A Look Back At Saturday’s Insane Inflatable 5K

After talking about it -- and training -- for several months, I finally got to run in the Insane Inflatable 5K last Saturday at the Rochester International Airport.

My wife and I were signed up to run in the 12pm wave. Which, we thought, wasn't too bad a time to run-- seeing as there was a fairly steady, if not light, rain that was falling earlier Saturday morning.

I even said, "I don't think it'll be all THAT muddy..." when we were looking at the rain that appeared to be letting up as we were driving out to RST.

That statement, as it turns out, couldn't have been more wrong. It was muddy. Really muddy. And, it was still raining, too, which made things even more muddy. When we got to the course, you could immediately tell just who had already run the race, and who hadn't, just by the amount of mud on them.

Finally, it was our time to line-up in the starting gate. Once we slid down the first inflatable and into the muddy course-- where the muddy water was ankle-deep in some spots-- we knew what we were up against. Even though it wasn't officially timed, we figured we'd finished the course in about 33 minutes. Not too bad a time, considering all the obstacles you had to climb along the course. And, I only wiped out once!

Overall, it was a pretty fun time, despite the weather. One note though: I'll be sure to bring along some old towels to wipe the mud off ourselves next year (if it's raining, that is). Fortunately, the hose in our front yard did a capable job of getting most of the mud off our shoes-- and my legs-- before I hit the shower!