This past Saturday, Courtney and I ran in another mud run. This one
was called the Original Mud Run. It took place at the Sam Houston
Raceway Park, which is a horse racing facility. The race was 10
kilometers and had 25-30 obstacles along the route. We were scheduled
to start at 11 AM. I did not want to be late like we were for the
Boondock Battle when we got stuck behind the Model T parade. We met
Courtney, Mike, and Sydney at the movie theater and caravanned to the
track. There was very little traffic and we arrived nice and early. We had elected to get our race packets mailed to us, so all we had to
do was affix the timing chip to one of our shoes and attach the wrist
band. We got our race t-shirt and had plenty of time to stretch. 5
Hour Energy was one of the event sponsors and they had people walking
around handing them out to everyone. I do not think that any of us had
tried one before. Mine tasted fine, but Courtney and Jen were not
impressed. In fact, they did not like it at all. A short time later,
my parents arrived to provide some much appreciated moral support and
to watch us play in the mud. They gave out the 15 minute call for our start time and we headed over
to the starting area. The starting area was close to the Raceway
complex. We waited the fifteen minutes and then got the countdown to
the start, 10, 9, 8, etc... The horn blew, and we could not move.
Apparently they decided to split our group in half, so we had to wait
another 10 minutes until our start. They had said that the course will
start off with a long run to spread everyone out so that there are not
lines at the obstacles. Once we were running, the course turned to the
left, straight towards the area where the horses are kept. We ran
through the stables and paddocks, and then right out onto the actual
sandy horse track. The course took us down the front stretch in front
of the grandstands. At the end of the grandstands was the first water
station, so we were already one mile into the race. The course left the horse track, went through the parking lot, and
crossed a bridge into a wooded area. The course then turned to the
north and it looked like our first obstacle would be a large climbing
wall. But no, the course made a u-turn and we found our first
obstacle, the low crawl. They wanted to get you dirty and wet in a
hurry. They had strung a net about a foot above the water line across
a shallow mud and water pit. This forced you to army crawl through the
muck. Between the person in front of me sloshing mud everywhere and
the low net, by the time I was out, my face was covered with mud. The
second water station was immediately after, and Courtney was kind
enough to pour water on my face to wash some of the dirt away from my
eyes. Then we were running again toward the next obstacle. I actually
do not remember what the second obstacle was and it is not my
intention to list them all, so here are a few highlights. There was a mud hill early on that was just about impossible to climb
up without a little bit of help. I pushed the guy in front of me to
the top and he reciprocated by helping me out a little. Once I was at
the top, I reached down and helped Courtney pull herself up. Then I
noticed a group of 8 girls sloshing toward the hill. There was no way
they were getting up the hill without some assistance. So, I stayed
where I was and pulled them all up the hill. After the girls, I helped
one more guy and figured that I had done my part. I slid down the
other side and caught up with Courtney. There were two large mud slides among the obstacles. One of them was
covered with plastic sheeting and had a water source. The other was
just coated with slick mud. Both of them ended in a muddy pit. The
course then turned into a heavily wooded area and there were quite a
few hurdles along the trail. There was a rope swing, another low
crawl, and a rope bridge. The rope bridge was about 15 yards and had
one rope for your feet and another rope above you head suspended over
water. After the bridge was the cargo net. Straight up 20 feet, over
the top, and down on an angle. Toward the end was my favorite obstacle, the Gorilla Ropes. Twenty
five feet of monkey bars made out of rope suspended over water. For
some reason, I am good at the monkey bars. Maybe because I had lots of
practice on the playground in elementary school. The leap of faith
followed the Gorilla Ropes. It was a platform suspended 9 feet above
the muddy water line. My dad told me to do a cannonball so that I
would not sink as far down. So, I did a cannonball and still hit the
bottom. At least I did not lodge myself in the muck by jumping
straight down. I would guess the pit was about 8 feet deep. A couple
more obstacles and a mile jog and we were done. We took a few "after" photos. They had plenty of water and 5 Hour
Energy for us at the finish line. Our times were posted quickly and we
finished in 95 minutes. Not fast, but respectable, the average time
was about 2 hours. Three firemen and a pumper truck hosed us off. It
is amazing where the mud ends up. Literally everywhere. The runners
were provided a Chick-fil-a sandwich and 2 mini Budweiser beers. I had
a great time. My only problem, which was shared by probably everyone,
was debris in my shoes. The sediment built up under my feet and that
made running a little more uncomfortable then normal. But, I am
definitely looking forward to the next mud run, which is in early
July.
