In the chilly morning air, runners bounced around to stay warm. They congregated with spectators and supporters in an open field of a Milton farm while a four-wheeler ran through a large puddle of mud.
The first heat of the Second Annual Quest Fitness Mud Run started promptly at 9 a.m. as individuals took off toward that muddy hole when they heard the starter’s pistol. They made their way up and over a mound that buried a pipe they would later crawl through and ran into the woods as one woman said, “Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!” with every step.
Then it was time for the teams to start. Most wore matching shirts with names on them like “No Teacher Left Behind” or “Muddy Mommies.” One team wore T-shirts featuring Mr. Spock that said, “Trek Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself,” while another paid homage to the “Hunger Games” tributes.
What's a mud run? DFM News visited the 2nd Annual Quest Fitness Mud Run in Milton
What's a mud run?
DFM News visited the 2nd Annual Quest Fitness Mud Run in Milton
[flashvideo file=http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mudrun.flv image="http://www.wdde.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mud-run-still.jpg" /]
The team of “Things” was most notable, though. The four 10-year-olds were by far the youngest competitors in the run that fell somewhere between four and five miles. They could have waited for the youth fun run immediately following the race, but they had been training as long and as hard as any of the adults, and they were ready to go.
“We wanted to be different from everyone else,” said Wyatt Fruehauf, of Lewes.
“I just wanted to beat my mother in this,” said Lola Messick, also of Lewes. Where was mom? Lola estimated about 30 minutes behind her. The Thing team (wearing T-shirts modeled after the Dr. Seuss troublemakers) finished in just under 45 minutes.
Messick may have wanted to best her mom, but one of the themes of mud runs is teamwork. Runners stop to help each other over walls and through obstacles, in addition to just cheering each other on. Team Thing was no different. Before moving on to the next trial, all four teammates would assemble and encourage the final one under the ropes, through a pipe or over hay bales.
All four teammates said they’d like to do the race again next year. Enzo Zechiel’s sister, Lily, ran the race last year and he said he’s ready to go head to head with her; but, of course, “I’m the winner,” he said.
Enzo Zechiel’s dad, Zeke, also ran in a team of four men. Team “N+1” finished third in the team division in just over 30 minutes. The group of surfing friends travels to South America and Costa Rica to catch waves (their team name is the formula by which one determines how many surfboards are necessary. “N is how many you already have,” Zeke Zechiel joked.).
“This was this good camaraderie thing, you know what I mean?” said teammate Aaron Hood of Lewes. “And it turned out to be a beautiful day and it’s all good.”
Team “Muddy Mommies” finished around 45 minutes. The three women from Milton, Shannon Cathcart, Carrie Fischer and Iwona Hughes, all have children ranging from 14 weeks to three years old and set the mud run as a fitness goal while working out at a local gym.
The women said they chose this race because it was “something fun” and they looked forward to having the bragging rights of showing their husbands how tough they are. To prepare they did a lot of running, but also some weight training to work on upper body strength for challenges that included crawling under ropes and pulling themselves over walls.
“But we didn’t train with the mud,” Hughes laughed.
Getting dirty in Delaware
There aren’t many mud runs in The First State, but the popularity of two have certainly raised the profile of getting down and dirty.
Delaware Mud Run will run its third race this fall on Sunday, Sept 23. A 5K at Frightland near Middletown, the event draws thousands of participants and spectators. Delaware Mud Run, Jr., a 1.5-mile race for runners under 14, will be June 14, at the same site. Proceeds from both races go to the Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware.
Matt Carter, of Quest Fitness, organized The Quest Fitness Mud Run in Milton with Tim Bamforth from Seashore Striders. The two men spent weeks designing and digging out the course on a farm one of Carter’s clients opened to the race.
“I wanted something besides the typical 5K or 10K road race,” Carter said. “Quest Fitness is about adventure fitness.”
Carter ran in a Tough Mudder race two years ago and that was the inspiration behind the Quest Fitness Mud Run. Last year, at the inaugural race in Milton, 300 people ran. This year about 500 people participated. Carter said he imagines the race growing each year. Proceeds from the Milton race go to Milton Fire Dept. and the Harry Bunk Agricultural Scholarship Fund.
The toughest of mudders
While hundreds in Delaware were racing Sunday morning, hundreds more were taking on what is probably the best known of the mud runs – Tough Mudder – in the Pocono Mountains.
At Pocono Manor, Mudders took on a 10-to-12 mile course that included obstacles like barbed wire and 10,000 volts of electricity. There wasn’t just mud, there was fire. The Tough Mudder is not for the faint of heart.
And Tom Salzbrenner loves it. He started out with a more mellow race, the Delaware Mud Run, in 2010. On the grounds of Frightland, the 5K is a bit more casual than the race modeled after Marine basic training, but it was enough of a taste that Salzbrenner took on the Tough Mudder last year.
“I wouldn’t even consider myself a runner,” said Salzbrenner, of Newark. “I work out to counteract the beer and cheesecake.”
“I guess it was just the fact that it looked really awesome,” he said. “I think the reason I don’t run marathons is the concept of running for 26 miles just really bores me. If I’m on the treadmill I feel like a hamster on a wheel.”
So he takes on climbing monkey bars and crawling under barbed wire. “It’s a story to tell and something to be proud of.” This race is not about winning, it’s about finishing. Salzbrenner said only about 70 percent of the mudders who start the race in the Poconos finish and he’s seen one or two people fall out of the run himself.
The next Tough Mudder Salzbrenner will run is in Virginia in September. His buddy Chris Peppi will meet him there. Peppi is stationed in Texas with the Air Force.
[caption id="attachment_26357" align="alignright" width="300" caption="With 35 Tough Mudder events in four countries, the franchise has raised close to $3 million for the Wounded Warrior Project. Courtesy of Tuff Mudders."]
There will be 35 Tough Mudder events in four countries by the end of 2012 and the franchise has raised close to $3 million for the Wounded Warrior Project, according to the Tough Mudder website.
The Tough Mudder website also warns potential runners not to take themselves too seriously. In fact, it’s part of the Tough Mudder pledge. This race is about challenging oneself, not about winning.
“It’s really about having that mental toughness and finishing because you want to finish,” Salzbrenner said. “Tough Mudder, it’s not a competition. It’s you versus you, having that mental toughness and overcoming that voice in the back of your head that says, ‘Hey, I’ve had enough.’”