My First Mud Run

I'm not much of a runner but when John from work approached me about running in the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, I started running right away. I had just seen the Mud Run on TV and it looked like fun. It's basically a 10K run on base but there is a catch. There are obstacles. Walls, hay bails, hills, pipes, and lots and lots of mud and water.

I don't have any pictures from near the start but basically after you round the first corner, they blast you with fire hoses. Then you cross a stream, crawl under some netting, jump in a mud pit, go up a very long hill, over some hay bails, continue up the hill, and then go down the hill. That is where my pictures pick up.

Here I am with John and Margaret crossing a lake. Yes, the race actually crosses lake. It's about 5 feet deep at the deepest spot and 200 yards wide.

Here is the 5 foot wall. You actually hit this just before the lake and then double back.

This picture is a bit blurry due to the mud on the camera. This was probably the toughest obstacle for most people, a 7 foot wall with 2 feet of mud on both sides.

Here is the big hill about 1 mile from the finish. Not only is it a big muddy hill, there is a guy at the top with a fire hose to keep the hill muddy and to blast you.

I was shocked when we crossed the finish line at 1h35m. During my training runs, I thought I would be closer to 2 hours.

This is a picture of me at the end of the race going through the last mud pit where you have to get on your belly an crawl through mud. As you can see I had to put my face right in it to get under some of the banners.

Here are John and Margaret coming out of the same pit

Finally, here is a picture of me, John, and Kevin - The Quest crew.

I can't wait for the next one.