My first back-back race days in years started with Gladiator Assault Challenge in Boone, Iowa on Saturday, and finished with my first Mud Factor 5K on Sunday at Berry and Pumpkin Ranch on the border between Bellevue and Papillion, Nebraska.
Prior to taking part, I had been told this would be a fairly mild OCR “race” but that it would live up to it’s name and be about mud and fun. The morning heats were pretty much reserved for the kids and families to go out and play in the mud and take on some of the obstacles over a 1.6 mile course. Lots of kids and families which is how this particular event should be.
When the adults went out for the 11:30 am heat starts, this is where you want to be if you regularly run OCR races as fitness challenges, training for other events, or have a competitive spirit. The 5K constitutes 2 laps of the course, with another heat taking off in 15 minutes at 11:45. You want to be past the first lap before that heat takes off.
The next heats going out need to be mentally prepared for this just to be about the “fun” at this stage because there are going to be log jams at obstacles of up to 10 minutes. I learned this as a part of the 12:00 heat.
I’m by no means a fast runner at this stage and being a little sore from the day before in Iowa, I wanted to use the running portion to kind of loosen things up and get fluid again. However, at the first real obstacle, an A-frame climb, there was already lines 4-5 people deep. Once over, jogging could place some of the walkers behind you, however, there was another vertical climb that stacked up very quickly. Some had issues with fear of heights, others were hesitant with their grip due to the mud left behind from the earlier heats, so it could get a little frustrating waiting to climb what is for me, a fairly quick and easy obstacle. I could have bypassed it, as there were no rules in this event for not doing obstacles, but that’s just not in me for the most part.
At the two obstacles intended to get you muddy near the 1.2 mile mark, the log jam got even worse. Not having proper shoes for mud runs is a killer for most people. It’s not a leisurely walk on the sidewalk so every day sneakers were not cutting it. The staff tried to get people to keep moving, however the design of the obstacle itself was a little narrow. The pit and climb out should have probably been twice as wide to accommodate more people getting through. Same with the mud crawl under the net which forced you to get your chin in the muddy water, only four people could start at any one time.
Completing the second loop for the 5k was a welcome sight after an hour out on the course, but there was still one obstacle to go, the hose off. This was not well thought out by the organizers as I think they expected only local people from the Omaha-metro to take part and the emcee was even encouraging people to just leave and go home to take a shower. I, however, had a 3-hour drive home, caked in mud. The shower “obstacle” was about another one-hour in line to get one of 6 trickling streams of water from a PVC pipe hooked to a garden hose. This was not the set-up for some people who would spend 10-15 minutes each trying to get mud out of their long hair, or get the last bits off their legs and arms.
I was able to get a little fresh water on my hands to rinse the mud out of my eyes, throw a towel over the seat, and drive an hour down I-80 with crusted mud on my arms, legs and face to a buddy’s house for a much welcome garden hose in the back yard to loosen up the crust entangled in body hairs and eyebrows. I still had another two hours to get home, so when he offered his shower for final rinse, I was grateful!
My takeaway from Mud Factor is this, it’s designed for kids and for adults who just want to have a laugh with each other getting in the mud and getting some exercise, and for some to conquer a few fears along the way, such as the fear of heights, fear of germs, or fear of judgement from some slightly competitive OCR addicts huffing about the lines at the obstacles. I can see this being the type of event you do with friends from the office, or social group, but for me, it wouldn’t be a “destination event” again, simply because of the log jams and the lack of clean-up ability provided by this particular venue. I thought on more than one occasion of jumping the shower line and dipping into the nearby pond. If I had, though, I’m fairly certain 75 others in line would have followed suit bringing the ire of the venue organizers as we polluted the pond en masse.
I did achieve my own personal goal of the day, which was to put my body and mind back out on a course the day after a fairly brutal (on my hamstrings and glutes) event, get loose, get some running in and prepare for a Spartan Trifecta weekend coming up in June. So, in the grand scheme of things, Mud Factor was a success, and I am thankful for being able to try one out without having to make a special trip to Kansas City, Denver, or Minneapolis just for the experience. It piggybacked nicely with another race I was already doing, and if you are of a mindset to get muddy, go for it. Just be on notice, if you are the least bit competitive, want to get out and RACE…be in the first heat for adults. Otherwise, relax, have fun, and plan to help others get through obstacles they didn’t prepare well for (non-lugged shoes) or are trying to accomplish for the first time.
