I feel so lucky to have been able to do the Men’s Health Urbanathlon with Nike Field Reporter. This 9+ mile run with lots of intense obstacles was by far the best race I’ve ever done!
It was an early start when we took a cab to the start around 6:45 a.m. for the 7:30 a.m. start. The starting area was bustling with athletic men! I’d guess maybe 20 percent of the participants were women. I also noticed everyone seemed to be in great shape, where in most races I see more of a range of athletic body types.
I was on a relay team with Gina and Audrey, who are Nike Field Reporter Correspondents. Check them out here!
We all three only met this weekend, but we were instant friends and had a blast doing this challenge together.
We weren’t able to bring our cameras on the race course, which is a bummer because I’d love to document how hardcore these obstacles were!
I took the first leg but ended up running all three legs after passing off my timing chip. Gina ran with leg 2 and Audrey showed leg 3 who was boss!
Leg 1:
- 3.25 mi. run
- Obstacle Course 1: Jersey Concrete Barriers (balance beam), Monster Truck Tire, Tires
- Obstacle Course 2: under Blue Police Barricades, over Yellow Traffic Barriers (repeat about 10 times!)
Leg 2:
- 3 mi. run
- Obstacle Course 3: Traffic, Marine Hurdles
- Obstacle Course 4: Cargo Crawl, Monkey Bars
Leg 3:
- 2.75 mi. run
- Obstacle Course 5: Soldier Field Stair Climb (total of 866 stairs!!)
- Obstacle Course 6: over Cabs, Bus, The Wall
Before the race I was flat out nervous. With running races there’s no specific point that judges your fitness level. If you need to, you just run a little slower or walk…. no big deal. But on this course I was challenged to do things I’ve never done before- things I wasn’t sure I could handle. With some dirt, grunting and help from complete strangers I was able to complete each obstacle, along with the 9+ mile run. I hopped hurdles higher than my head, climbed stairs when my muscles were screaming and scaled a wall before running to the finish. This race ROCKED with its intensely challenging course and fun atmosphere. Everyone should do this race!
Final results (not that they matter at all!):
Overall Time: 1:59:49
Leg 1: 35:35
Leg 2: 41:10
Leg 3: 43:05
Climb: 22:03
Division Place: 69/109
Our team regrouped at the finish line before grabbing some food and seizing awesome photo opportunities!
After a quick shower at the hotel I said goodbye to my new friends and headed out to explore Chicago on my own! I ended up walking 12 miles over the course of 4.5 hours before I had to leave for my flight. I was so tired!
The infamous bean (and photo of yourself looking at it) was my last stop. By this time my legs had traveled more than 21 miles outside and I was exhausted. I snapped one photo and said to myself, “good- NOW I can go home!”
This trip was fantastic. I loved exploring the vast city of Chicago, making new relationships and competing in such a challenging course. Definitely one of my favorite weekends 
Next up: Ironman in SIX days!!
Have you competed in a race with obstacle courses? What is your craziest physical challenge?
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Wow, looks like so much fun! I've never heard of a race like that!
That race looks like such a blast! I knew some friends who did it a few years back. Congrats on rocking it!
WOW – that looks so intense but awesome! Love all of the pics – especially the ones with the taxi. I've never done anything like this but am fascinated.
Congrats!
Wow, that seems like a crazy race! If it weren't 9 miles (eek!) I might actually consider doing it. Glad you had fun, and I loved the recap.
Gave you and the Urbanathlon a big shout out on my blog a couple of days ago – also on my facebook page. It just looked like so much fun I had to share. Hope you don't mind.
im just as speechless as a lot of others. this is a jungle gym for adults to play in! its amazing how event coordinators and planners come up with things like this! u'd almost have to have a strange dream to think "hey lets do a massive obstacle course and let people "have at it" haha. LOVE the diagram models u showed too btw!! <3
xoxo
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