Muddy Buddies

Recently, I wrote about themed races (Race Happy Too!), naming them akin to your run of the mill road race.  Another running-related race would be the mud run.  Mud runs seem to attract more of the average former athlete than a local 5k.  I don't mean "average former athlete" as in the person was an average athlete, but rather it's more likely to get that former athlete involved in some sort of mud race than road race. 
In my view, the main difference is the team aspect.  I think this has been a huge part of the success of events like Tough Mudder.  I did it in 2012 with a team of co-workers.

Notice that I said team, not group.  I was the strongest runner on the team, so my job was to motivate as well as to scout ahead.  We also had some powerhouse dudes whose job it was to help everyone get up and over obstacles.  Finally, we had some super positive people and jokesters to help us push through the 12 miles. 

The main goal of these races is to finish.  You often see teams like ours working together to get through the course.  There isn't much worry about time or place or passing people, it's about getting everyone to the finish.

That's the main difference in mindset between a mud run and your average road race.  The next obvious difference is the obstacles.  As the name implies, the major obstacle in these races is mud. 

It slows you down, it weighs down your feet.  It gets in your mouth and eyes.  It ruins your shoes.  There are no beautiful running pics on a mud run.  While the mud is ever present, it really isn't that bad.  For me, the hardest obstacles are the upper body strength exercises.  Anything where have to climb and pull.  

There are other carrying obstacles where you're forced to carry a heavy, awkward shaped object over a set distance.  Some races also involve swimming and crawling through tight (muddy) spaces.

 I can stand all of that.  What I do not like, and the reason I'll never do Tough Mudder again, is obstacles just to hurt you.  I'm talking about any obstacle that shocks you, no matter what.

 To finish a Tough Mudder, you have to run through an array of hanging electrical cords.

I did it.  It sucked.  Never doing it again.

As I said, these types of races are all about the fun.  There are competitive people there and the Spartan Series even has professional racers.  However, the vast majority of people have no idea how long it takes them to complete the course.  Their main goals are fun and the actual challenge of completing it.  One popular variation of a mud run is zombies!  Zombie runs involve all of the obstacles and mud but participants throw on football flags and have to dodge zombies trying to get them.  Mila and I did one in 2013 and I learned some things about my marriage.

Mainly, what I learned was that if there ever is a zombie apocalypse, my choices will be stick with Mila and get eaten or leave her behind and have a better chance.  Her zombie evasion tactic could best be described as the "scream at the top of your lungs, close your eyes, and run into the center of a zombie group, hoping for the best."
How many of you have done mud runs?  What'd you like/dislike?

I recently picked up a college class so these posts will probably be a little less frequent.  I'm going to try and keep a pace of at least one a week, but we'll see.