Mud Factor 5k

The day started off early (5:30 AM) by waking up to get ready for our second 5K. It was a run with various obstacles along the route called Mud Factor.

In our information packet that was sent to us, we were told to arrive 1 to 1 1/2 hours prior to our wave time to make sure there was ample time for parking, registration, and general "getting ready". Waves were every half and hour starting at 9:00 AM, and the last wave was at 1:00 PM. Our wave was at 9:30, so technically we were supposed to show up between 8:00 and 8:30... lets just say my math skills were taking a vacation for the day and we ended up getting there at 7:00 AM.

We were the first people there (if that wasn't obvious) and even got there before the volunteers that were working the race. So, we had ample time to walk around the location, take pictures, and try to keep warm (it was around 55 degrees).

We decided to just run in the 9:00 wave instead of waiting around another half hour, and we figured nobpody would notice. Once the race started, we ran over hills, climbed over and under walls, through a muddy creek bed, jumped over hay bales, across a railroad bridge, through a tunnel, across another creek, and over a cargo net. I have no idea how many people ended up running over the course of the day, but there were a LOT! We finished the race in about 40 minutes.

After the race there were wash stations, a beer tent, music, food, and keg toss. Since one of the last parts of the run was going through a creek, most of our mud got washed off so the pictures don't really look too dirty.

Before the run

Cargo net - last obstacle

 My absolute favorite pair of tennis shoes were from my freshmen year of high school. Our whole basketball team got matching shoes, and I just always loved them. Although I have super glued them multiple times and they were really in pretty bad shape (in some spots the tread was completely worn smooth), I could never get rid of them.... until now. I decided to give my shoes one last blaze of muddy glory before giving them the toss. It was a good 11 years :)

Worn off tread... at one point the bottoms were light blue

Before the race

After the run.  Most of the mud fell off or got washed off in the water.