I did the first Hero Rush in Maryland and I loved every minute of it. I’m a career firefighter so the obstaces were similiar to training props I’ve seen in classes I’ve taken for work. The main difference between the two, the Rush obstacles were a lot of fun! The course was really well designed and incorporated smoke, heights, dark and tight spaces, lots of water and a very slimy but fun Hazmat pit. And jumping the fire at the finish was pretty awesome. I did the competition wave to see how well I could do as an individual and ran the “343” wave with a large team. I enjoyed it so much I’m running it as an individual in NY and with a team in PA. It’s an awesome experience and for me, well worth the extra driving to do it again before it gets to Maryland next year.
The Rush also supports a few great charities, with the Maryland races local charity being the DC Burn Foundation (they change in each city) and the National charity is the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. I’ve seen these two charities in action and had the opportunity to help at a burn camp for kids. I won’t say they’re better than any of the charities supported by mud runs. I can say they are truly great organizations.
Bottom line: This is more than your basic “get dirty and crawl over logs” mud run, this is one heck of an experience! Do it once and you’ll be impatiently waiting to do it again!