Anna at the Marine Corps Mud Run
August 2010 — By Anna Kooiman on August 2, 2010 at 2:20 pm
While a lot of local athletes in and around the Charlotte area spent the weekend participating in the 24 Hours of Booty bike ride… I was among another group of athletes giving true meaning to ‘The Dirty South.’ The Marine Corps hosted their 4th Annual Mud Run at Belmont Abbey. I laced up my old running shoes and threw on some camo to become Rambette and my Rambo did the same thing!
The race draws a wide range of people… from triathletes, marathon runners, gym rats, and ex-military… to folks just looking to have fun. It was a 5.5 mile trail run scattered with obstacles, marines yelling and blowing whistles in our faces, and of course the best part… a mud pit two feet deep. Teams are asked to dress alike… so needless to say… folks break out some crazy costumes. I saw a team of clowns, fairies, roller-derby chicks… and of course some folks just wearing matching t-shirts. I took some pics from the race’s official FB page for your viewing pleasure!
It’s not your mama’s run of the mill 5k race…. Add on a couple extra miles, duck walks, flutter kicks, military crawls, scaling walls… you name it. Pretty much everyone I talked to didn’t complete the race with out some battle wounds… scratches, cuts, bruises, strawberries, blisters, etc. In fact, a few people didn’t even finish. I talked to one of the event officials who said they called medic a handful of times… reports of someone breaking an ankle, another passing out… yowzers! It may sound bad, but that just tends to happen in a lot in races.
By the end of this race in particular… you feel hard core… like you can conquer the world… whether it’s a physical task, something emotional your going through, or even encouraging yourself to go above and beyond at your place of work. I would definitely recommend trying a mud run. There’s another one going on in Columbia, SC on September 25th. This one is shorter… 4.2 miles. Maybe I’ll see ya there… unless you’re scared to get dirty!
~ Anna Kooiman
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1 Comment
Anna – this is a great article and your team did an oustanding job at our mud run this year. Our big changes next year will include more course signage, adding 1 mile to the course, more obstacles, chip timing and for the “super team” category, those teams will be required to carry a 30 lb sandbag for the whole race. A lot of people have told me that’s too much to ask of teams but as a Marine, we’d complete plenty of 20-30 mile marches with a 60 lb backpack, weapons, etc. So 6.5miles with a 30lb bag should be no big deal, right?! Anyway – thanks again for participating in our event, for support our cause – families of local Marines and we’ll look foreward to seeing you again next year. Have fun in Columbia! I’d be there but my wife will be giving birth right around that time. Needless to say, I’ll be by her side then. Take care and Semper Fi!
Aaron Harper
President, Carolina Marines