Hey! I'm Runnin' Here! | Men's Health URBANATHLON #MHURB #spon

Over the last two years I've had a love/hate relationship with running. 

Mostly hate.

In my head I want to run. I want to plod my way through miles upon miles of asphalt. I want to have another moment when I happen upon a landscape that strikes me mute at the beauty that is unfolding before me with every step. I want my soul to be invigorated by achievements that bring on crippling joint pain that is silenced by the glint of a shiny finisher's medal.

And then I remember how I want to throw myself into oncoming traffic because I am so fucking bored.

Despite my boredom, I don't completely hate running. In fact, I love taking off in a sprint (or as close to a sprint as I can manage) and galloping along...until my throat seizes and I'm cursing my lead-lined sneakers. When I became bored of running, yet knew that I couldn't give it up, I had to reinvent what I thought I was capable of accomplishing. 

Enter, the obstacle race.

Y'all, I am a girly girl. I don't like the sand at the beach, I don't like dirt under my fingernails. Sweat? I really hope you are kidding. However, I LOVE tearing it up on an obstacle course. No, I'm not the stealthiest, strongest, most cunning, or even the least whiny on the course. But I'll wade through mud (and possibly eat some of it), climb impossibly tall barricades as I quiver over my fear of heights, crawl on my belly under barbed wire, dive into ice water, and even jump over fire for that precious finisher's medal and some bragging rights.

The only thing that scares me and gets my adrenaline pumping more than an OCR is a trip to NYC.

So how can I up the ante on an OCR? By doing one in NYC, of course!

I'll be running the Men's Health URBANATHLON Sprint on October 25th and I want you to join me! Use the code FIT at checkout and save 20% on your entry fee. The Sprint offers four and a half miles and 10 obstacles, and the Classic is ten miles and 15 obstacles through Queens. Climb over buses and under compact cars. Traverse walls and tires, jump barricades, and climb stairs. There's no better place to prove what you are made of than New York City!

After you've proven that the mean streets of NYC can't bring you down, stick around for the Urbanathalon Festival. 

Enjoy music and a post-race snack from the food trucks, grab your complimentary beer in the beer garden, and check out the wares and samples from the generous event sponsors!

Come join me and afterward we'll get a schmeer, or go to the deli, or something else that is pathetically touristy.