A Muddy Obstacle (Literally!)
A new type of racing has emerged in recent years; and it’s pretty ‘dirty’…………
“Mud Racing” is like all other races except……(You guessed it!), you run through mud and not on solid ground. Many of the races have been 5Ks, but lately, the longer 10K race has been added to the (messy) field.
One Texoma group that will ‘put their foot (feet?) in it’ is the “Fighttime Fitness” Crossfit group. Teresa West is the instructor for the group; and she is willing to get in the mud with everyone else.
“It sounded like fun,” said West. “We found out about it by a friend of one of our members. There are several every year.”
The group will participate in the “Original Mud Run” in Ft. Worth on Saturday, April 14. It will be at LaGrave Field and include both a 5K and a 10K course, West said.
“We’ve done 5Ks and other races,” she added. “So, we thought this would be something different.”
There will be 14 of them going to the ‘Mud Run,’ all women, who will brave the 25-30 obstacles along the muddy track, which includes running water in some areas.
“There will be sliding mud slopes; monkey bars and wall climbs; all muddy,” explained West. “It will take about two hours to get through (10K).”
West noted that the 5K race would take about one hour to complete. Of the Crossfit group, exactly seven are doing the 5K and exactly seven are doing the longer race.
The women participating are West, Meredith Doty, Kim Dunlap, Beth Holman, Tammy Wortham, Donna Meeks, Anna Ramirez, Jordan Moore, Rachel Waddles, Melissa Wuestenfeld, Allison Hicks, Rachel Ross and Cameron Cassell.
West, who will be doing the 10K race for the first time, said it will be a tougher race.
“I’ve done it twice (5K); this will be harder,” she said. “Because of all that mud!”
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The “Original Mud Run” has 18-20 obstacles to overcome along the 3.1 Mile (5K) course and 25-30 obstacles to overcome along the 6.2 Mile (10K) course, most of which contain water and mud. Although none of the obstacles are impossible or dangerous, they do require a certain level of strength and fitness and the potential exists for injury due to falls, trips and crawling. Obstacles can be taken at any pace and thus the course is able to be completed by most anyone.
In additions to the two divisions, there is a “Kid’s Run.”
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Locally, “Run for the Hills” will be held June 2 at Honey Run Ridge in the area around “Loose Wheels, Texas” in south Denison.
“It will benefit the Sherman and Denison fire departments,” said Jo Gray, Loose Wheels owner. “We want to help them meet their needs.”
Why a ‘mud run?’
“We felt this new idea – something that hasn’t really been done around here – would get more people involved,” said Gray. “It’s popular to do especially among young people.”
Gray added that her daughter actually had the idea of doing a ‘mud run’ as a benefit.
The course will be 5K (three miles) and will include the usual obstacles and muddy trails to run. The participants will be run in heats beginning at 8 a.m. There will be heat winners and an overall winner. There will also be seven bands performing at Loose Wheels throughout the day, Gray said.
