Running Dirty!

 

Pre-race photo

Daddy stayed clean today because he earned a well deserved rest weekend after his 50K

About a year ago, I did my first Run Amuck and the boys did a mini Run Amuck.  I'm normally not a fan of obstacle or mud runs.  I think they are a big gimmick, overcrowded, not necessarily safe, and I'd rather get dirty on the trails.  I make an exception for Marine Corps Run Amuck because the Marines always put on a great and safe race, and I love that they make it a family friendly event.

Our shoes were clean when we started

 The boys had talked for a year about doing this race again.  Zman was signed up for the full 3.5 mile course, and Nickel had originally been signed up for the mini course (1.5 miles).  Nickel changed his mind race morning and wanted to go for the full thing so the three of us lined up to start the full course.  We were treated to a Marine Corps band as they raised the colors (apparently the building in the background is the building that is in the intro to the old TV show Major Dad).

We were in the first wave to start, but we waited around forever.  This is the one big negative that I have about this race is that they started the race with an inflatable obstacle.  It had a wall to get over, but because of the rain the night before it was slippery and no one could really get over the wall so it was taking forever to get people through.  I know they were trying to spread the runners out, but it was really irritating.

Anyway, once we got through the inflatable mess.  I looked at the boys and said "Let's do what we do best.  Run!"  So we took off down the road at a good pace passing a bunch of people who were walking already within the first half mile.  The next part of the race was so much fun.  First we hit a giant slip and slide into Butler Stadium.  I actually wanted to repeat this obstacle because it was so much fun, but we kept moving.  We ran the stadium stairs and then hit a small tire drill.  Then we got to rappel by rope into the bottom of the stadium and then run back up the stairs.  The boys were handling this like pros and were keeping up with me.  Then we went under the fire engine hose.

See how much fun we are having!

Then we hit the trails and were making pretty good time on the trail run.  We did an a-frame and hurdled some hay bales and then hit the first PT station which was flutter kicks.
 

ZMan taking off after the A-Frame wall

Then we hit another tire drill and a tunnel crawl.

There was a small outbreak of tears at this point due to some mud in an eye and a little consternation over being so dirty, but we worked through it and were having fun again by the time we hit the water station around 1.5 miles.  Then it got real.  I knew this would be the hardest part for the kids because we hit Firebreak Trail which features some climbs which are daunting for little legs.  We scaled the first one with not much problem and hit the first water point.  It was pretty deep, but ZMan made it through on his own.  I helped Nickel through and had to carry him in a few deep parts. 

Zman making it through the mud pit

Then we hit Stadium trail and did a Spider Web which was pretty cheesy, but the kids thought it was fun.  The second PT station was jumping jacks and then the ammo can carry.  The Marines gave Nickel a pass because the cans were 10 lbs each.  Zman could have taken a pass as well, but he wanted to do it so he grabbed both cans and made it through the carry with them.  I was shocked and proud of him!  Nickel got to pass the monkey bars because they were too high and far apart for his little arms.  Zman got a boost by a Marine and made it across with minimal help.  Then came a series of hills which seemed to go on and on, but the kids did well with them and kept pushing.

Nickel waiting at the top of the hill for us.

You can see the second mud pit at the bottom of the hill.

 Our shoes were really heavy and muddy at this point, and it was getting hard for little legs to make it up the hills.  Luckily some of the hills had cargo nets because they were pretty slippery.  Finally we hit the last water station and saw our friends who were working there.  We rinsed some mud off of our shoes and then headed back out for the last little piece. We hit push ups at the last PT station, went through some wrecking balls and had to belly crawl through more mud.

Ready to belly crawl through mud.

 Then we slid down a mudslide and headed to the finish.

Nickel on the mudslide

We got Run Amuck finisher coins and towels at the end.  

My only other complaint about the race is that they didn't have any facilities to hose off at the end.  In previous years we have hit a fire hose obstacle at the end of the race to rinse all of the mud off.  So we were a bit of a mess at the end.

They did have nice tents where we could change, but we were so filthy that it was almost pointless to change.  I also liked that we could donate our shoes.

Changing tents and shoe donation bin

Overall we had a really fun time.  I would do it again if the kids wanted to do it because it was a fun family experience, but I wouldn't do it again as a personal experience.