Bulldog Challenge Recap
By admin
Okay, maybe not. I may have back-talked a few cadets for making me do what I saw was unnecessary push-ups. I wouldn’t survive a day in real basic training.
But we did survive our 2nd Citadel Bulldog Challenge! This year our amazing team consisted of:
Dan, Ashton, Jared, and Me… together we were the “Tough Pluff Mudders”.
Last time we did the race it was 3 ladies and Dan, and while we were awesome, it was nice to have the balance of 2:2.
We pulled together, used our individual strengths and got through the messy, strength exhausting 10K obstacle course.
Never heard of the Bulldog Challenge?
It’s a 10K race where teams of 4 work together through various obstacles. Some require lots of strength others endurance. So it was nice that all 4 of us were able to contribute our own personal strengths to help make the team better.
Because it’s not just endurance and it’s not just strength… it’s exhausting! And it hurts… I woke up Sunday with random bruises and scrapes all over my body. Still, it’s worth it.
The Challenge Recap
This year our start time was 9:42 (which you don’t find out until packet pick-up, the day before).
This was awesome! We were able to sleep in (kind of), take our time getting ready, and make it downtown at around 8:40. It was freezing Saturday morning and we really wanted to make sure the sun had some time to rise and warm the place up a little. That didn’t happen unfortunately as there were heavy clouds and strong gusts of wind.
Luckily the race is run in military fashion, so at 9:41 on the dot, we were called up to the starting line. At 9:42 the siren sounded and we were off.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take any pictures but Ashton’s roommates did make it down to take some for us along the way. I’m going to “sprinkle” the picts I have along the post, they won’t necessarily go with the obstacles since I don’t have picts of all of them. Cool?
First it was all about the O-course…
The on campus military obstacle course consisting of logs and walls of different heights to jump over; bars to pull-up and swing over, and a rope to shimmy up. Luckily the rope only has to be climbed by 2 members. I was supposed to be one of them, since normally I am all about rope climbing. But at the start of the race my hands were still freezing and I just couldn’t get them to grip that stupid thing. Dan carried my weight and climbed up like a champ. Didn’t even use his legs!
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From there it was time to pick up sandbags! Each time is required to grab 3 sandbags which will stay with us for 3/4 of the race. I will say, those sandbags were much heavier this year! They definitely help warm up your legs if the weren’t already (which mine weren’t).
From there… we made our way to the campus track to add to our weight by picking up 3 ammo boxes… I grabbed one in each hand and made our way around the .25 mile track! The ammo boxes where no joke, my traps were killing me but I was glad my grip was strong enough to hold on without a single rest.
We continued our way to the pull-up bar, then the tire flip… which then had us going to the main field. We crawled under one another, sprinted, did a few zigzags and low military crawls, had to farmer carry each other (the boys did the ladies) and finally, toss a “grenade” to the circle… which they said we didn’t hit so instead it was 20 push-ups (which is where I may have argued).
Then it was a to the stadiums! Oh the stadiums! Love them. And Ashton and I felt strong from start to finish as we each carried a sandbag and climbed up and down the entire visitor’s side. We agreed the stadium work we’ve been doing helped! Dan finished by saying he needed to start working out with us! Ha.
Our poor legs continued to take a beating… well, everyone’s but mine. All 3 sandbags went into a military rucksack which Ashton and Jared shared back and forth while Dan carried me in farmers carry for 250 YARDS! Ashton, because she’s a beast, wanted to see if she could carry me, so she finished off the 300 yard carry! Then it was time for the garage…
We had to carry a teammate in a stretcher from the ground floor up to the roof. Holy smokes! Oh and yes, we still had the 60 pound backpack. So tough! And what were we awarded with? Push-ups at the top!
Back on the street, it as time to return the rucksack, divide the sandbags back up and run the longest full stretch to the marsh… with a few mini obstacles tossed in for fun (nothing huge).
At the marsh, we returned our sand bags (yay) and jumped in to the salty, putrid, cement-like mud and crawled out around 100 yards. This part sucks, by the way, and is no joke.
Your legs become exhausted, you’re getting kicked by others around you, and you just want to go faster but can’t.
Getting out, is the best feeling EVER.
The final stretch of the race includes carrying 3 5-gallon jugs around a building, grabbing fake riffles and running the final .3 miles to the finish line.
Done! In around 1 hour and 34 minutes. By far kicking our previous time!
Once all said and done was when the cold hit. It was miserable! Covered in cold mud, in windy 43 degree temperatures, I was shivering as if on the top of Everest naked.
I couldn’t wait to get in the shower and warmed up!
All in all it was an awesome race. I am so proud of us and we voted that Jared received the MVP award since this was his first time doing anything like this. He killed it!
Please have a wash off station next time. My car is covered in mud since we had to suck it up, sit on towels and drive home like you see us above. Oh, and it smells like nasty. I have no idea how to clean it.
-Sorry for such the long recap, but I love this event and didn’t want to leave out anything!
No More Paleo Celebration
When we planned our paleo challenge, Ashton and I agreed it would be over at the end of the race. How did we celebrate? Lunch at the local Tres Matadors with a glass of Sangria and 1/2 a burger with pepper jack cheese (I split it with Dan). Delicious!
I’ll share my full recap of the Paleo Challenge and pictures next Monday!