“The chance to get to do something that only military people get to do is appealing for most people,” says event organizer Jill Kozak.
The Mud Run has been going strong for seven years, doubling in size year after year. For 2011, organizers had to add a full second day of competition to the event to keep up with demand. April 30th and May 1st. greenvillemudrun.org TOUGH MUDDER ATLANTA, GA. and WINTERGREEN RESORT, VA. longer, dirtier, and harder This 10K race has exploded from a single-venue event in Pennsylvania to a 12-city tour in 2011. Participants run through a 10K course that includes pond swims, tire-tunnel crawls, a series of 12-foot climbing walls, a massive Slip n’ Slide, a field of fire, and the signature “murdles,” which are a series of hurdles in waist-deep mud.
Not bad-ass enough? The top five percent of finishers at all Tough Mudder competitions across the country are invited to compete in the World’s Toughest Mudder final, which is a 50-mile race of mud, ice, snow, fire, hot coals, rock climbs, barbed wire, electric fencing, underwater swimming, boulder carries, rope climbs, and 100-foot dives from waterfalls. In the words of Keanu Reeves, “whoa.”
Each Tough Mudder after party features free tattoos, free head shaves, and (drum roll please) the Mullet Competition. March 12, 13 in Atlanta, Ga.; October 22, 23 at Wintergreen Resort, Va. toughmudder.com RUN AMUCK FREDERICKSBURG, VA. mud with some yelling Runners tackle 3.5-miles around Quantico, intermixed with mud pits, tire hops, and barricades, but at certain points along the course, Marines with bullhorns will also make you do jumping jacks and crunches. And at one point, you’ll be blasted with a fire hose. But other than that, it’s a stroll in the park. June. marinecorpshistorichalf.com WILDFIRES ADVENTURES MUD RUN SENECA CREEK STATE PARK, MD. train like a firefighter Aaron Foster took his experience as a master obstacle course builder for the D.C. Fire Department and developed the Wildfire Adventures Mud Run, a three-mile “jaunt” through Seneca Creek State Park in Maryland. The run takes its inspiration from the firefighter challenge course (look for tire obstacle courses and scaling walls) and throws in a 30-foot mud pit, a Slip n’ Slide into the water, a heavy-bag course, and a number of other challenges yet to be determined. March 26-27. wildfireadventures.com WARRIOR DASH MARYLAND and GEORGIA race like a viking Probably the biggest and best known challenge course race series, the Warrior Dash is a set of events scheduled at 15 sites across the country for 2011. The races have a Viking theme with furry warrior helmets, battle cries, and many participants in full Viking garb. Some even go so far as to carry swords. Runners tackle fields of fire, scaling walls, mud pits, barbed wire crawls, even a junkyard obstacle course in the North Georgia location. The Warrior Dash attracts thousands to each race, and the after party is probably more hard core than the race course.
