From good to Mud

When my friend called me over a month ago to ask if our kids wanted to participate in the annual 'Mud Run' in Des Moines, I immediately answered "OH I'M SURE THEY WOULD!" I let the kids watch the commercial which featured folks splashing and running in mud and puddles - and that was it. We were going.

Since Jacob was too young to participate, Ben reluctantly (yeah right) volunteered to sit out with our little guy while the rest of us ran the race. I actually thought it might be kind of fun - definitely out of the box for me - and the kids were over the moon about it. What's a little mud?

The rules were as follows:

Wear your grungy clothes and old running shoes.

Make sure your shoes are double or triple tied.

Avoid clothes with pockets, pockets carry extra mud.

Bring a trash bag, dry clothes and towel.

Make-shift shower stations available.

(and here comes the best one:)

Do not dive head first into the mud pit.

This is a FUN RUN so help your neighbor if they get stuck!

HA!

A little mud on a nice sunny day would be one thing. But a LOT of mud on a FREEZING morning (40 degrees) is another! The unseasonably cold temps on Saturday morning had us watching puffs of our own breath float around in the air. My 2 layers of running pants and three shirts were not keeping me warm while we waited for the race to begin. What did I get myself in to?!?!!?

Well, THIS:

note the difference in facial expressions between myself and the chap in red

And believe it or not, we didn't get near as muddy as some of the folks who ran this baby. They may not have dove head first into the pit, but there was definitely evidence of many a belly flops, that's for sure. And we didn't freeze. Once we got going, it was better - and pretty funny... and fun. Getting out of our wet muddy garb in the parking lot was a bit of a challenge, but we managed. I can only imagine what was going through the attendant's head when we walked into our hotel to check in!