The Stampede - Mud Run

Friday night I was out at a church event until about midnight. I was then up until about 1:30 planning public transportation with Steffen (a fellow au pair) and laying out clothes and things to pack for the morning of the run. I made a list of additional things to pack and do in the morning. I got in bed, set my alarm for 5:00am, and passed out instantly. You know how when before the first day of school, or a new job, or a performance you always dream about it? Usually that you got lost, were late, or forgot your pants? Well...

I had a dream that I woke up late for the run. Once I finally made it to the run I realized I had forgotten an essential piece of dream mud run gear - goggles (because apparently it is easier to wipe goggles off than get mud out of your eyes). Once I finally got my hands on some goggles, the run had finished and I couldn't do it. When the dream ended I was in that middle state of awake and sleep and thinking to myself... "Gosh, I hate these dreams always happen. That would seriously suck!! Eh, might as well roll over and see what time it is... 5:03, perfect! Just on... That's not a 5! That's a 6!!! It was 6:03am and I had to be at the bus stop by 6:29 (which was a 10 minute drive away)... Never in my life have I gotten out of bed, dressed, and packed so quickly - 8 minutes to be exact.

While getting dressed I immediately called Steffen to tell him what was going on. Dressed, I hung up and ran downstairs and rummaged through the closet for a bookbag. While doing that Daniel came out and asked what was going on and I told him. He offered to drive and initially I declined (it was 6:00 on his Saturday morning) but when he offered again I took it. I ran up the stairs, threw everything into the bag, including the additional items I had to run around and find that were on my list. I ran downstairs Jen was waiting with my bottle of water and box of muffin bars in her hands. I grabbed those and was in the car by 6:11, but didn't leave until 6:13 because I had to go back in to get my phone. We made it to the bus stop (Chadstone) in record time - 4 minutes. Once there, I realized in my hurry I had forgotten to go to the bathroom, so I'd have to wait until we got to the train station to go. I thanked Daniel for driving me and he said, "Well honestly, when I heard you come in at midnight, I thought... Well, this will be interesting." He just didn't know how interesting.

Steffen and I made the bus and train with no problem, other than the fact that we couldn't find a bathroom at the train station. I was in serious pain, but we had to make the train, so we stopped looking and caught the train. I was beyond miserable for the whole train ride and to make it even better - we were one stop from our destination station and there was a "suspicious character" there so we had to just sit and wait on the train until they could go. Finally we went and made it to our destination and after 2 hours and 45 minutes I finally got relief in the disgusting, small, dark, but ever so glorious public transportation bathroom. I hopped on the shuttle with Steffen and there were 4 other au pairs and 2 sisters on there as well. On the way to the run location our driver gave us some quite unsettling information... This run involved electric jolts, ice, fire, and much more. I was petrified... I was told this was a MUD run, not all this other stuff!! I could see the same reaction on a couple of the other people's faces in the shuttle. I thought he was joking and then I realized he was extremely serious and I was upset and terrified.

At the cloakroom I discovered I had left my inhaler on the bus and hadn't used it yet. I realized just how freezing I was out in the open without my jumper on - it was a high of 16C/61F. I was also pondering the oh so fantastic information our shuttle driver shared with us. Needless to say I was terribly unexcited about the day. The crazy costumes around, however, did help cheer me up a bit - along with Steffen's positive attitude.

Before The Run

Before the Run - Can you see the fear/uncertainty in my and the other girl's eyes/faces?

