2015 Del Mar Mud Run

A few months ago, my friend sent out and email about doing a mud run. Her company was putting together a team. I've never done one and it was two weeks after the Disney race, so I said hey why not?!

Well, let's just say we can cross it off the bucket list. Packet pick up was uneventful at Road Runner sports. This is new to me, but they had timing chips that were reusable that you had to give back at the end of the race. You used twist ties to attach them to your shoes.

This race was set up a little differently than a normal race. Instead of one start time, they had 8-9 starting waves. Each wave started on the hour and they let 75 people onto the course very 5 minutes. I think this was pretty well managed and you didn't get long back ups at each obstacle. I think the longest wait was to climb up "Mud Rainier" and the slowest was the serpentine mud pit.

I wasn't "racing" and was running with a friend. From a more relaxed participant perspective, I was not a fan of the race.

Firs the good:

The race was well laid out with lots of obstacles spaced over the 5k.
There were plenty of water stations throughout. Probably too many for a 5k.
Bag drop off and pick were a breeze
Waiting for our wave to start was entertaining

The bad:

The biggest surprise was how grainy and sandy the mud was in the obstacles. I scrapped up my elbows and knees pretty badly. Just thinking about all the open wounds mingling in the muddy water gives me the heeby jeebies.

The other thing I did not particularly enjoy was the "motivational" cheering done by the volunteers. Did I mistakenly sign up for the camp Pendleton race? Yeah, no, I didn't do you can stop asking why I'm walking.

No medical assistance throughout the race. I don't mean full on EMT, but it's a fucking mud race. Mud will get in your eye and if it's grainy, it's going to fucking hurt. I saw several people who got mud splashed in their faces by race volunteers and how the volunteers were using their own personal water sources to help flush racers eyes. You come crawling out of a mud pit, your entire body is covered in mud. What exactly do you wipe your eye/face with?!?!?

This happened to me at the finish line. I was stumbling around in front of some race personnel. Do you know what helping got? A voice saying there is water at the white tent. What fucking white tent am I supposed to be able to see without opening my fucking eyes!!?!

So that was my last impression of the race. I won't be doing another unless it's free entry. Like I said before, it's checked off the bucket list.

Oh yeah, the pictures:




Before



After