Earlier this month, I ran the Shape Diva Dash in Frederick, MD with a friend. I am a huge fan of this race. In 2013, I ran this race with my mom and we had a blast. This race is billed as a Washington DC race however, it’s in Frederick, MD. For those that do not know Frederick is a good hour north of DC.

Frederick is not Washington, DC

This 5K women’s obstacle race is set up in heats. When registering you choose which heat to run which would dictate what time you need to arrive. My heat was scheduled at 10am (the 1st non-competitive wave). My husband and I arrived a little after 9am to make sure we had time for me to grab my packet and park. We met up with friends who had gotten there a bit before us. The plan was the husbands could hang out while the wives kicked some butt on the course. Then afterward, we’d all grab a bite to eat together.

Packet pick up was a breeze. Walked right up grabbed my bib and buff. There were no shirts this year. (Which I thought was strange.) But, I do love the buff! We watched the competitive wave start and began to warm up for our heat. People watching is clutch as this event, because the team costumes were super cute and crazy creative. I loved it.

Our heat started at exactly 10am. (awesome) The entire course was on trail or field. We began through the woods. Unfortunately, I assumed the competitive wave meant these were the more elite-esque athletes. So I did not sign up for that wave. Had I known the non-competitive wave would feature many groups walking, I may have signed up as a competitor. Walking is cool, I do it sometimes, that’s aces in my book. However, on a narrow trail, it’s not alright to begin walking almost immediately and block the trail 5 people across so no one can pass. I wish it was more clear that walkers should stay to the right and allow space for passing. So for the first half mile, there was a lot of weaving. Then is when it began to drizzle, which felt really nice.

The obstacles were a ton of fun. Some were made easier by the rain others more difficult. After the first mile, the group spread. We maintained a pretty steady jog the entire time then took our time on the obstacles. I’m proud to say we did every obstacle on the course, even forged a river. Okay it was only calf height, but still counts. Running on the trail was challenging but I truly enjoyed it. The last obstacle scared me a bit. We climbed a cargo net to a fireman pole. This situation would have been a ton of fun, had it not been raining. However, I just bit the bullet and slid down (fastest ride ever).

Overall, I had a great time. I really do enjoy this race and turns out I really like obstacle course races! I would absolutely run this race again (but maybe in the competitive wave).

Have you done the Shape Diva Dash? Are you a fan of obstacle courses? Any recommendations on good DC area obstacle runs?

(Video below is a glimpse at the event, from the Diva Dash website0