Race Review - Hard as Nails

Yeah, I don't know what's on my face.

Hard as Nails popped up on my radar via http://coloradoobstacleracers.com who had a nice promo code available. The course map looking intriguing and the price was right, so I signed up my 14 year old son and myself for the event.

The venue was at the Westin Hotel in Westminster, CO and upon arriving it was clear this would be a smaller event. It definitely had a local feel (at the time I was unaware of it's homegrown roots), with a pretty small fairground area, consisting of a stage with the emcee and DJ, plus a handful of booths. Coming just 1 week after the popular CO Spartan Race may have contributed to a lower turnout, but the relaxed nature of it was a welcome break from some of the bigger races we run.

The heat structure was a little strange, with the first few heats being women only for some reason. We were in the 11:00 heat, which sported about 50 or so racers. The runners were an eclectic group, ranging from hard core OCR types with protective gear, to fun groups with matching costumes and everyone in-between.

These were the only places I saw back ups.

This is the first race I've run that went through a building, let alone a hotel. Soon after the start we crammed in the hotel's stairwell and climbed 10 or so flights of stairs to the top, then ran down the hall and back down to the ground.

Other interesting obstacles included an inflatable pool float we had to paddle out on the hotel's fountain pond and back, where son got stranded about 30 yards out and after I made my circuit I had to swim out and tow him back in, which was exhausting. Also, a sandbag fill and carry up and down a short steep hill.

Face rash from getting dragged up and over a creek bank.

After the pond, there were some low crawl type stuff and a lot of plowing through the creek that runs through the property. Some of the more difficult obstacles were ropes scaling up out of said creek, the last of which a guy from COR ended up hoisting my ass out in spectacular fashion.

Spent a lot of time doing this.

About the mid point there was a short fireman carry, which having my 100lb. son with me wasn't a problem, and a long and fast slip slide down a grassy hill, where I garnered enough speed to continue off the slide, across the grass and skid to a halt on the cement path below. I'll spare you the photos of my road rashed butt.

Fast slide = road rash.

At the finish we were handed a golden nail for our finishers prize to go along with the event T-Shirt we received in our registration goodie bag. It was a good, short race and worth our time for sure. I inquired the organizers for some photos to share here, but they were unsupportive, so I only have the few I took and some stolen off Google.

The Golden Nail.