[Back Beach]

Mile 3 through 6- The "electric eel" and a little poetic justice.

So with my breathing barely restored we complete the last obstacle on mile 3, which is the mud crawl under barbed wire. This was a real cool obstacle, not super difficult and one of the most fun obstacles of the day. We then proceed back up the mountain again through a mud bog which was real steep, slippery terrain. People were laying all over the place with leg cramps once we got to the top. Finally, we wind up at the first water station..whew. We're thrilled to be almost 1/3 into the run within the first hour and our confidence was starting to build until I noted we had only gone through 2 of the 30 obstacles thus far...

Next obstacle was the underground tunnels. Kind of scary to look at as there were a bunch of people hesitating , possibly claustrophobic or the like. I ducked in and got about 10 feet into a 40' tunnel and everything turned black. My buddy and I were head to feet and kept up the banter while crawling through. Not a real tough obstacle, but the sudden darkness made you wonder what might be lying in wait for us. A few people were freaking out, but we blocked them out and made it through with a few scrapes, but nothing serious.

We then barreled down the mountain a couple thousand feet once again in heavy mud until there it was, the dreaded "Electric Eel." Thoughts of my past atrocities towards the elver species began to resonate in my head. "Payback time," I told myself. As we neared the obstacle, people were all shouting to keep your head down and go real fast. I got up to the tank, which really looked like a back yard skating rink, and noted dozens of strands of electric wire hanging just above the water, some of them carrying 10,000 volts. We were politely reminded before jumping in, "It's the amperage that kills you, not the voltage. " As I ducked under the entry wire my eyes were focused on the finish about 50' away. The object was to stay low and crawl fast, so I put my feet up against the outer box and pushed off real hard, rappelling myself very quickly for the first 20' or so. Once my momentum from the push off subsided I began a fast, low crawl towards the exit...then it happened...I felt a sledgehammer like blow to the right side of my head and couldn't believe it...this shot hurt really bad and left me reeling for the exit. I made it to the exit without getting hit again, thank god. I was seeing double for a little while after and had a good crook in my neck, but the coming obstacles would wake me back up real fast as we were about to find out.