Pirate Booty Hunt

Went and did the Pirate Booty Hunt at Varn Ranch in Plant City last weekend. It was definitely different than any other run I’ve done yet. Three and a half miles, but I don’t think anyone ran the whole thing. The trick was you had to look for little pirate chests that could be traded in for booty.

It started on a narrow path – we had to walk because everyone in front of us was and there wasn’t any way around without being a bit pushy. But soon enough the dirt road opened up and everyone was able to space out a bit.

They put little orange flags all along the path to follow, and pirate signs that meant time to start searching! Around those everyone spread out off the path looking for the booty. My friend’s daughter found one that got her a entry to another Beach Beast run, can’t beat that!

What made it fun is the flags led us completely off the path quite a bit, through the trees and close enough to the swamp that the water was coming in my shoes. I kept my eyes open for alligators or snakes but all I saw was ample evidence of cattle that had been there. I had asked if it was barefoot friendly and was told there were no rules against it but they’d prefer no one ran barefoot. Gotta respect the people putting on the race and due to the frequent cattle bombs I’m kind of glad I did!