Traveling Free Box: JULIE

When I first got to town I had asked Julie what was on her upcoming calendar. "Henry's soccer game, Johnny's dance class, maybe Toronto lake on Sunday, ohhhh and on Saturday I'm running in a 4.1 mile race called HARD CHARGE at the Kansas coliseum. You can come and watch if you want. There are 25 obstacles spread out over the course." what??? My good buddy DC John had done a race called a "tough mudder" and it turns out this HARD CHARGE is sorta similar except this is filmed and crunched into a reality TV show for the top competitors. Somehow Julie agreed to do the race in solidarity with some of her gal pals. Race day dawned and it was cloudy, windy, and cold when I rolled into the parking lot of the Coliseum. The last time I'd been to the Coliseum was in 1984 to see Van Halen in concert. This day I wasn't wearing any bandanas or parachute pants. I dressed for the cold. I made my way to the outdoor course where the public had immense access to the course.

the charge begins - can you spot Julie?

I waited for Julie to make it to DEEP FREEZE

Baby Jesus, that's cold

going down

insert your favorite expletive here

that's Robin in the blue top - Julie's only amiga that followed thru

totally soaked and back on the track

charging over cars - Julie and Robin do it side by side

down - "is this almost over yet?"

no shortage of mud on the course

all the mud made everything so slippery. this fence climb took some doing

more mud

military style swinging tire crawl

hit the wall was no JOKE. a little help from a friend

once the leg gets over, it's a done deal

thank goodness that's over.....

over then under

up the incline

I got this!

fireman fantasy

a mad dash from the pole drop and it was over.

I'm so proud of Julie. A few years back Julie inspired me to get my backflip back and take it to the highdive. For that I'm indebted to her. But after seeing what I saw on that windy Saturday, I can safely say I won't be signing up for a HARD CHARGE.

BONUS DEEP FREEZE AGONY photos......enjoy.