SF Urbanathalon

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700 people
9 friends
10 miles
12 obstacles
Free beer

The Men's Journal Urbanathalon made its SF debut this month whipping me into a FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) frenzy as Dana threw down the challenge to sign up and in quick succession friends answered the call. I was ready to be done after Dick Collins, ready to run for fun, to sleep in if I wanted, to skip the anxiety (however mild) that always comes with toeing a starting line but no way was I going to miss out on such a random event (a run: with obstacles) and have to live through the stories afterwards. To know me is to know my weakness: I hate missing out.

And so it was on a beautiful, slightly overcast Sunday morning down at Fishermans's Wharf that I lined up next to 5 of my favorite people at the back of the pack - the, ahem, master's division of all the 35+ age groups - and headed off in the direction of Coit Tower en route to the ballpark. The course was spectacular with views all along the way from Coit to the Embarcadero to the top deck of AT&T Park and back along the Marina Green. The obstacles in mostly the right order:


- Tire run
- Jumping over and crawling under barricades
- Getting over 6' high barriers (impossible. gave a roundhouse kick to a guy standing next to me when I tried to pull myself up and swing my leg over. broke his glasses, slashed his cheek, apologized profusely. got a boost from another guy over the next 6 barriers)
- Jeep crawl (uneventful. new Jeeps stacked up over artificial grass. come on, Jeep. you're an explorer, an adventurer! think of something better.)
- AT&T stair run (awesome! all the way up to the top deck then up and down the upper level seats. could see racers all along the stairs.)
- Monkey bars (uh, no. dropped after 2 and had to do 12 pushups to the side to advance)
- Parallel bars (one set, yes. two, barely. almost landed on my face. no strength, no grace)
- Mesh netting crawl
- Up and Over Taxis (did a sweet Starsky and Hutch slide across the hood to get over the first one then lost momentum between the first and second and just flopped over like a beached seal to get across the 2nd.)
- Wire netting Crawl (belly crawl under wire netting, feeling tired, want to lay down in grass for a spell)
- Cargo netting over school bus
- High wood fence (had 5-10 seconds to contemplate approach and immediately made eye contact with closest volunteer to give me a boost up. the rope wasn't going to do me any good. of course, this photo makes it look like a small town of volunteers helped me up but i think they were just drawn to the pink skirt.)


And so I cruised across the finish line, smiling, high fiving my friends, reliving the highlights of the race, talking obstacle strategies and coming to terms once again with the absurdly disproportionate strength of my upper body in relation to my lower body. Why, goddesses of upper body strength, why?


It was the perfect race to end the season. Fun, random, just challenging enough; in the company of a mix of friends in a beautiful setting. Jessica made her return debut to running, Transrockies runners reunited, Brian skipped IM training for a fun run (?!) and as I sat drinking beers with friends in the afternoon - er, morning sun, I heard my name over the loudspeaker. I'd won my age group.

All pics courtesy of Jen Stover, new friend, Transrockies pal and running adventurer extraordinaire!

Comments

caroline said…
that pink skirt is the best!!!!!!!! can't believe it took 3 guys to get you over :)
7:54 PM
Claudia Graziano said…
yes, but who wins the super-cute-in-a-skirt stylish athlete award?? nice gams, Sammy.
6:43 PM
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