Dirty Girl Mud Run Recap

Stacy and I debuted in our first ever mud run last Saturday at the Dirty Girl at the Amesbury Sports Park in Massachusetts.  I was quite excited to be doing my first mud run, but was a little nervous because I hadn't run all week due to my foot injury.   

The Outfit

I wanted Stacy and I to sort of match without having to spend additional money on our outfits.  My entry was paid for but Stacy paid for her entry and we wanted to keep the cost down.  So I chose my Sweat Pink tanks for us (since I had two!) and then we each had black skirts.  We did stop at Target on the way down to buy some pink knee high socks, which was not a big deal at all.  Plus, we'll wear them again.  I'm sure!   We also had pink sparkly headbands already, so that was a bonus!  Plus, why spend a ton of money on outfits if we were just going to get covered in much anyway?  Right?  

Getting Ready
Choosing which shoes I was going to destroy in the mud/then donate was the biggest issue for me.  I needed something with support for the foot, and some kind of traction for the mud, but something I didn't mind donating in the end.  I didn't have to donate my shoes, but I really didn't want them anymore after the mud run.  I ended up choosing my Kinvara 3's.  I've had them for over a year and there were definitely near the end of their life.  

This was the first obstacle.  Not too muddy yet.  
And you can still see our cute socks.  That didn't last too long!

There there was packing a bag.  Since we were taking a bus into the race site, I wanted to keep it all in a small bag.  Plus, I didn't know what the bag check was like, so I thought one of my string bags would be perfect. My bag consisted of two plastic, grocery bags.  Yes, they do come in handy!   I put some clean clothes in one bag, and then added my towel, clean shoes, and then snacks in the front pocket.  

The Course

There was lots and lots of mud.  It was pretty deep and slick in many places.  Maybe if I hadn't been just recently injured, I would have run right through them, but I didn't dare to.  Instead, we carefully got through the really bad parts and kind of jogged the trails.  At one point Stacy and I passed a group of women and one woman made the comment "it's always the skinny bitches who run".  Umm, thanks for the compliment, but I wouldn't call what Stacy and I were doing running.  But thanks anyway!   A majority of the miles was in the beginning with the obstacles being mostly clustered in the end.  Based on the facility and where they could get the obstacles, this was unavoidable.  It wasn't a bad thing.  Just something I noticed.  

100% show for our husbands - we knew they would love to see us mud wrestle

The Obstacles
They were exactly as described.  Fun names and entry level.  It was definitely a race for all abilities.  If a participant didn't feel comfortable completing the obstacle, she was allowed to by pass the obstacle.  I didn't see many women do this, but I think the option is great for those who aren't sure.

We climbed up and over obstacles, we crawled through mud.   I was rather disappointed that there weren't photographers at each obstacle.  Isn't that what this kind of fun run is about?  Having fun and getting great pictures?  We didn't see them a whole lot throughout the course.  But when we did, we really tried to ham it up.

The Good

- The parking and shuttle process was rather quick and painless.  I didn't really like that we had to pay an additional $10 to park somewhere we were told we had to park, but it was well organized and the shuttle made for a very easy way to get to the actual race destination.  In the end, the $10 was well worth it.

- Check in was rather quick and painless.  Just show your ID, get your bib #, grab your shirt and necklace and off you go!

- As soon as we checked our bags, we headed straight up the hill for the next wave.  It was about 11:45 and our registered wave was 12:15, but we were told we didn't really have to wait until then.  That part rocked!

-Bag check was quick and easy to drop off and pick up.  There was plenty of staff available to make sure your bag was put in the correct spot and then more staff at the pick up to make sure you walked with your bag and not someone else's bag.

-This run is definitely best done with teams.  I don't think I would have had a good time at all if I had done this race on my own.  I am ever grateful that Stacy did this with me!

Just a little muddy, right?
Thank you for being a great sport and doing this race with me!  

What could be improved

-It drives me crazy when registering for a race, you choose the size you want and then you get to the race and your size is gone.  Why ask?  My shirt is far too big for me.  It's like a dress.  Very frustrating.  

- Long lines, one huge tent that was about 95 degrees inside, a row of hoses, and a gross/wet ground and no where to hang your clean clothes/towel made for a bit of a challenge in getting clean after the run. Thanks to teamwork and a best friend, we worked together to get a majority of the mud off of each other.  And Stacy was super smart and brought along a wash cloth.

I had mud everywhere.  And what's even better is that later that night
I blew my nose and tons of dried mud came out.  Eww!

- I was not impressed with the food selections and that I had to purchase tickets at one location and then walk to another location for the food.  It just seemed silly to me.  In glancing at the food selections, I wasn't impressed what there was to offer either.  What really stunk is that we were starving!  We had to wait in the longest line ever for the shuttle, take the shuttle to the parking lot, then get out of there.  Not being from the area, I wasn't sure where there was anything to eat in the immediate area.  Thankfully I had stashed some granola and protein bars in my bag, so Stacy and I had something to get us through until we got to the rest stop in Maine, so we could load up on something somewhat of a healthier choice.  

Have you ever done a mud run?  What are your thoughts?

AD:  I was provided a free entry to a Dirty Girl Mud Run of my choice in exchange for promoting the race and reviewing.  As always all opinions are 100% my own.