Mud Run

This past weekend we drove down to South Carolina for a mud run put on by the Marine base in Columbia. We really didn't know what to expect, but I think Sam and I would agree that it was even more fun than we had anticipated. The "race" (it's wasn't so much a race as much as it was an "experience") was a 4.2 mile course through a forested area including 32 different military obstacles that we had to complete with our teams of four. Since we were both racing we don't have any pictures of the obstacles but they included things like climbing over a 10 foot wall, crawling under and over logs through mud, swimming through muddy water, climbing up steep hills of dirt and swinging on a rope across muddy pools of water. It really was so much fun.

Sam and I completed the race separately with team members from our ward.
We started out so clean...




Sam's team finished 30 minutes before us so Sam was able to run back and take a few pictures towards the end of the race. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures of Sam racing.


We may not look too great, but we felt great. We were pretty proud to have been able to complete all the obstacles as a team.


Sam loved the race so much he wishes we could have a course like that in our back yard just for fun.


They also had a small mud run for the kids which the boys thoroughly enjoyed. At first I was surprised at how "clean" they were staying, but when they ran the muddier course the second time around they certainly made up for it.







Here they are after their second run. Max lost a shoe and Reed turned into a mud mummy.


Ruby still wasn't feeling perfect on Saturday so I was a little worried about leaving her while I ran. She must have known I was feeling uneasy because when it was time for me to go she did just what she was supposed to.


There were 15,000 participants in the mud run so there were dirty people everywhere. When we first got there I saw a large crowd waiting in line for the shower and thought, "There is no way I am waiting in that line. I'm sure I'll find a way to clean off well enough without it". However after I completed the course I was so covered in mud (including in my nose and ears) that I was singing a different tune and happily waited in line twice to try to get clean. Even with multiple showers we all brought home plenty to remember the day by.

Here is just a small portion of the dirty crowd waiting for a shower.


Despite the long dirty drive home and achy muscles that followed it was totally worth it and we are already planning for next year.