Sunday, May 20, 2012

Mud Run


We love new adventures, sites and challenges and we embarked on one that's quite different than our usual food and travel. We did a Mud Run! It took place at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County, California on a beautiful Saturday morning.
After taking up running again after a many year hiatus, it has been fun to stay motivated by signing up for road races around the Bay Area to always have a goal and keep us challenged. When looking for a race to do in May we found the Mud Run and signed up. Then realized what we had done.

Many races have funny names like “Turkey Trot” or “Bay Blast” so at first didn’t quite make the connection. Then we did some research. “Yikes! A MUD RUN? Click here for more info.

Undeterred, we made it to the raceway Saturday morning. We stood in line and got t-shirts, bandanas and a  timing chip, which you turn in for a free beer after the race, then climbed to the top of the hill to watch the first wave of runners. The race is run in waves with starts every half hour of about 200 runners.
The set of obstacles we saw was daunting enough but when we saw the first runner come over the hill navigate the ropes and wall climb and then run down to the final mud obstacle we really knew we were in for it! Undeterred, we made it to the starting line for our start. At the start  we were reminded that this wasn’t a race but a challenge. No penalties for skipping obstacles, and though the race is timed, the time is for you, there are no winners or losers here.
We started, ran, walked climbed, waddled, crawled and slithered through the 5K course. Had a great time. We were kids again! 


The sense of camaraderie among the participants is also a wonderful thing. We chatted, laughed and helped each other through the obstacles along the way. When we finally came to the final pool of mud we swam through laughing and feeling great!
We hosed off at the water truck, which sprayed water over the crowd of runners. Here we also felt a wonderful sense of camaraderie with the other participants. Nothing like getting muddy and then taking a community cold shower with 100 other people!
We finished our adventure by heading to one of our favorites. The Fremont Diner. The oyster Po’boy  with a beer was  perfect. 
Shower time …

Why don't you join me on September  23rd, 2012, at the MudMan run put on by the United States Coast Guard in Petaluma, Click here for info  


Check out the rest of the blog for more adventures . . . Click here

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