Teva Trail Challenge: My first trail run with obstacles and muddy hills

On July 28, 2013, Teva had launched its new line of trail shoes by organizing a trail run, Teva Trail Challenge, at the Earthhaven, San Mateo Rizal. This happens to be my first trail run with obstacles. It was also my first opportunity to use Teva Sphere Speed, the new trail shoes from Teva (more on this at another blog post).

Pre-Race

I am not a big fan of trail running, especially those with obstacles and mud. But I do appreciate the beauty of such experiences including bonding with friends, experiencing nature's beauty and seeing great sights. But I have previously shunned the idea of trail running with mud and obstacles. I don't like mud on my running apparel, especially my shoes, but having acquired Teva Sphere shoes had changed my mind.

Actual Race

This post has been months overdue so I'll just tell you what happened with the help of photos I took around the race route.

 Bloggers a few minutes before the race

 Tevasphere Unite!

Posing at the starting line a few seconds before the gunstart

 Uphill agad sa natatanging road sa race

 Then, we enter the trails. Looks manageable, not!

Ayan na, buwis buhay trails!

The first obstacle has us climbing up a net.

CJ, Cheryl and I are stratch free but muddy

In some parts of the trail, the only way down is to slide down.

After getting all muddied up in the trails, it was great to see this.

Then, we had to rappel down to the next obstacle.

I picked the easiest one kahit mabagal

After the obstacle, we had to walk in the river.

Some shoes didn't survive the challenge

Our TevaSphere was the key to surviving this trail challenge.

 The challenge continues in the rocky trails.

 Tapos, kelangan pang lumubog sa river.

 Then, it was time to be muddy again.

 Towards the last few meters, we were asked to walk across muddy water.

 Cheryl choose to use the obstacle rope.

 We opted to pose with the rope while walking across.

 Then, they has us crossing the monkey bars.

Going up a wall and heading down a net,

 traversing up and down poles

 and walking across tires.

 Before arriving at the finish line, we needed to walk through mud.

Our Tevasphere were really muddy.

Post-Race

We had a hearty breakfast as part of the race inclusions. There were bananas, hamburgers, gatorade and water. We watched the awarding of the top finishers as we cleaned up and rested for the journey back home.

Then, we rode the bus back to Manila.

Race Review

The race was tiring but fun. The trails were crazy difficult. Most of them had us hanging for dear life at trees. The obstacles were interesting to try. Having the race at Earthhaven is an experience I won't forget.

Congrats to all finishers!

Thanks to the organizers!

Garmin Log: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/349295355
Photo Credits: R.O.X. Philippines