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Mad Mud Run - Run5 Mile


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
Sierra Adventure Sports
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 42m 30s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Duo female
Age Group Rank = 3/
Pre-race routine:

Mad Mud Run. As the name implies, you must be crazy, you must be ready to get muddy, and you must be ready to run for this race. Events like this are always more fun with a partner, so I shot a quick e-mail off to Shari and she said she was in (I've learned if the race is crazy, Shari will try it once).

I got up at some crazy hour of the morning and grabbed my bag of stuff. I wore a tank top, tri shorts, and threw my warm clothes on as an outer layer. My bag was packed with towels, fresh clothes, my shower kit, and water bottles. That was it! Running races are so much easier to get ready for than tris. I drove over to Shari's house and we loaded everything in her truck and left Tucson just as the sun was coming up. We got to Kiwanis Park in Tempe and picked up our packet and went back to the truck to get ready. We knew we were getting dirty, so we wore old clothes (this is one race where it's a good idea not to wear the TTG race gear as it would get stained). My running shoes hadn't been cleaned after IMAZ, so this was a great excuse to wear them again and clean them afterwards. We were only given one number for our team, as you have to stay with your partner. No ditching them, no selling them to the gypsies or anything like that during the race. You have to stay together and cross the finish together.

We had checked out the map of the course online the day before. We knew we were running 4.4 miles, with obstacles along the way with the final obstacle being the mud pit. We gathered with the rest of the racers at the starting line and watched the solo racers go off. Then it was our turn. We had about a 3 minute gap and then the gun fired. Time to race!
Event warmup:

Quick jog around the park with Shari.
Run
  • 42m 30s
  • 4.4 miles
  • 09m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

Shari and I started out at a good pace. We didn't want to go out too fast and die in the first mile. A few folks passed us right away (we would pass them later) and we hit the small hills. The course followed a paved path around the pond at the park. After the first lap we came back to the center of the park and hit the first obstacle, the haybale hurdles. This brought back fond memories of the Turkey Trot. This is why it's great to do the Turkey Trot...you never know when those haybale hopping skills will come into play! Shari and I stepped on top of each one, landed on the other side, and stepped up the next one. There were 4 in a row, then one that was double-stacked, and one more after that. Shari and I were perfectly synchronized as we went over the bales. Yep, we were pros!

More running and we hit the backside of the park along the street. People in their cars must've thought we were nuts! At this point I was feeling the 2.5 week recovery break from IMAZ and my lack of speedwork, and Shari was feeling all those trail runs. So we were actually matched well for this race. Funny how those things work out. We seemed to get tired at the same spots. We got to the next obstacle, which looked like a bunch of long saw-horses. We had to duck under about 4 of those, and then run and step over a bunch of tire inner tubes football-style. That was done, so we continued on to the next obstacle, the wall. I was a little worried about this one as I don't scale many walls. We had to crawl under a supported tarp first, which robbed all speed. We were right behind another team, so I watched the guy in front of me to see where he hit the wall. He took the second panel over, so I took the first. I knew I had one shot at this. I ran and planted my foot in the middle of the wall, grabbed the top, and threw my upper body over the top, kind of like getting out of Hillenbrand pool. Thankfully there was a ladder on the other side. I looked over real quick and Shari was at the top too. We hit the ground running and were off to our next obstacle.

We passed the only aid station and I asked for water and got handed a cup of what I thought was water. I took a swallow and UGH! It was NOT water! It was overly-concentrated Heed. And some gross flavor to boot. I dropped the cup and choked on it a bit. Thanfully Shari carried her water bottle with her and handed it over to me so that I could rinse out my mouth and get fresh water down. We ended up on the pond path again, and this time the short hills were even tougher. We climbed up a grassy hill and hit obstacle #4, the balance beam. The beam was a bunch of 2x4's turned up on the skinny side and were in a zig-zag pattern. If you fell off you had to start over. Thankfully there was a guy in the middle of the two beams to help us. I started on the beam and after a few steps the guy behind me got on, jarring the beam. Just as I started to slip I grabbed the helper's hand and walked the rest of the way. Shari made it over the beam too and we were done without having to repeat the obstacle.

The course took us along the canal path next to the park. This is where both Shari and I started to get tired and wanted it to be over with. We started passing soloists at this time too. At the end of the path was the final obstacle, the mud pit. There were about 4 pits 8 feet wide or so with haybales in between. Flag lines were strewn across the top of each pit so that you couldn't run through them. You had to duck under each line and get muddy. This was it. We took a breath and hopped in. Dang that mud was cold! And, well, muddy. Mud sloshed down our shirts, pants, shoes, got in our faces and basically everywhere. It was hilarious! We got out of the pit weighing about 20 lbs heavier. This race was a little different than other races that I've done in that the finish line wasn't right after the mud pit. We had to run while muddy! We ran along the sidewalk, thankful that we didn't park next to the sidewalk as parked cars were getting splashed with mud. I have to say, running in muddy tri shorts makes for a whole new world of chafing. Sand ends up rubbing in places it just shouldn't rub! We ran about a quarter of a mile all muddy and finally made the turn towards the finish. We grabbed hands as you had to cross holding hands with your partner and crossed the line in 42:30. What a crazy race! We got some pics taken of us all muddy and then proceeded to the clean up area.
Post race
Warm down:

They said showers would be provided after the race, but that turned out to be a sprinkler system with one garden hose hooked up to a central shower head with 5 spigots. It was crowded and hard to get a spot under the running water. We washed off the big chunks and went back to the truck and got our clean clothes and our water bottles. There was a park bathroom close to the truck, so Shari and I improvised and made our own showers with hand towels and 2 water bottles. We just kept filling the bottles in the sink and pouring them over ourselves to get the mud off. It was better than nothing and we were actually able to clean up pretty well.

We headed back to the main area, and saw people riding home in the back of pickup trucks. Some people didn't bring a change of clothes! We waited for the awards ceremony, and found out we got 2nd in the Duo Female category! We were given special blue dog tags as trophies and a bar of soap.

Overall it was a great race. It's a fun race with all the obstacles mixed in to make it interesting. The mud pit was a ton of fun, and it's more fun if you just go for it. We watched some gals try to make it through without getting muddy. What fun is that?!? The shower situation could definitely be improved, but it wasn't a deal-breaker. Overall, it's a good race to do if you're into getting dirty. It's not a good race for those afraid of dirt, grime, or ruining pedicures.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

2.5 weeks off for IMAZ recovery. :)




Last updated: 2008-05-01 12:00 AM
Running
00:42:30 | 04.4 miles | 09m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance:
Course: Around the park.
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2008-05-04 9:06 PM

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Elite
2553
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Tucson, AZ
Subject: Mad Mud Run


2008-05-04 10:01 PM
in reply to: #1381169

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Champion
19812
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MA
Subject: RE: Mad Mud Run

What a blast you had with a friend!

Obstacle, mud and lots of laughs...great job Elaine and congrats on the hardware! 

2008-05-05 5:37 PM
in reply to: #1381169

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2008-05-05 6:49 PM
in reply to: #1383302

Subject: ...
This user's post has been ignored.
2008-05-05 11:06 PM
in reply to: #1381169

Melon Presser
52116
50005000500050005000500050005000500050002000100
Subject: RE: Mad Mud Run
Can't believe you jumped right back into muddy madness so soon! Great job! Dog tags 'n' soap sound like great awards.
2008-05-06 11:58 AM
in reply to: #1381169

Mesa
Subject: RE: Mad Mud Run
Sounds like a fun race...errr obstacle course! Great job mucking it up!


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