I was super bummed when my eye doctor told me I shouldn’t do the Camp Pendleton Mud Run with Toby and my dad, as planned, but I was still able to go and take photos.

It turns out it was probably a good idea for me not to do it, because it was quite a bit muddier than I anticipated. The mud pit was legit.

 

 

This mud run is something like 20 years old and incorporates several obstacles (think scaling walls, climbing a cargo net, doing push-ups in the mud, bear crawling, and climbing through muddy tubes), along with the 30-foot mud pit. More than 20,000 runners participated over the course of two weekends.

 

They weren’t joking about the mud, y’all.

 

Once the runners finished, they stood in line to be blasted with cold water (and yelled at by Marines) in fire hose-strength showers.

 

Many donated their muddy shoes, then went on to celebrate with free beer, music and horribly unhealthy food.

 

We all agreed it was one of the most well-organized running events we’d ever been to, and I definitely want to try it next year. I may even go for the 10K! Perhaps I should start practicing my obstacle skills now…