Run Like Crazy & Try Not to Die {aka The Rugged Maniac 5K}

When the forecast turns from 83 to 53 and the sunshine turns to dreary gray skies, suddenly jumping through mud puddles seems less appealing.

But still awesome.

Yesterday’s Rugged Maniac 5K was a race unlike any I’ve done before- and one I’d do again in a heartbeat.

More obstacle course than race, the 5K was ramped up a notch by swinging tires, fire pits, and mud slides.

Not to mention at least 4 inch deep mud- sticky, clay-like North Carolina mud.

The day didn’t start out completely fantastic when I made rookie mistake #1 by not re-checking the weather before getting dressed for the race. Oops. I figured it out when I got to the race site and there was a bit of a logistics nightmare. The off site parking lot was full and we got re-routed to another site, but no one told the bus driver. After waiting for 45 minutes for the 5 minute shuttle ride, I’d pretty much figured out it was cold. Really cold.

And I missed my start wave. As I walked up to registration to claim my race bib, I heard the next group of runners starting the course. Oops again.

Luckily, Anne and Tina missed their wave too.

{All mid & post race pictures courtesy of Tina, who’s both talented and brave enough to carry a camera mid-mud-run.}

Did I mention it was cold?

Note: Add “check weather report” to morning-of-race-duties.

Before long it was time for our wave to start.

4…3…2…1…GO!

If you like races where you bolt off the starting line, this is not for you. We were instantly greeted by thick, sticky mud that sucked at your shoes and nearly held you in place.

{This was after maybe 6 minutes of running?}

It wasn’t long before it was time to get dirty. The first obstacles? Crawling through a mudpit {that reeked of manure} under barbed wire. Yes, barbed wire.

The course continued on for 3.1 miles of mud, curves, and trees. Oh, and some skinny drain pipes you had to crawl through; tall, wet, slippery wooden walls; and lots of truck tires.

Some cargo nets.

Up was easy…down was a little scary…

Then there were some walls to climb.

Hey that wall doesn’t look as big as it did online. I got this, no sweat.

Ok, that one’s big. Wanna give us a boost? {He gave us a boost and let us use his fists as a step. He also mentioned he wasn’t volunteering for this position next year. I wonder why? }

Teamwork!

There was a little bit of running too.

And your typical jumping-over-fire-pits. Oh, that wasn’t in your last 5K?

And then the grand finale, the giant water mud slide.

It looked pretty innocent until Anne and I watched Tina go down….and instantly submerge under muddy water.

Oh well, here goes nothing!

Followed by a little swim…

And a steep climb up a muddy slope to the finish.

We were a little wet after our mud bath…

And that was surprisingly the cleanest we were the whole race.

The race was followed up by some log rolling and alleged hammer tossing.

We missed our chance to log roll.

Then it was time to clean up.

Change.

And refuel.

These pictures do nothing to imply how absolutely frigidly, freezing cold we were. Freeeeezing.

As for the knee, we’ll see. I’m cautiously whispering to the internet that it seems to feel ok right now. But I’m not making any grand statements until tomorrow…

The official Rugged Maniac pics are awesome, by the way.

So when’s the next mud run? Sign me up!

Tagged as: 5K, adventure race, mud run, race recap, rugged maniac, running