Hastings native places first in her division at Warrior Dash

Hastings resident Kelly Pechous placed first in the Warrior Dash on Sunday for the women’s group ages 14-19.

Pechous finished with a time of 25:37, making her the fastest woman of the two days and giving her an overall place of 23rd for Sunday.

Warrior Dash took place at Afton Alps on Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24. This is the first time Warrior Dash took place in Minnesota and more than 19,000 people participated in the event.

Warrior Dash is a 5k obstacle course with 11 obstacles such as running over fire, running through a junk yard and climbing over walls.

Heats took place every half hour on both Saturday and Sunday, with 600 participants racing at the same time.

“The hills at Afton Alps were the most challenging,” said Pechous. “We ran about 400 meters on flat ground and then it turned into running up the ski hills.”

The last three obstacles of the course, the petrifying plunge slip and slide, warrior roast leaping over fire, and muddy mayhem mud pit, were visible to spectators.

“By the last three obstacles I was in third place for my heat,” said Pechous. “At that point we were passing people from the heat before us. Once we went down the slip and slide I passed one guy in my heat. Then through the mud pit I was able to pass the other guy and finish first. It was fun to have a little competition at the end.”

At the end, Warrior Dash participants were given a banana.

“They called the banana ‘the best banana you ever had’ because getting to the finish line was so much work,” said Pechous.

Pechous received a Warrior Helmet and medal for finishing in first place.

At the end of the race, participants could donate the muddy shoes they had competed in. The shoes were cleaned off and donated to those in need said Pechous.

Pechous is a 2010 Hastings High School graduate. She competed in cross country, alpine skiing and track in high school and continues to run in cross country and track at North Dakota State University, where she is studying Pre-Pharmacy.

“Warrior Dash brought the community out and was a lot of fun,” said Pechous. “I would most definitely do it again so I hope it comes back.”

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