It was 6 miles of water, mud, climbing, ropes, mountains, a Bagpiper, and Vikings. It is the race I will kidnap my friends and force them to participate in because it is THAT much fun!
FIRST: you will need a costume. I went with the pig in mud.
SECOND: You will need to duct tape your shoes to your feet so the mud doesn't suck them off. Then you will need to spray them with PAM cooking spray so the mud doesn't stick.
Me with my Running Grrrls Lacy & Lisa.
Then the race begins. There are a total of 10 obstacles. These are just the ones Martin could get pictures of:
Obstacle 1: Water Walk: 60 yard wade through waist deep water
2. Tryolean Traverse: 100 foot long rope crawl over the lake
....which by the way is not the hard part, it's getting out of the lake that's the real challenge.
Obstacle 3 (not pictured): Swamp Stomp through the reeds, this time it's in shoulder deep water.
Obstacle 4 (not pictured): Climb a 5 foot wall
Obstacles 5 & 6 (not pictured): Over and under telephone poles in the mud. Don't worry, if you forget if you are suppose to go over ... or is it under ... that telephone pole they put spikes on the the poles ... and then painted them red to remind you of blood. Just a friendly reminder of which way to go.
Obstacle 7: Cargo Net Climb. If being 12 feet off the ground on a shaky wobbly net after running a mile isn't enough to get your heart going, the guy swinging his size 13 foot around the pole and into your face defineately will!
Obstacle 8: Climb a 12 foot tall wall. After the cargo net climb, this is a piece of cake!
And then there's the mountain! If you look real close, those things that look like ants coming down the mountain are actually people. There's an elevation gain of 568 feet where they put...
Obstacle #9: Hay Bales Hurdles - 3 foot hurdles on the steepest incline.
They do have a wonderful Bagpiper playing what sounds like your death march up and down the mountain.
Obstacle 10: Mud Pit- You must roll under the flags to get across the pit.
...and if you are doing the 10k, you get to do it ALL OVER AGAIN!
The good news is, the cargo net is not nearly as crowded the second time around.
At this point, even the cheering squad is tired.
And after the 2nd time throught the Mud Pit there are Viking Men blocking your way to the finish with horns on their heads and huge batons in their hands and they are NOT messing around. They are there to TAKE YOU DOWN!
After jumping on one guy's back, I escaped and made my way to the finish.
This little piggy is DONE!
Top Five Things Overheard At MUD MASH 2010:
5. Participan: "I Think I'm going to throw-up!" Volunteer: "Just don't do it near me, I have to stand here for the next couple of hours"
4. I'd hit on you but I'm running
3. Don't worry if you forget the right way to go, we put red spikes on it to help remind you.
2. Rule #2: Don't die! It would really screw things up for next year.
1. Dude, Sorry I hit you so hard. I just had all this adrenaline and you had that hat. (Participant to Viking)
