Gladiator Rock ‘N Run— Not Your Typical Bridal Party

Ah, running…I love you!  Not only does running keep me sane.  Running keeps me healthy.  I have all the typical reasons for loving running.  Running also opens up opportunities for some fun events.  VERY fun events.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the Gladiator Rock ‘N Run and had a fabulous time. The name of our team was “Not Your Typical Bridal Party.”  You see, I wore a wedding dress and my girlfriends wore bridesmaids dresses and my brother wore a tuxedo shirt.  I tried to talk my husband, Kenny, into running with me, but he wanted to follow us to take video and pictures. He was our own private paparazzi. Instead, my brother ran with us.  He wrote “Best Man…She’s my SISTER.”

So why trash a perfectly good wedding dress? Well, in 1991, I got married.  It was a big, traditional wedding with all the pomp and circumstance.  Unfortunately, that marriage only lasted about two years.  For some reason, I kept the dress, all boxed up by the dry cleaners and moved it from house to house, state to state.  I kept thinking I could sell it.  However, I don’t think the Craigslist crowd appreciated the early-nineties styling and I never got any offers each time I tried to sell it.  It seemed like a waste to donate such an expensive dress.  So, the last time I did the Gladiator Run, I decided that I needed to dress in a cool costume the next time.  When I saw that it was coming back to Southern California this spring I had a brilliant idea!  It was the best costume idea EVER.

I originally wanted to have it altered to be shorter to make it easier to run.  Then I thought that cutting the train off would do the trick.  Kenny wouldn’t let me.  He told me that the pictures would be so much better with the train in tact. I then decided I wanted to score it to make it easier to rip off when it got difficult to run. Again, he told me to leave it.  I did make him bring some scissors just in case…but I was committed to running this thing, train and all.  I figured I would just gather it up and run holding a bunch of (heavy) satin beaded fabric.  I am SO glad I didn’t change the dress.  The best thing about running in that thing was the difficulty involved and the kudos that came with that.

It was a three mile run with some obstacles.  Under normal circumstances, it would be fun (if you like that sort of thing—which I do!)  It is better to tell this story with pictures.  So here you go!  *warning…this is very picture-heavy.

Getting Ready (a little different than a typical bride gets ready for the festivities)

Dan “Nitro” Clark, former American Gladiator and creator of the Gladiator Rock ‘N Run, wanted to get a picture with us!

My bridesmaids were committed to the train!

And we’re off!!!

And, yes…I was able to run (with a little help from my bridesmaids)

Still committed to the train!

The first wet and wild obstacle!  Here is where the fun really starts!

It was a great setting for a race!  This would be a nice setting for an actual wedding.

Before the mud pit!  My brother picked me up before we had to crawl on hands and knees under the flags.

I guess I had a moment of panic, because I don’t look too happy in this next picture…. I don’t remember feeling like I was going to cry, but that is how I look.  I love the juxtaposition between my face and my brother’s.

There is some joy!

When I got done with that mud pit, I was struck by how extremely HEAVY that dress had become.  I seriously considered taking it off and finishing the run in my sports bra and shorts.

This is a grainy crop, but you can see the look on my face as my brother helps me up.

Another hill!! It was way harder than my hill repeats at home.  LOL.

More mud!!

I LOVE how in the next few pictures, Sandra has the biggest smile on her face.  As a little side note, Sandra took up running in September.  She ran her first half marathon in January.  She is my friend who took a wrong turn in a trail race, added extra mileage and said she would do it all again. Running is definitely opening up a world to her as well…

After the race, they had a green screen for group pictures.  The line was pretty long.  Unfortunately, Jen couldn’t wait in the line.  I wanted to get as much documentation of this adventure as I could get.  The coolest thing that the race did was arrange for each runner to get one free digital download of a picture,  Additional pictures (low resolution) were $14.  I wish every race would do that!

Dan “Nitro” Clark came to get an “after” picture with us and this was my free download:

My brother told me that he nearly threw his back out picking me up the second time.  Apparently, I weighed a LOT more at the end of the race than I did when he picked me up before the mud.

For the second time, this race did not disappoint!  Other than some back-ups at obstacles (that didn’t really happen the first time I ran it), the race was nicely organized.  There were plenty of porta potties and people working the bag check. They had a nice selection of vendors at the “after-party.”  They had a good selection of fun bands.  Once again, the mud was the best mud of any mud run I have run.  It had the perfect balance of liquid and dirt to make it cover EVERYTHING.  Other mud runs don’t even come close.  If this race comes to your area, I definitely recommend it.

Happy Running….