She's One Tough, Dirty Mudder!

I've often been curious about - and intrigued by - the Dirty Girl Mud Runs. So when we heard that our friend had taken the plunge, it only made sense to get her to tell us all about her fun here!

Enjoy!

Tillie

Feeling a bit crazy in the middle of Summer, I decided not only would I sign up for this Dirty Girl Mud Run, I would sign up my 16 year old too! I sent out a message asking who would be interested in joining me and in the end, we had a team of 5. I was a bit disappointed in the size but in the end, it was the right number. 2 teenagers who were not happy and 3 ladies who were scared about what was to come on race day.

It's no good if you stay clean! (Reverse these pictures and you have a Tide commercial!)

Now, it's a 5K. Did I prepare for this 5K? No. Ha, I should have but in the end, it was ok. I don't run as a rule, it's just something I cannot make myself do. I can do weights, cross fit, zumba a couple of times, or run for a sale, but just running… my mindset is not there. You don't really run all of the 5K in one stretch, you run from one obstacle to another, then the old military phrase "hurry up and wait" comes to mind. Depending on what the obstacle is, there is a long line or a short one, and if you are not into doing said obstacle, there's a bypass and no one blinks an eye if you skip an obstacle. Once our teens realized we did not have to run the whole 5K, they were happier and pumped up to do the race.

One of the teens!

The day of the race arrived and we somehow all managed to meet up and be on time. When they say to be there at least 90 minutes beforehand, it's because you are going to be stuck in traffic and looking for a parking spot. Registration was a breeze, there's a place to store your backpack, and lots of port-a-potties. A couple of booths were set up, selling food, drinks, and Dirty Girl merchandise. One booth had signs kids could make to support their moms, sisters, etc. We had 2 spouses and 2 kids cheering us on. They were able to follow us most of the way through, some obstacles they were able to see from afar and some they could be close up.

We waited for our wave to start, 11:15am and it goes in 15 minutes intervals. There was music and an emcee, cheering us on, making jokes, and asking team names. There were some pretty creative ones, I must say, we laughed at some, were shocked at others, and all in all, just felt part of a group. There were plenty of costumes too, some in tutus and bedazzled tops, some had neon bright shirts with crazy slogans, pigtails, and war paint on. Looking at the group, being 40, I didn't feel like I was too old for this race. There were our teenagers, 16 and 18, and then a mix of ages all the way up to late 60s. People of different sizes and fitness level too.

Not all the obstacles we faced were the same ones on their website. That was mentioned and so while we had an idea of what to expect, we had no idea what to expect that day. Our first obstacle was an inflatable pyramid thing, I don't even know what to call it, it was high, bouncy, and you had to get over it. Then there was a mud crawl with a low tarp. I skipped that one due to my clausophobia. It was too low, too dark for me. I felt bad but I knew there was a possibility of a freak out in there. So I waited for my teammates. And that was the best thing, my teammates. I saw this throughout the race too. We all agreed that if things get crazy, we could go on and enjoy the race if we wanted, and not have to wait for the others. But of course we didn't do that, we stayed and supported each other, cheered each other on, helped, laughed, tried not to slip in mud together, it was a great thing to see, not on with just our team, but with all the ladies.

One of the hardest obstacle was a metal wall, now each obstacle had different levels, an easy and a hard, along with the bypass, and at the metal wall, while we could have skipped it since the line to go over it was so long, we may have waited 15 minutes, we were cheering on the ladies trying to get over the wall. Some were having a hard time getting up since the ledges to climb up were about 5 inches deep, some, once they got to the top, froze because they had to get back down the same way, and some kept slipping on mud since everyone was muddy going through mud pits and sludge. This one woman took about 5 minutes to get over the wall and when she did, the crowd waiting to do the obstacle went wild, we cheered and clapped and congratulated her. There was no malice or name callings, nothing to make you feel bad.

There were water stops along the way and music playing in several areas. Usually where they know the lines would be the longest. Dirty Girl also had a professional photographer along the way and was talking pics if you did not have anyone following you. Our cheer team, they did a great job of following us. They also did a 5K, just without the mud. The youngest, 6 yrs old, ran most of the way, trying to catch up and cheer on his mom. It was very heartwarming. How could you not complete this race with a cheer team like that?

I did go through the second low crawl, since the covering was mesh and I could see the sky, if I looked up and got the mud out of my eyes. All the obstacles were fun (except the one I skipped!), you climbed, jumped, crawled, waddled, and ran your way through the course. I got dirty, caked with mud, I got sprayed down in one section by a fire hose, I got dirty again, and I had fun. When we crossed the finished line, we were all laughing and happy, dirtier than we have ever been, but we felt great! I am definitely going to do this race again. Even the teens said they would do it again, and that's saying a lot.

Give a shout and a cheer to our Dirty Girl Tough Mudder Team!