Gladiator Rock’n Run

I had a great time at this event. This is the first obstacle race we’ve tried out so take that with a grain of salt. I’m no super athlete and we were doing this for fun, not for time.
Observations —
— Cost to register goes up the closer to the event you get. So register early and save some $.
— Grant Ranch in summer time is hotter than sh&t. Best to start early.
— We decided to go over to the sports basement on Friday to pick up everything and avoid the hassle of trying to do the same on race day.
— Grant ranch is a long ass drive so plan accordingly. Lots of parking in the dirt lot once you get through the gate. Parking costs (I think it was 5 bucks).
— The event was well organized. We showed up about an hour before, go in line 20 mins before a start time. Lots of folks to assist us although it doesn’t take much to walk over to the big START sign either.
Course was well marked. Staff at every obstacle. Two water stops.
The obstacles — some were stupid easy if you were in any shape at all. Most took about a minute to do. Although a couple were real challenging.
Free micro beer at the end of the race.
Funky shower setup — due to the drought but they worked just fine.
Overall great time. Great event to try out for your first obstacle race. I’ll be back next year.

I’m having trouble deciding on the stars. I think this run is normally awesome. But the nor cal one is a joke.
B/​c of the drought there isn’t any mud except the last two obstacles. There was only 3 water stations and they were placed in terrible spots! It was mostly up hill which for me is not fun. Especially in 95+ degree weather. And also the obstacles are so isolated, I was by myself a lot of the time. And most of the volunteers weren’t very friendly. A few at the obstacles were friendly.
Like I said, I’m sure it’s more fun other places. At least I would hope. But the nor cal one wasn’t really fun.

This is the most disorganized 5k I have ever been in. Their emails were filled with typos (not small typos either… dates and locations), they changed the date of the race, then didn’t tell anyone they changed it back until I noticed things on the website were still saying the original date and emailed them, they also made us RE-​register using Squad Up instead of Active. Re-​registering is kind of a drag, especially since the new platform sucked. Squad up doesn’t let you have a team captain who can see which team members have signed up yet, and it’s harder to see your wave time. Plus, when registering with Active, you could buy an additional shirt, but no one said anything about the shirts when you re-​registered with Active. We had to ask staff at the race about them (because they still charged us), and they said we could just grab a shirt from the shirt stand… but what about the people who didn’t ask staff about this???
The actual race needs work. First off, 3 water stations and 17 obstacles is not a good ratio (especially with temps pushing 90°). Also, they call it a «mud run» but only a couple obstacles really had any mud involved. There were only 3! Besides my team, I heard many teams complain about this. Overall, the obstacles weren’t too bad, but a couple seemed pointless. The spider net one was a joke… You literally walk under a net and it doesn’t require any physical strength.
The party that they throw after was also a little lackluster. If you have ever done the Color Run, THAT is an after party.
Final tidbits:
My team was pretty out of shape and we were able to complete 15.5 obstacles out of 17, so they are totally doable! We kept pace with the majority of our wave and even passed a couple groups. Most groups did it in about 2 hours (we were 2 hours 6 min). Also, this is NOT spectator friendly and I don’t know why they advertise it as so. Spectators only see the start and the finish.
Was I happy that I conquered the race? Yeah! Would I do this race again? No… way too disorganized for me!

Great Obstacle race for all fitness levels. Did last year and signing up again this year. Can’t finish an obstacle? No problem u can Substitute for burpees and still complete the race

2014 Gladiator Rock’n Run. Second time for me for this event. Every thing was very organized. It was fun and I appreciated the switch up of obstacles so that I could actually complete a few without wet muddy hands. Suggestions for next year. Move the changing tent so that you are not changing in mud. Add a couple ropes for beginners on the Ring My Bell with knots closer together. Where did the road of tires go? I understand why there was no fire with our drought. A few signs on the road on the way up would be helpful (yep you are on the right road).

Just did this run yesterday. This was my first obstacle run.
It was awesome! The 17 different obstacles were not too crazy hard, but I did have a lot of help getting off the walls. Terrified of heights & I’m not very tall to even have this be an average jump off height for me. Walls were up to 10 feet, there was always the wall of shame (aprox 4.5ft) … But come’on now!
Be prepared to get down and dirty it’s not fun unless you get yourself covered in mud from head to toe.
«Showers» are available, those would be just the hose tethered on a post… Burrrrr
Changing rooms were also available … But down hill of the shower! So you still change in the mud.
The first dry rolling hill run had no water stations. The grounds: dry dirt road. Cross country status.

