Well, I survived! As I mentioned, this past Saturday I ran The Dirty Girl Mud Run, the original women-only national mud run series where ladies run, walk or crawl over and through obstacles and experience the muddiest and most fun-filled day of their lives. I went with a friend, and we had so much fun!
Before
We arrived at the Fayette County Fairgrounds about an hour and a half before our wave began. They had shuttle buses running constantly throughout the day, so it was easy to get to registration. We picked up our t-shirts, bibs and wrist bands (free beer!) and we were on our way. Before the run, you were able to get your gear checked, watch the other runners, and check out all the booths and sponsors. I loved the Paul Mitchell tent — they were doing some hair braiding so you could get your hair all spiffed up in preparation for the run. From afar, my friend and I saw a huge slide that ladies were sliding down. It looked like those huge inflatable slides you see at carnivals — but with a giant mud pit! We could not wait.
The race!
Our wave began at 11:45 a.m. and we were off! The music blasted, and we were with about 100 other women. We started to run and approached our first obstacle. It was pretty easy — it was like running across tires but putting your feet into holes in a giant inflatable. We ran through a couple barns, and made our way through the next few obstacles. All in all, the obstacles were pretty easy and not intimidating at all. I am afraid of heights, so I was nervous about some of them. I didn’t worry though once I saw them. Other obstacles included climbing over ropes, and going under walls in giant pits of mud! The good news? You could skip any obstacle you didn’t want to do, and you could get as dirty as you wanted to. Some ladies were belly-flopping into the pools of mud, others crawled. You also didn’t have to run. You could go at your own pace. Tip for next year: Wear kneepads! People collected little pebbles in their shoes from the fairgrounds, so when you had to crawl through mud, you crawled over the little pebbles. Ouch!
At one point during the race, we started “Phoebe running” to get the mud off of us. It totally worked by the way.
My legs and feet were the most muddy!
The scariest part to me was the second to last obstacle which included a rope climb about 20 feet or so up. But I didn’t look down, did one foot at a time and made it! The best part? Immediately following that was the giant slide. It was so much fun and concluded with a mud bath. Who needs a spa when you have Dirty Girl?
After
All in all, it was a great event! We both said we’d like to go again next year with a bigger group to add to the fun. We’d also like to bring an additional person along to take photos (since I obviously couldn’t bring my camera with me during the race) and hold our stuff.
The cons? As I said above, the pebbles were painful. Also, the gear check line to get your stuff after was very long. Luckily we found a guy to help us and cut the line (sorry I’m not sorry) otherwise, we’d be waiting forever. And the rinse off section after? Not exactly the Ritz Carlton. There’s cold water that is basically hosing yourself off. There’s no privacy or room to change. But then again, what can you expect? You are with hundreds of other muddy ladies on fairgrounds. I’m just a baby, I suppose.
I loved how you could donate your muddy shoes after. Great idea.
The day was so much fun, and certainly was not like any other race I had done before. Not to mention, it gets you out of your comfort zone which every now and then can help revive your day to day routine. Thank you, Dirty Girl for getting me out of my comfort zone and trying something new!
Disclaimer: Dirty Girl provided my entrance fee
