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Challenging local race

Sometimes the local "mom-and-pop" races are the best. Grit And Glory (as it's now known) is definitely up there. A challenging race over grassland and forests of East Texas (just outside of Tyler, Texas) has enough obstacles, distance, and terrain to make it worth the trip out there.

Before I go on, here the disclaimer: small race + not near a major metro area (2.5 hours from Dallas) = small turnout - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. There were only 17 in the elite heat.

Registration set up was quick and easy. Bag check was cheap and more secure than others I've seen at bigger races. There were ample toilet facilities too. The festival area was modest for the size of the race. Parking was a breeze too.

I ran the elite heat. The weather was perfect. But even if it had been raining, the sandy-loam soil would've been easier to run in than clay. They had timing chips to keep it all legit. The course was well marked and wound throughout the forest, then out across pastures.

Obstacles included over/under walls, saw horses, tire drag, pole flip, tire flip, water jug carries, bucket carries, inverted wall, sand kettlebag toss + bearcrawl, javelin throw, pipe crawls, wall traverse. If you couldn't do an obstacle it was burpees. I'm not a fan of burpees as a penalty (against it actually) but it did add some legitimacy to the elite level.

The best part: not an excessive amount of mud. I mean, I expect mud, but when you crawl through the mud at the end just to get nasty... It's nice coming home and having less to clean up. It's nice not having mud caked in my hair for an almost 3 hour trip home.

The rinse off area (once we found it) was a good size garden hose on a concrete pad - still better than I've seen at bigger races. There were no changing tents, but a big enough bathroom. It was nice to change on a concrete floor and not deal with grass in my clean socks.

This was my first time to do this race and if today was any indication it's a well put together event. It's challenging enough. If you're a serious competitor in the region, go do Grit and Glory next year!