BoldRDash – Yawgoo 2015

* From: Ann Priestman
* Event: BoldrDash
* Date: 2015-10-03

* Event Details
Note that I ran on Sunday, which had no rain and I suspect lighter attendance.

Parking was super easy and the standard $10. I pulled into the overflow lot and the attendant told me the main lot wasn’t full so I could head down there. Awesome parking right next to the race.

The festival area was set up well. There was a good sized tent with picnic tables, some stuff to play with and take pictures, and the usual types of vendors. I heard there were showers and changing areas somewhere, but I didn’t see them. It was fun watching the runners from the festival area, mostly because of how twisty the course was. There were two obstacles and a steep climb right next to each other, but the runners would appear and do one and then a while later would come from some other direction to do another. The spectators could also easily watch people rolling down the hill and crawling through the mud pit at the end.

Bag check was free and you got a free trash bag at pickup to put your muddy stuff in. The swag was pretty standard (shirt and medal), although I thought the medal was extra nice with a note that it was the five year anniversary of the race.

I’ll also say here that while race volunteers are always great, the BoldrDash volunteers seemed extra friendly and encouraging which was such a nice boost on the course.

* Race Details
This is my first BoldrDash race so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought the course layout was fantastic. The obstacles were spaced out perfectly – there was never too long before you got to the next obstacle. And the course made such great use of the space. We would see an obstacle and assume it was next, but then the path would veer off somewhere else leaving us confused about how we would even end up back over there. But it also never felt like we were going back and forth over the same terrain. Very well setup.

The obstacles were also great. A lot of them had different difficulty levels, which could mean longer or shorter lengths, or more or less boards to help you get up whatever it was. It’s a great idea for a more casual race. They had all of what I would consider the standard obstacles plus some more unique ones. Here were some highlights for me:
– Huge slip and slide!
– The opening crawl was up and then down a fairly steep hill, which made for some fun rolling.
– The wobbly balance beam was fun to do as a team
– The over-under-through walls were set up going up the hill so we couldn’t see how many more walls were coming. Every time we thought we were done we’d go under the next wall and see that there was another set. Also going up the hill made the over walls more challenging and fun than usual.

One very minor complaint for me was the water stations. The first one wasn’t until after mile two which was a bit later than I would have liked. While it was placed so that while we passed it twice, it was just walk down the hill, pull a tire, and then walk back up and hit the water station again. Given the course layout it seems like there should have been spots where racers could use the same station twice with more time in between, possibly up near the balance beams.

So overall fantastic race. I will definitely come back next year, and will also give their beach event a try.

* Rating
Excellent