The run started at 9:00am. Everyone was grouped together at the start while the guy explained part of the race and then we counted down. The beginning was easy (downhill) and then I heard screams ahead of me before I saw it - the first mud pit. Right after that was another mud pit. Depending on where you stepped you could get just your shoes dirty or all the way up to your hip. We jogged for a bit and came to a couple more obstacles. Over Under was a few sets of a low fence you had to crawl under and a row of hay bales (taller than me) that you had to jump over. Next was Rope Tango (my volunteer station - will write about later) which was a mud pit with a net over it so you had to lift the net over you while you waded through the mud. The worst part though was the smell... Straight up manure stench. Again, depending on where you step you could get just your shoes dirty or up to your hip. Up the hill, climb a short wall, arrive at Esky. Esky was an ice bath, literally. You climb up the ladder, lower yourself into the tub of murky water filled with ice (up to your chest), walk through, and lift yourself out and down the ladder. After Esky was the school bus that had a net on one side that you climbed up, stood on top of the bus, and then down the net on the other side. After the bus was the abandoned cars. You climbed through one car, up and over the other, and then slide across the two parked bumper to bumper. Next you go downhill, only to go back up a huge hill to the top of the Slip 'N' Slides. There was a queue there, so I got a chance to catch my breath which was nice. The slide was absolutely brilliant!! The speed was just incredible and the impact with the pool of water at the end was intense!! Next was up the same huge huge hill, just on the other side of the slide. The next obstacle was a climbing rock wall with no foot/hand holds on the other/down side. By this point... my two "teammates" (Steffen and another au pair girl) had left me behind even though when Steffen asked me to do this with him I had told him I can't really run due to my exercise induced asthma. The next obstacle was tunnels that started off as hard, formed tunnels and turned into like collapsed tarp tunnels. And I met back up with Steffen and the girl. We made it through that to the Run Wild obstacle which was just huge logs and things put in the middle of the path that you had to jump over. Then Head Over Heels which was cables tied among trees over small hay bales and tires and just FYI... those cables HURT when they snap back on you. We stayed together until the bottom of the big hill when they told me they wanted to go do the 10k (we were only registered for the 5k) and asked if I was okay with that... Well I said yes of course because what else was I going to say? So off they went up the hill and there I stood at the bottom alone...

1st Mud Pit

2nd Mud Pit - This guy is up to his hip in mud

Over Under

Over Under - To give you a sense of their height

Rope Tango

Esky - 2 blue ice baths

School Bus Nets

Abandoned Cars

Slip 'N' Slides - I went on the longer one

The is the face of someone conscious of the fact that soap along with tons of other people's sweat and mud is mixed in with the water. Also, at the speed I was going the water actually hurt a bit and I was trying (as visible in the photo) to keep one eye open so I knew when to hold my breath for impact with the water at the bottom.

I had come this far so of course I was going to finish, even if I had to do so alone. It was a long, slow walk up the hill and there were some guys there directing people and cheering people on. I got to the next obstacle which was a drop into a mud pond. I walked carefully down the muddy slope into the muddy water and just went for it. The firefighters standing at the top of the drop spraying you with fire hoses was a fantastic addition to an already difficult and cold obstacle. In the mud pond were ropes with barrels attached (right at my chest) that you had to somehow hurdle over. I only fell once, but luckily I fell on the side I was trying to get to. There were times when the barrels would send you back over to the side you came from. I made it out only to come to the fire obstacle. You had to climb over this small wooden fire engine thing to 3 rows of fire you had to jump over. Next was mud buffet, which was just a huge mud pit and the last obstacle of the run was the Bug Zapper which was tons of ropes hanging and each was charged to zap you. You could run through and hope you don't trip and fall and/or get zapped or you could army crawl and bypass the zaps altogether. Then there was the finish line - it took me 1.25 hours. I was beyond pleased with myself for making it through the obstacles, the physical requirements (without my inhaler), and the distance. However, crossing the finish line alone was kind of uneventful and lonely.

Mud Pond, Barrels, and Firefighters

Fire Jump

Bug Zapper

I am a Stampede Mud Run 5K FINISHER!!! =D

I got rinsed off, grabbed my bag, and went to the campground showers - which were only for the runners that were camping, but the run showers were down for the next 5-10 minutes and I was supposed to volunteer in 30 minutes. I was the first runner to use my shower stall so it was mud free - until I finished with it anyways. And the showers were amazingly hot - however for the first few minutes I couldn't feel the temperature because I was so numb from the wet and cold. Got showered and dressed and put my cold, wet, muddy shoes and socks back on because I didn't want to ruin my daily sneakers with the mud and animal poo that was everywhere. I then headed to the volunteer station to be placed where they needed me.

