Our Story (85 Percent): Getting Down and Dirty

On October 18, 2003, I did my first official race. It was a 10k mud run. Dylan was only 4 years old, and Brandon and Mia were not even born yet. For the next eight years, I continued to run the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. It was my race. They held it in June and October every year, and I loved the course, the mud, the cause, and everything about the race. This was before I was into ‘bling’, because at the time, you received no medal for completing the course. It was a very challenging course that was run on trails up hills with difficult obstacles. I don’t think I ever was able to run it without stopping to walk once. Some areas of the course, you are doing a bear crawl to make it up a hill. The Camp Pendleton Mud Run was the first of its kind. It started over 20 years ago, and following its popularity, many imitations arose.

my very first official race.

I use to take the kids with me to the run. They grew up being a part of the festival and waiting for me to cross that finish line. In 2010, I completed my first half marathon, which would change my direction in running. I was no longer into the mud runs, and in 2011, I did my last mud run. Lance and I were just married, and he attended that race as my support. I took four years off from mud runs, but this past Sunday, the kids and I did our first ever Camp Pendleton Mud Run TOGETHER. It was sentimental considering all the mud run races they watched me run and knowing this was my very first official race. Camp Pendleton transformed their races series, because it grew so much in popularity. They opened up a kids run and a 5k in addition to the 10k. There are age requirements. You must be 13 to complete the 10k and 9 to run the 5k. I know Mia is not quite 9, but she had enough experience in running to do it. (After running the course, I do understand the age requirements. It is not easy, and there are some physically challenging parts that even intimidated Mia – i.e. the cargo net crawl). There used to be a reservoir that you had to cross, and sometimes, the water was so deep that you had to swim. It could be almost 6 feet deep. This was very frightening for someone like me who isn’t that great of a swimmer, and moreover, have you ever tried to swim with shoes on? Very difficult. The reservoir is now a long crawl, which they set it up so you are crawling to a helicopter. There are 5 feet walls, tunnels, and the very famous 100 feet mud pit at the end. There are also Marines shouting at you at the end to do 10 pushups putting your face in that mud.

the resevoir you had to cross from years ago. There were areas up to 6 feet deep.

I told the kids that this race would be about fun. We would enjoy ourselves. We would play. We would take photos and videos. I purchased a new camera. Yes, a new toy! It is an active Olympus TOUGH TG-4 camera that is shockproof, waterproof, dustproof, freezeproof etc. You can take it underwater up to 50 feet. The camera was not cheap, and after purchasing it, I realized how nice it was, and how could this nice camera possibly survive a tough mud run? I decided I wasn’t going to bring it. There is no way. I went to the store late that night to buy a disposable camera, but then I realized why am I doing this? The camera is supposed to be tough so I took the risk, and to my amazement, the camera really is TOUGH. Dylan and Brandon insisted I purchase a Go Pro, but quite honestly, I didn’t want to carry a Go Pro because who would be taking photos of me? Plus, my camera does RAW photos even though I don’t have a clue how to do that, and it has Wi-Fi capabilities. I sent the camera pictures to my phone. It also has a GPS, and takes 16 MP photos and HD videos. Lance is excited to take what he now refers to as his camera to the boat. It will be good for dinghy rides and our elephant baths in India.

the camera that survived the Camp Pendleton Mud Run! Talk about rugged!

just picked up our bibs. This is us "clean".

Heading to the start line.

I love that American flag!

Posing with some seriously tough Marines.

at the start line. We met up with our good friends Jorge and Raul.

Let's get excited! We are about to get dirty!

and wave 3 at 930 a.m. is off. Do you see Brandon and Dylan?

The first 1.25 miles of the mud run were straight trail running. You run by a fire hose and do some basic lunges, but there was no mud. Mia complained shortly after we took off, and I told her, “If you complain then this will be your last mud run.” She immediately shut up. Brandon loved to just take off, but Dylan stayed closed behind because he wanted to be videoed. Brandon was irritated because he wanted to run competitively and not for fun. He did not like running with Mia.

Dylan and Mia running along the trail.

The kids loved being in the mud. The first dip in the mud pit was just gross, but then when you are completely drenched in it, you start to have fun. One word of caution though—mud burns the eyes. We tried to wipe it off but our hands were muddy and our clothes were muddy. The Marines were great. They always are…..I hear them shout, “This isn’t a mud WALK. This is a mud RUN! Move it.” The 5k is not challenging enough. Dylan wants to do the 10k next year, and I have already made Lance commit to doing the 5k with Brandon and Dylan. The 10k is a real challenge!

One of the obstacles.

Kids underneath the low crawl. This use to be the resevoir.

Does it look like we are having fun?

Brandon enjoys his mud bath.

a great view of the lake.

hard to see us because everyone looks the same. I am bending down underneath th"RD" on the sign about to get into push up position. Dylan is already in push up position, and Brandon and Mia are behind me near the "RP" on the sign.

The medal sucked. In fact, it is the worst medal I have ever received, but surprisingly, I’m ok with that. It is just a 5k, and secondly, to be truthful, this is probably the only race that I would do without a medal. Running with the kids on Sunday, I realized how fun this run was and how much I missed it. What made me stop? I don’t know, but I’m definitely doing it again next year. The kids want to run again too. I love those kids so much, and I absolutely love that we can race together. I will always be one of those moms that goes on adventures with her kids.