was called the Original Mud Run. It took place at the Sam Houston
Raceway Park, which is a horse racing facility. The race was 10
kilometers and had 25-30 obstacles along the route. We were scheduled
to start at 11 AM. I did not want to be late like we were for the
Boondock Battle when we got stuck behind the Model T parade. We met
Courtney, Mike, and Sydney at the movie theater and caravanned to the
track. There was very little traffic and we arrived nice and early. We had elected to get our race packets mailed to us, so all we had to
do was affix the timing chip to one of our shoes and attach the wrist
band. We got our race t-shirt and had plenty of time to stretch. 5
Hour Energy was one of the event sponsors and they had people walking
around handing them out to everyone. I do not think that any of us had
tried one before. Mine tasted fine, but Courtney and Jen were not
impressed. In fact, they did not like it at all. A short time later,
my parents arrived to provide some much appreciated moral support and
to watch us play in the mud. They gave out the 15 minute call for our start time and we headed over
to the starting area. The starting area was close to the Raceway
complex. We waited the fifteen minutes and then got the countdown to
the start, 10, 9, 8, etc... The horn blew, and we could not move.
Apparently they decided to split our group in half, so we had to wait
another 10 minutes until our start. They had said that the course will
start off with a long run to spread everyone out so that there are not
lines at the obstacles. Once we were running, the course turned to the
left, straight towards the area where the horses are kept. We ran
through the stables and paddocks, and then right out onto the actual
sandy horse track. The course took us down the front stretch in front
of the grandstands. At the end of the grandstands was the first water
station, so we were already one mile into the race. The course left the horse track, went through the parking lot, and
crossed a bridge into a wooded area. The course then turned to the
north and it looked like our first obstacle would be a large climbing
wall. But no, the course made a u-turn and we found our first
obstacle, the low crawl. They wanted to get you dirty and wet in a
hurry. They had strung a net about a foot above the water line across
a shallow mud and water pit. This forced you to army crawl through the
muck. Between the person in front of me sloshing mud everywhere and
the low net, by the time I was out, my face was covered with mud. The
second water station was immediately after, and Courtney was kind
enough to pour water on my face to wash some of the dirt away from my
eyes. Then we were running again toward the next obstacle. I actually
do not remember what the second obstacle was and it is not my
intention to list them all, so here are a few highlights. There was a mud hill early on that was just about impossible to climb
up without a little bit of help. I pushed the guy in front of me to
the top and he reciprocated by helping me out a little. Once I was at
the top, I reached down and helped Courtney pull herself up. Then I
noticed a group of 8 girls sloshing toward the hill. There was no way
they were getting up the hill without some assistance. So, I stayed
where I was and pulled them all up the hill. After the girls, I helped
one more guy and figured that I had done my part. I slid down the
other side and caught up with Courtney. There were two large mud slides among the obstacles. One of them was
covered with plastic sheeting and had a water source. The other was
just coated with slick mud. Both of them ended in a muddy pit. The
course then turned into a heavily wooded area and there were quite a
few hurdles along the trail. There was a rope swing, another low
crawl, and a rope bridge. The rope bridge was about 15 yards and had
one rope for your feet and another rope above you head suspended over
water. After the bridge was the cargo net. Straight up 20 feet, over
the top, and down on an angle. Toward the end was my favorite obstacle, the Gorilla Ropes. Twenty
five feet of monkey bars made out of rope suspended over water. For
some reason, I am good at the monkey bars. Maybe because I had lots of
practice on the playground in elementary school. The leap of faith
followed the Gorilla Ropes. It was a platform suspended 9 feet above
the muddy water line. My dad told me to do a cannonball so that I
would not sink as far down. So, I did a cannonball and still hit the
bottom. At least I did not lodge myself in the muck by jumping
straight down. I would guess the pit was about 8 feet deep. A couple
more obstacles and a mile jog and we were done. We took a few "after" photos. They had plenty of water and 5 Hour
Energy for us at the finish line. Our times were posted quickly and we
finished in 95 minutes. Not fast, but respectable, the average time
was about 2 hours. Three firemen and a pumper truck hosed us off. It
is amazing where the mud ends up. Literally everywhere. The runners
were provided a Chick-fil-a sandwich and 2 mini Budweiser beers. I had
a great time. My only problem, which was shared by probably everyone,
was debris in my shoes. The sediment built up under my feet and that
made running a little more uncomfortable then normal. But, I am
definitely looking forward to the next mud run, which is in early
July.
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