Volunteering was the whole way I got dragged into this thing. Steffen and I signed up to volunteer and then found out that if you volunteer you can run for free, so we decided to. They first placed me at the finish line water station where I was supposed to use the taps to fill cups for the runners but everyone finishing the race kept using the taps to rinse off. No matter how loud I yelled (over the live music that was right next to us) and no matter how many times I told them to go to the showers no one listened to me. I don't blame them really though... I radioed the volunteer manager and told her what was going on and she told me to just keep trying. After she walked by 3 separate times and saw that I was struggling she decided it wasn't worth the fight and sent me to man the Rope Tango obstacle.

My Obstacle Station

Manning the Rope Tango was fun because I got to see all the different crazy costumes, hear people's screams as they misstepped and fell up to their hips in mud, and watch as people got stuck in the mud sludge at the end. I also got to thinking about group dynamics and psychology while I was watching - who took the lead, did anyone take the lead, did everyone try to take the lead?, did the teammates listen to whoever it was that took the lead?, what different strategies did different groups of people come up with? etc. Once the last runners came through we were instructed to get the garbage bag out of our box and pick up the trash between our obstacle and the next. After sitting there for 3 hours I really wasn't in the mood to pick up trash, so I decided I wasn't going to, but then I thought... "If I don't do this, someone else will have to and more than likely that someone else will have 8 million other things they need to do or it will be the owner of this property who so kindly let us demolish his land". I decided to pick up the trash which was mostly runner bibs, fairy wings, wigs, shoes, socks, sweat bands, capes, santa hats, etc. Every now and then I would think oh I'll just leave that one, it's too far away or it's backtracking or I would think I'll just stop now since I've done about half. Each time I had one of those thoughts I just repeated the verse Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." I was 2 pieces of trash from being done when a guy on a motor cart thing with a truck bed like thing drove up and told me throw my trash bags in the back and hop in. He then drove me up the massive hill and all the way back to the volunteer station. I just smiled and couldn't help but think God saw me picking up the trash and decided to acknowledge that through this man's kind gesture. 

The Smurfs!! 

Volunteering - Waiting for the next wave of runners

Once back I got the wonderful surprise that the shuttle would actually be leaving earlier than original thought (7:15) and would now run every half hour from 4:30 - 5:30. While I was done with my duties, Steffen wasn't finished yet. I spent some time taking photos and looking at the massive mountain of donated shoes. There is an organization that takes runners' muddy donated shoes, cleans them, and gives them to kids/teens. Next I went to his obstacle (The Bug Zapper) and watched everyone attempt to not get zapped, but usually ended up getting zapped anyways. It was quite entertaining actually, especially when the grown men got zapped, screamed like children, and dropped to their knees. Once he was done we grabbed our things, chatted with some of the main volunteer managers and took some pictures, and then hopped on the shuttle to begin our journey home. Steffen and I made it home 2 hours earlier than originally planned, which was super nice. He waited with me until Daniel got there to pick me up. 

The Donated Shoes

Volunteers Make the Run Loads of FUN!!!

Wouldn't have enjoyed this day nearly as much if it weren't for my fellow volunteers (and staff members)!!!

I got home put on a load of muddy, smelly laundry and immediately scrubbed my hands and feet and put on warm pajamas for the evening. Ahhh... to be warm and clean once again. =] 

The day started off a disaster and there were a few bumps in the road during the day as well, but in the end it was a fabulous day that I will always remember!! Finishing alone was uneventful and fairly lonely, but it proved to me I could do this without relying on outside support or encouragement. Instead of volunteering with another person at our stations as originally planned, most of us had to man our stations alone (because several people just chose not to show up), but it gave me the opportunity to just lay in the grass in the quiet listening to the birds and feeling the sunshine. I had to pick up tons of trash (mostly runner bibs) and muddy clothes and shoes, but I got a ride afterwards up the hill and around the track to where I needed to go. I was freezing all day except for a few times during the run when I forgot how cold I was and my feet were wet all day, but I got a hot shower. In addition to all this, there was an abundance of food and drinks and all of the volunteers and staff members were personable and friendly.

Well, that's enough about this amazing event!! Oh, and by the way... I CAN'T WAIT for my next mud run (in March hopefully)!!! =D