Swamp Romp '08

This is the second year that I competed in the Swamp Romp, which is held at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base each Spring. The Swamp Romp is about five and a half miles of mud, sand, water, and obstacles. As part of the rules, every runner must wear long pants and high tops. Everyone duct tapes their shoes so that they don't get sucked off by the quicksand-like mud. If you finish the race sans shoes, you are disqualified. Each participant is a member of a six-person team. At the end of the race all team members must lock hands and cross the finish line at the same time. If you finish the race with only five, then your team takes a one minute penalty. (But if your team finishes with any less than five, you are disqualified.)

In the Swamp Romp last year our team took third place in the women's division. So this year we were hoping to do even better. We trained as a team once a week on Saturdays at Ko Olina. We would alternate running in the sand and water of each lagoon.

This year's course was much harder than last year's. They added on mileage and it seemed like there was a lot more mud and sand to run through. When the big race rolled around we ended up getting first place in the women's division. We also beat most of the men's teams, coming in at 15th overall out of a total of 300 teams. My team was comprised of Goose (my little sister), Joanna Tirado (a friend from work), Dana Butensky (another co-worker), Stacy Duldulao, Casey ?, and me.