SBSD Mud Run 2010

Now that I have two mud runs under my belt, I think it's safe to say that I'm officially addicted! We got up early yesterday morning and drove out to San Bernardino Sheriff's Training Academy.


I'd reviewed the course map, and when we went out to pick up our race packets on Friday, Andrew and I took a little walk around the 3 mile mark to check things out. The obstacles were totally packed into one area, and we figured it would make for a tough finish. Too bad we hadn't been able to get back to the 1 mile mark to see what they had in store for us over there.

Yvette & I - Yeah, we're Bad Ass.
I both blame and thank her for convincing me to do another mud run right after the Irvine Lake Mud Run.

Can't decide if I'm bad ass or just a big nerd...

Team Mudluscious
my niece Kristen, Yvette, Jason, Me, & Holly
We had a last minute drop-out, but somehow I convinced another high school cross country friend of mine, Jason Little, to step in (Holly also ran CC with us back in the day). The night before the run, he was texting me, "I don't like you very much right now." Haha, but now he's ready to do it again!!

Of course, Andrew was there. He's a stud!!

We lined up right at 9:00am. The SWAT team made a fly over in a helicopter dropping flares amidst the sound of explosions and gunfire. The fire department took frequent opportunities to hose us down. Did I mention that it was really cold yesterday morning?

After a prayer and the National Anthem, we were off! The first 1/4 mile was flat, and we very quickly came up on our first hill... Which led to another, and another...

It was brutal! The course map made it seem like there was one small hill climb, followed by one water obstacle, then a crawl obstacle, and that was it. The reality is that there would be hill, water, crawl, hill, water, hill, water, hill, water, crawl, hill, water, hill, water... oh wait, that isn't WATER it's QUICKSAND!! And did I mention that throughout the race we were greeted with the sounds of gun fire and explosions that shook everything? Holy crap!

Many people opted to walk along the outside of the mud puddles. Maybe that was a smart strategy, but I considered it cheating. I went through the middle. There was only one place where I truly regretted that decision. Here's a pic of the puddle that I took the day before the race, when it still looks pretty tame.

This was completely filled with water by the time we got to it on Saturday. You come in running through those tunnels on the left towards this big puddle. People were lined up to come around the inside corner of this puddle heading towards that first whoopdedoo hill in the center right of the pic. Yvette and I decided it would be smarter to just go through the mud so we ventured out of line and into the mud. See that puddle in the center there? That's where I got stuck. And I mean stuck, knee deep, fallen on all fours, and I couldn't lift out my leg... Yvette and Holly were right there with me in the same predicament. Ugh. But we made it!

One of the final mud crawls... That's Holly with the visor on in front of the crane, getting ready to hunker down under the tape. Kristen and I are getting in right in front of her.

There was only one wave of runners so you have to imagine a giant spread out field of 1700 runners all going through these together. Falling on each other, getting stuck, pulling each other out, over and over and over again. We literally swam through the pit leading to the last "back breaker" hill as firemen sprayed us with water. This isn't a great pic of that obstacle, but it's a good overview.


My only complaint is this. In the race details, there was a promise that we would have to get through Tactical Officer Pits where we would hear, "GET THROUGH THAT MUD, YOU WORM!" Well, not one of those officers called me a worm. I even asked one to, and so he laughed and politely said, "Okay, you Worm." With a SMILE!? Okay. That was not what I was expecting at all.

Team Mudluscious - After.

I'm pretty sure I've never been this dirty in all my life.

Another fantastically challenging event. It was a 5k, but it took us 55 minutes to complete it. That alone should tell you how tough it was. I might have finished faster running on my own, but I didn't want to leave Holly and Jason behind. They are both just getting back into running, this IS a team event so we did it together. I'm glad I did. There are other days to push and compete. This was a great day! I will be back again next year!