Grand Rapids Mud Run 2010

Saturday, our team consisting of me, the hubby and our friends Jair and Cat ran in the first annual Grand Rapids Mud Run. It was a blast and a great first attempt at the event!

The Team Before the Race

The pros:

--Fun course
--Upbeat music created a great atmosphere
--Good turn out
--Water, punch and snacks after the run
--Hoses to rinse off
--Very reasonable entry fee
--Plenty of parking at the event location

The cons:

--We weren’t told ahead of time that the race would run the course twice – we found out after the first lap when we went by the finish line but had to keep going.

--The wall climb obstacle was a huge bottle neck – needed more walls. Also needed ladders on the back side of the walls so you didn’t have to jump down if you didn’t want to (someone seriously hurt an ankle that way).

--The buildup to the start was awful – there was pumping music and a countdown on a big TV screen that the crowd got really into and expected to start running. But when we hit “…3-2-1!” we didn’t start. Instead, the announcer started talking about the sponsors, showing a cheesy video and explaining how the start would work. It was a real buzz kill. All of that should have happened 10 minutes before the start time, so the energy and excitement built up in the crowd could have flowed into actually running the race.

--The results still aren’t posted

The Team After the Race

I also come to the Mud Run having done the Warrior Dash this summer. The Warrior Dash was a better organized event and offered a lot more fun as an overall experience. I enjoyed the way the WD charged up each individual heat of runners before their start. I liked getting beer and BBQ after the race and meeting other runners at a huge, muddy party.

But I really think the Mud Run can learn from its shortcomings this year and come back better than ever. I would definitely run it again next year! I think this is a great event to have in Grand Rapids. It was a lot of fun and great for the community.

Me and Cat