What would the mud hero be without a little mud? Last year when my husband and I took part in the mud hero we felt it was lacking in mud. The event planners hadn't planned on the heat wave and the sheer number of participants. This year...they made up for it in spades. What a difference a year makes. Last year was completely unknown. I was so full of nervous energy when we all piled into the corral last year. It was hot, the music loud and the obstacles were somewhat unknown to me. There were traffic jams coming into the venue. They ran out of water which meant that the best way to clean up included a steep climb down a river bank and a quick plunge into the mountain river. I remember feeling refreshed for all of 7 minutes until I realized that I had to climb back up the bank in order to go home.
This year traffic flowed relatively smoothly into the venue. Race kits were quickly picked up. We broke the rules by jumping into an earlier heat. No sense in standing around for another hour waiting to race. After all it is our timing chip that gets us a free beer...so we couldn't stand around enjoying a pre-race beverage. We were happily in the back of the pack. We had no interest in running the mud hero this year. Instead it was going to be a nice, leisurely stroll through a ski hill. I fervently prayed that the chair lift would be running. It wasn't. What twisted individual decides to make the race on a ski hill? Next year I am running it in Saskatchewan. Surely the grounds will be flatter.I loved the mud hero obstacles compared to the Spartan ones. The obstacles were fun, not incredibly daunting and still made you feel like you accomplished them. I think that my favorite obstacle was one of the last. A giant bouncy slide. I giggled the entire way down. My second favorite obstacle was the water slide aka super slide. Who wouldn't love a 12ft high winding water slide that delivers you directly into a 4ft deep pit of mud. There was no staying clean on this obstacle. I wasn't all that happy to see the spidey web back again this year. It is about 20 feet of trail with bungee rope tied this way and that. I never fail to get hung up as I am trying to make my way through it. Hamburger Hill was another beast of an obstacle. It was an incredibly steep climb up a hill. I knew it was going to be ugly when we approached and they had ropes hanging down to assist with the climb.
When we completed the Mighty Spartan Sprint I was able to write about moments where we motivated others and brought Liz onto her team after her own team left her behind. This race was different. I was the one being motivated. A woman was struggling along so I decided to spark up a conversation with whatever breath I had left. She was here with her boot camp class. She signed up for the mud hero weighing 240 lbs and she was racing at 190 lbs. I was very proud of her. As we moved on past her we came to yet other steep climb. As I was swearing my way up the hill and thinking that it would be easier to quit I looked over to my right and watched a women who was in her 70's climbing right along side me. Sure she probably even had to stop and take a break or two but she was doing it. My girlfriend looked at me and said...we better still be doing these races when we get to that age. I have to say she was very inspiring. I stopped swearing, kicked it into another gear and made it to the top. 
I did this. And no one can take the feeling of accomplishment away from me.
There is one last person who made my day. As we were sitting in the beer gardens enjoying a burger and a beer (hey don't judge - we earned it) a lady gave my daughter a toberlone bar. Delaney was fussy and not happy that she had to sit next to her muddy mother. So to the soft spoken security guard who bought me enough time to scarf down my burger...Thank You!To Melanie and Bailey - Good Luck Tomorrow! Don't wear white! Keep your mouth tightly closed in the last obstacle. Laugh and have fun.
To the Event Organizers and Volunteers - Thank you! Without you this event would not have the amazing energy that it has. The Mud Hero reminds me that I am a work in progress. It is a highlight of my summer. And we will be registering for next year.
To everyone reading this and thinking...hey....why not spend $65 to abuse your body and get muddy...feel free to join me next year. We are adding the Tough Mudder to the race card.
Have an absolutely beautiful day!
Much Love,
Lisa
