Time Warp?! WHOA!

The Wild Woods team made it to the 2017 UpDog International Finals! By obtaining a second place, in an awesome game called Time Warp, with a Personal Best score of 69 points, at the ChillyDog competition late in 2016, Cedar and I secured a place to compete among some of the best teams across the country. It was this game and of course the amazing MN teams that also made it into the finals, that encouraged us to participate. Plus, the best hotel roomy crew, Melissa and her pups Kai and Nox allowed us to stay with them again!

UPDIF was held in Gray Summit, MO, hosted upon the fields of Purina Farms. UpDog is one of our favorite disc formats. The format makes it a priority to listen to the players, consistently making things interesting and fun. They also know how to host one heck of an event! It wasn't just the weekend either! It was 5 days of disc!!! 

Super cool eyes closed shot. Me n my girl got it together fo sho.

Over those 5 days, a couple teaching seminars took place and over one hundred teams played a multitude of games. If you're unfamiliar with disc events, that's A LOT OF TEAMS! In addition to massive team numbers, we were treated to fun and inclusive non-game events. Celebrating the disc community with food and drinks, and awards. A monster shout out to all of the organizers and volunteers who made the event one I'll never forget!

Since we only qualified for one game at UPDIF, Wild Woods took the field on Thursday to participate in the Last Chance Qualifier, in an effort to secure more spots in the rest of the games being hosted throughout the weekend. We played three games, Four Way Play, Far Out, and Freestyle.

We missed the mark in both Far Out and Freestyle. The wind overtook my throws and made it very difficult for Cedar to make catches. It was a beyond windy day out on the sports field. But, we played our best and had fun even scored a Personal Best of 19 points in Four Way Play, qualifying us to participate in the same game on Day Two of UPDIF! 

Friday: Since we didn't qualify for any of the games that were being held that day, we got to hang out, cheer on our friends and help out around the field. We got to see awesome runs and some sweet personal bests get made.

Saturday we took it inside on the turf. Purina Farms as a spectacular space in Gray Summit. They not only have sport fields outside, but inside they have great turf space to play on. In addition to room for disc/agility, they also have sheep for herding and dock diving! Four Way Play was on the list for Team Wild Woods for Saturday. And wouldn't you know it, we scored a NEW PERSONAL BEST - 20 POINTS! 

Sunday: Last day of competition. Wild Woods had a little hiccup in our performance in the Time Warp game :(. Basically my last throw was off and I forgot how I did so well at ChillyDog. However, one of our MN Besties, Melissa and Kairos/Sushi Collie/#BecauseKai, were able to smash the game and got a NEW PERSONAL BEST - 71 POINTS! Beating their previous best by 10 points! 

While the games are what I came for, the after competition events definitely kept me engaged and made the limited game play worth it. I love the disc community. UpDog was so inviting, hosting dinners providing incredible player packs, and killing it with awards and supporting us with our Personal Bests!

We also went on a hike with Sushi Collie, Noximus Maximus, and Melissa. The pups got ticks and we got some fresh air. The trail was just a short couple miles from our hotel and took us up the hillside, giving us a nice preview of the sunset. 

Beers for Peace was also a major hit! I brought down some tasty Insight 4 packs to trade with some fellow disc doggers. I was able to trade for some interesting brews from all over the country! 

I'm sure I'm missing some stuff as it was an action packed trip. I loved the event, it's got Team Wild Woods hooked! UpDog Comps here we come!