Getting dirty and craving more!

Michael and I had a blast at the rugged maniac in Southwick, MA this weekend. Being our first "mud run", we had no idea what to expect. The course map was up on their website, but there were no promises that all of the obstacles were accounted for, and they weren't guaranteeing that the obstacles would be in any specific order -- so basically, we were prepared for mud. Lots of mud.

And that's what we got, even though we were scared it wouldn't turn out that way.

We entered the event area near the finish line, so we were able to see people from previous heats finishing up their runs while we registered. Michael pointed out that they didn't look too dirty. Everyone looked tired and wet, but not particularly muddy. I was really looking forward to getting dirty, so I was bummed. I was promised a muddy adventure, and these people just looked like they ran a 3 mile race in the rain, which is tough but not really "rugged".


Well, we soon learned how that was possible.







The race begins with a bunch of people running a footrace through the woods (and around a parking lot...twice) who look like this:















Then, after a couple obstacles like this one.

















This one.













And let's not forget this one.

You end up looking a little something like this :

So you get dirty. Really dirty. However, at the end you don't look like the above picture and here's why:

The last obstacle starts with you being shoved down a slippery slide,


which results in you being tossed (and flipped and spun...if you're Michael) into a pool of water where you swim over floating candy cane looking thingys,


which then, consequently, ends up washing most of the muddy excess off your tired body.

So once you leave the race area, get back to your car, find your camera and ask some really nice equally as exhausted person to take your picture -- it comes out like this:



Which you then show to your loved ones and instantly get told: "Oh, you didn't get dirty at all!"

Sneaky rugged maniacs.

In any case, I highly recommend everyone who loves to ride bikes, run races, play sports or simply get dirty to find the nearest mud run race and sign up now (rugged maniac, spartan, tough mudder, warrior dash)! There were over 5000 people running the Rugged Maniac in Southwick with at least another 5000 spectators. It's a great time, and we definitely plan on doing it again next year!

Also, they hire professional photographers to document the race. So you will eventually get sent a link to thousands of pics that will more than likely show you being buried in mud at one point or another, which you can then use to document your ruggedness.

Go Maniacs!!

-A