Signed up to run 2014 race in December, also ordered and paid for Gladiator in Training Shirt, not cheap
Its April, no shirt, all sorts of excuses, first out of size, oh new shirt design
Still no shirt… The Paid for shirt
Since my angry last email, now no response
Horrible customer service, they have my money, I have no shirt
Race may be fun, but this stinks
AND receiving emails to buy the shirt, no explanation
They need to get act together

I signed up to the 2013 Gladiator Rock n Run event along with my colleagues. This was the first time for all of us and we had no idea what to expect.
A couple of days before the event, we went to Sports Basement in Sunnyvale to pick up the package needed for the race. We met Nitro there and took a group picture with him. This event is the brainchild of Dan Clarke, aka Nitro. And the money goes for a good cause — curing autism.
The 2013 event was at Joseph Grant D County Park and We signed up for the 10am batch. Parking is limited at the county park; so it is highly recommended to carpool. Parking fee is $ 10.
For every timeslot, batches of 30 – 40 people are sent in waves, so that a big crowd is not waiting at the first obstacle. There was live DJ and Nitro gave a little speech before we started the run.
The run is for about 3 miles with lots of fun obstacles; my favorite ones are plunging into a bucket of icy cold water, climbing the 8 feet wall of fame and slithering through the mud. On an average, it takes about an hour to complete the run. Our intention was just to enjoy and have fun and we did it at our own sweet pace, taking 2 hours.
Spectators are allowed to walk along with you and take pictures or videos of your brave endeavors. Parts of the trail were steep, but it’s a lot of fun when you do it with friends.
At the end, you’ll be given a medal to commemorate your victory. At one of the booths, they give away free bananas. And those bananas taste heavenly when you are exhausted and hungry.
The event is very well-​organized. You don’t need to carry water with you. There is water available almost at every obstacle.
There is a changing room and water hoses to wash away the mud on you. You can also donate your shoes after the race.
Tips:
— You will get muddy; wear shirts/​pants that you will most likely throw away
— Bring towels to wipe yourself dry
— Bring changing clothes and shoes
— Bring plastic bags to put your muddy, dirty clothes inside
— Wear shoes that you will most likely throw away.
— Apart from «you», you will most likely dispose everything else that you wear that day for the race
All in all, it was fun. Will I do it again next year? Oh yes!

The Gladiator Rock’n Run was the embodiment of fun and challenge. The staff and participants were all in for a good time! Our team had a great time, but we all felt the burn on Monday. Broken terrain, some challenging obstacles, the «Papa Hamburger Hill» near the end were all great. That end wall climb was murderous, but still great fun. The location for the event was fantastic.
Hats off to ‘Nitro” for spearheading this event. Good race, great cause, much fun! We will definitely be signing up for 2013 if the event comes back!

Such a good mud run… all the volunteers were so sweet and helpful and the course obstacles were difficult but fun and rewarding. I have done many mud runs and I loved how this race had a smaller, more special feel.
However, they were very unclear about how to obtain photos, and had said that you could download photos for free. After finally finding them, they turned out to be pretty expensive.

From the website: Dan Clark aka «Nitro» from the American Gladiators brings you the most insane one day event on the planet — The Gladiator Rock’n Run™. The course challenges all participants to conquer extreme obstacles and harsh terrain, then to celebrate their conquests with a bad-​ass post race party filled with music, beer and food.
Definitely fun, definitely worth it. It just over 6k run, but man the first hill is a BEAST. If you don’t take it slow at the start, it’ll wear you out– and it ends on a massive hill also, so save juice for that. The obstacles were a blast, challenging, but doable for everyone who puts in the effort. The staff was decent, not too many sponsors at this event, but you do get a free beer, a finisher medal, and a pretty bad ass t-​shirt when you finish.
I paid $ 65 for this beast, and I thought it was worth it. So much better than «Terrain Race,» (stay away from that one). Hopefully the Gladiator run comes back next year!