Men's Health Urbanathlon

So what's an urbanathlon, you ask?
Good question. I'm still not sure... and I DID IT!
Kelly and I went down to NYC for the weekend to visit with friends we haven't seen in a while and so that I could participate in the race.
The weekend started off in a great way. Friday night, Kelly and I met up with our good friends, Erich and Leo. Erich stayed with us in the hotel becuase he was doing the race, as well. Kelly came with me for race support and to catch up with some old friends.
We all went to dinner together on Friday night at a place that was very close to the hotel. We had a nice pre-race meal and shot back to the hotel to get some much-needed shut-eye.
The next day, Saturday, was race day. Erich and I got up at 5:15 to shoot down on the subway to Central Park for the start. Kelly wished us luck and stayed in her nice warm bed for a little while longer (It turns out that Kelly got up and ran on the tredmill soon after Erich and I left).
Erich and I arrived at Central Park with plenty of time for a quick but important porta-potty stop, baggage check, and a warm-up. The temperature was on the cool side but with much humidity. It had also rained during the night so the course was wet.
Erich and I lined up together and listened to Rocco Dispirito wish us luck. He said he would've run with us but he's on the show, Dancing With The Stars, and can't risk injury. Very understandable (wussy boy).
The siren went off and the race started. I got out to a good spot and dropped into a comfortable pace. The race shot out of Central Park and made it's way down the bike path on the west side of Manhatten. After 3 miles, we found ourselves on a pier involved with the first obastacles. We had to jump over jersey barriers and climb through 6 foot long tubes. We then ran off of the pier and continued down the bike path toward Battery Park.
After another 2 miles, we came to our second set of obstacles. We had to crawl under a truck and then under a cargo net. We then had to climb through monkey bars and military hurdles. OH MY GOD! I was spent after this.
We, then, ran 2 more miles to a building with 52 flights of stairs. That's right! We ran up all 52 flights and then back down. Ok, so I thought I was done after the second obstacles, now I'm REALLY done.
On to the finish. Another mile and then we reach 2 taxicabs nose-to-nose. We had to slide over these and then scale a 9 foot wall. After the wall was the finish and my lovely supportive wife. What's better than that, I ask you?
What an awesome day and we had an awesome time. Next year, I will race with more knowledge about what to expect.
I came in 28th overall and Erich came in 44th.
You can view the results at: http://www.menshealthurbanathlon.com/downloads/individual%20splits_ny_08.pdf