ROC Race Phoenix Race Report

Time for a VERY overdue race report.  I completed the RIdiculous Obstacle Challenge race two months ago.  Moon bounce.  Giant inflatable slides.  Definitely my kind of race!  Also, my first race post-baby.  I convinced a team of friends to race with me - as running is always better with camaraderie.  The ROC race happened in waves, each split about 30 minutes apart.  The entire event ran from 7 AM to 6PM, both Saturday and Sunday of the November 2nd, 2013 weekend.  To ensure that all of my friends and I were in the same heat, we had to sign up as a team.  Thus, team "Salute Your Shorts" was born.  If that name has no significance to you, than you probably missed the relatively small age window and/or did not watch Nickelodeon.  Definitely an obscure reference here. We made neon yellow shirts emblazoned with the Camp Anawanna logo and my brother-in-law outfitted himself as Counselor Bud.

Camp Anawanna, we hold you in our hearts...

We arrived at Salt River Fields an hour before our heat as directed.  At first, I was scared about the parking situation due to the enormity of this event.  However, I had nothing to fear because the heat schedule works.  Yes, there were a lot of people, but everyone was so spread out that it really didn't feel crowded.  There was a gigantic pile of foam to keep us entertained which really helped us get into the ROC Race frame of mind. 

We are really gigantic four-year-olds.

 About 15 minutes before our heat time, we ventured over to the staging area.  Unbeknownst to us, there was a costume contest for teams.  Now, our team costume wasn't anything elaborate.  However, I thought the obscurity of our team theme might give us a chance if the MC got it.  He did :-)  Huge benefit of entering the costume contest as a team:  You get to start first in your heat and you get a bracelet which entitles each team member to a finisher medal belt buckle.  We were stopped by so many people at the end of the race, asking where to get the finisher medal.  Enter as a team and do the costume contest if you want one!

Jamie modeling the fantastic finisher medal.

The start of our heat was managed really well, too.  They let us go in five-minute increments in groups of 200.  This ensured that the obstacles wouldn't be too crowded when we reached them.  Our team was all about taking it easy.  Coming off a pregnancy, I was more than happy to walk!  

Our first obstacle was the monkey bars.  FYI:  I learned I have no upper arm strength.  However, when you fall off the bars, a huge moon bounce covers the bottom.  It was more fun for me to just bounce, grab a bar, bounce, grab a bar.  Props to our team member Sharon who crossed the entire stretch of monkey bars without falling!

Our next obstacle was the jump wall.  Luckily, they gave you a variety of heights to choose from.  Bridget and I were comfortable with the middle height.

 From there, we encountered the most exhausting obstacle of the entire race:  the concre-stadoors.  These are normal plastic security dividers that you would see for crowd control.  There were just so many of them! Think 25 of these.

We did a Tarzan swing:

Tried to jump across gigantic inflatable balls:

I was told to belly flop on each one, stand up and then belly flop to the next one.  Great strategy and would have worked but it was a pretty high platform and throwing myself off face first into an inflatable unnerved me so much that I closed my eyes and missed the landing.

We also did a giant moon bounce (my favorite):

And lots of slides of all different shapes and sizes:

Only one obstacle had an incredibly long wait.  The Wrecking Ball was the second to last obstacle and we waited for at least 10 minutes in line.  I almost made it across, but alas, that blur is me nosediving into the water.

The wait created absolutely no line for the last obstacle: The World's largest Inflatable Slide.  The pictures don't do it justice.  This slide is a behemoth! Amazingly fun!  Thank goodness I heard a tip from another ROC racer to hold my breath at the end.  The bottom of the slide is covered in foam.  If you breathe while going through it, you are guaranteed to get foam up the nose.  I briefly panicked because I couldn't figure out how to get the foam off my face to breathe since my hands and arms were encased in the suds as well.  It evaporates pretty fast, so my panic was short lived.

I would definitely recommend the ROC race to anyone wanting to have a fun run. It was a giant playground.  I would suggest bringing a change of dry clothes and your own friendly spectator to hold them for you :)



Big thanks to my sister, Jamie, for all the pictures of the event.  Today is also Jamie's birthday!  Happy Birthday to you baby sister!  As a birthday present to her, you should check out her blog at http://heatrunner.blogspot.com.