On Sunday morning, we played in the mud. 🙂
As you guys know, I LOVE mud/obstacle runs and haven’t done one since last year, so I was excited to get out there and run in a more creative and fun way on Sunday morning at the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run 5k! Pictured above is “Team Awesome!”, comprised of me, Matt, and my friends Lara and Jess, about halfway through the run. Fun times had by all. 🙂
As usual, I brought along my waterproof camera for the adventure so I could get some action shots of us during the race. When I wasn’t using the camera or needed my hands for obstacles, I stuffed it into my sports bra. Classy, I know. It worked! I was able to salvage all my clothing and my shoes, too – they just got a SERIOUS rinsing in our tub and then I ran the clothes through the washer twice.
We signed up for the 9:30 a.m. 5k wave (there was also a 9 a.m. wave, and an 8 a.m. 10k option) – as late as possible was the key since we were at a wedding the night before! Matt was sleepy. 🙂
But pumped. 😉
We arrived at the race start with plenty of time and had no problems parking, checking in to get our race packets, hitting the porta-potties, or checking our bags. Two points for good race organization! Off to a good start. We were ready to go at the starting line shortly before 9:30.
And then we were off!
It was hot out, but not unbearable like last week was, and since we were getting muddy/wet, the heat didn’t matter as much. The race took place on a mostly shaded (and really pretty) trail, so that was nice, too.
One of our favorite obstacles was this lake! You just waded through it in a small loop, but it felt SO good.
Then came the mud. 😉
Another fun obstacle was this big blow up slide! You climbed up the rope on this side, and on the other side you slid down. Fun!
Running by a pretty pond on the the trails:
Here’s Jess peeking out over a fun rock climbing wall obstacle! I liked this one.
Made it!
Matt goofing off near the top:
At one point, we randomly ran by corn fields! Does anyone else find corn fields super creepy thanks to a certain 80’s horror movie?
We ran from the corn and back to the pretty wooded trails:
And then got ready for a big climbing obstacle!
The race ended with some more trail running, and then two more obstacles. First was this rope climb up a slanted wall – this was HARD!
And then more mud, of course. 🙂
We made it!
It was really sunny – excuse our pained expressions. 😉
Nothing like starting your weekend by playing in mud. 🙂 Overall, this was a really fun race! Next time, I would love to do the 10k – I could have gone for even more obstacles and more of those pretty shaded trails! I told them they should offer more than one start time option for the 10k next year – we’ll see. 🙂 For the 5k, we could have gone for more creative/even crazier obstacles, but that’s just me being an adrenaline junkie. Thanks to Team Awesome! for the fun morning! If you’re interested in checking out the Down & Dirty race, too – check out their locations page – they have races all over the country!
Are you a mud run/obstacle run fan?
Disclaimer: Matt and I received a free bib for this race in exchange for sharing our experience here on the blog. Thank you to the folks at Down & Dirty for the great opportunity! 🙂 All opinions are my own.
