, some easy; getting muddy and then climbing a wall. Huffing and puffing next to men, women, teens, up at 11,000 feet at Copper Mountain. Finally, you come around that last corner, and you jump the flames to get to the finish line and your free beer!  It’s awesome!

I remember one year, they had this really big tower. You could see it coming. Actually, you could see the backside of it, because it was on the backside of the course. The thing about the tower, was that it was really tall. OK, a high climb, not a big deal. However, the backside had just a little tiny slat to stand on and then 12-foot drop. It scared me silly. They say ‘you don’t HAVE to do any of the obstacles, it’s about fun!’  Sure, but then if I were to skip it, there’d be an asterisk. ‘*Dave skipped the tower.” I debated, as I jogged toward it, then decided to man-up and take it on. I beat that tower, and it felt like I had slain a dragon!  I could take on the world after that! It’s now one of my favorite memories of doing Warrior Dash.

It’s coming up on that time of year, where me and my Warrior Dash clan start talking about the event; whether we’re going to do it this year, who’s all in, where are we going to stay, what band might be playing at the after party, talking about that time Dave 's car traded paint with the condo we stayed at in Copper in 2015.. So I went to see what Warrior Dash had in store for us in 2016 if we decided to sign up, and there it was. I couldn’t believe it, didn’t see it coming in 100 years.

They’ve moved Warrior Dash from Copper Mountain to Larkspur.

 

Say…What?  Larkspur? Larkspur. Near the Renaissance Festival area. This is huge!  Why? Copper Mountain has been so perfect for the event for seven years! It just seems so…. Wrong?  I guess ‘wrong’ isn’t the right word, it’s their event they can hold it wherever they want, but it’s definitely not going to be the same in Larkspur, right?

My immediate guess is that Copper Mountain, the condo owners and residents have had enough of the Warriors coming up and tracking mud everywhere, so they asked to not be the Colorado venue for 2016. There IS a lot of mud.  However, maybe the organizers are trying to ‘mix-it-up’ to get more participation. It will spur more people to participate, I think; no worrying about driving up and down I-70 on a summer weekend, no worrying about where to park (that has been an issue for us- there are only so many parking spaces at Copper, and we have three cars coming..), and it’s different- not the same ol’ Dash.

I talked to my Warrior buddy and we think we’re going to enter. If anything, just to see how Warrior Dash Colorado happens in Larkspur, as opposed to Copper Mountain.

Let’s Go, Warriors!  Sign up for the Larkspur event, HERE!

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