We were today!
39 degrees.
Intermittent clouds.
Very cold water.
No sweat. (Quite literally)
My friend Theresa and I were the only members of team Insane in the Membrane rugged enough to actually follow through with this year’s Rugged Maniac 5K Obstacle Race, Kansas City edition. Lest you be unaware of what it means to be a Rugged Maniac, here is a quick peek into what our day looked like:
As you’ll see, it was a fun, wet, muddy, fun day.
Laced up early.
Then sat trying to stay warm with my support crew.
The pictures don’t lie, Theresa and I were rugged from the very beginning.
Not quite as rugged as a few others though.
Yikes! It was way too chilly to be out there shirtless, let alone sporting only a banana hammock. Temperatures were in the balmy 80’s earlier in the week. It was right at 40 at race time.
Well, we couldn’t pose in intimidating ways all day. We had a mountain or two to conquer.
Those hills look so deceptively small in that picture.
The countdown commenced, and we were off.
The first obstacle was a water obstacle which meant that we got an early taste of the road we had ahead of us. We climbed hills and climbed over walls. We swam under barbed wire and scampered through a pitch dark tunnel. We jumped over fire.
As you can see, we got very, very muddy.
We decided early on that we were out to have fun, not to run fast, and so we took our time, enjoyed what actually was a very beautiful course on a good day to be out running, and we proudly tackled every obstacle. Here we are scaling and descending the final one.
Yes, we are really rugged.
And this is the way we actually felt.
This was a fun day. The obstacles were a challenge and we conquered them all, including the post-race thrill of trying to hose the mud off yourself! Even more challenging for me was to try to change out of those wet clothes in the oh-so-spacious Johnny on the Spot! Now that was rugged!!!
I want to thank my wife and daughter for going along and braving the chilly weather with me. They both made it special and I appreciate their love and support. And thanks to my daughter Tori for all the great pix.
And a huge SHOUT OUT to Theresa for stepping up to do this with me. It was a greater pleasure to do this with a friend and we are calling out friends, co-workers, family, Trail Nerds and Mud Babes to join us the next time this comes around.
We are rugged, and you can be too!
Looks like you had a great time my friend. I do think getting hoses off at the end would have been quite chilly. đ
It was cold, but actually the water in the obstacles was much colder, I think because it probably sat overnight and the water in the ground was a bit warmer. Or maybe I was just numb by that point. đ
Wow, looks like you had an amazing day! Don’t think I would personally have liked to run over the fire – being a bit clumsy I would probably end up tripping up at precisely that point (particularly as I would be overthinking it).
Great to see that you’re keeping well on track (no pun intended) with all this and still really enthusiastic.
Lynn đ
The fire felt great that soon after a water obstacle, believe me! It was tempting to keep jumping over it again and again to dry off! And thanks! I haven’t been keeping up with my updates but have been keeping up with my exercise, healthy eating, and race prep.
Oh, that’s awesome! You look like you had a wonderful time.
We did, and I’m actually glad the weather was the way it turned out, it made it even more fun.
No, thanks! You’re insane, not necessarily in a good, sensible way… Let’s go back to the book reviews.
Nah, this is the fun stuff, the stuff that should be done while one is young enough to do it. And thankfully I didn’t follow my usual pattern of New Year’s resolutions again this year and actually got myself to a place where I could do this. Which feels a bit twilight-zonish to me. I never would have dreamed I’d actually follow through with my health goals, lol!
I keep thinking it would be a good idea to start running with you.
This idea is a strike against you! đ
If a guy dressed in a bikini bottom and another guy with his number clipped to his nipple rings can do it, you can too!
I’m not sure I care for the comparison!
I certainly wouldn’t care to see you dressed like either of them. LOL!
This is so awesome Carl!! I wish I could have come north to do this with you. This is the one we talked about, right? I love all the pics, and I don’t think that hill looks at all small!!! I think I’d be walking up that thing, haha!
My mud run is coming up on December 1st, and while I don’t think it’s going to be quite as rugged as yours (no fire or wire, a lot more tire…), I’m still nervous about mud pits and water holes in whatever weather December 1st will hand us!! Who knows? Maybe it’ll be 90 degrees. It’s been known to happen. It was in the 80s earlier this week, and turned cold just for my 5K this weekend too. Will be back to the 80s in a few days.
Question for you – did you keep those clothes/shoes afterwards? Apparently the mud run I’m going to actually has a place where you can donate your shoes, and a place to throw out or maybe to donate (not sure) your clothes after you change. I had planned to use an old pair of shoes and to just get some old sweats from the thrift store or something before the race, clothes I won’t mind wearing only once. I’m just curious how that part went for you. I don’t want to try to go home and get mud all over the new car, haha! Thankfully, they’re supposed to have showers. Now, just to hope they’re indoor showers, and warm…
That would have been great, Amanda. We would have loved to have you go with us. Several people who originally voiced a desire to join us bailed out and we ended up being a team of two. And yes, this is the one we talked about.
The hill looks much more steep in person, believe me! đ
I hope you have good weather for yours and seriously cannot wait to see the pics. You’ll do great! And you’ll have fun. My only advice, don’t jump heavily feet first into any mud. It is better to just lay down and swim through it. I saw so many people lose shoes in the mud event I volunteered for because they jumped in and their shoes got stuck, quicksand style, in the mud.
I did. I went home that night and hand rinsed all my clothes in hot water in the sink until I couldn’t see much muddy water left coming out of them (used up all the hot water…seriously). Then Mary washed and double rinsed them for me and they came out really good. I am letting my shoes dry and I’ll see then about cleaning them up. I don’t have any comfy work shoes and these will become my outdoor yard shoes if they still retain some degree of shape after they dry out.
I rinsed off in the hoses there and then went and changed clothes in the port o potty. I took some old towels and a trash bag to transport the clothes in. And I can tell you that wearing tighter fitting wicking clothes was a bonus. The clothes weren’t heavy because they didn’t retain a lot of water and there wasn’t all that extra material clinging to me in awkward ways. I would recommend buying cheap stuff like this as that is what I did and I was super comfortable despite the wet and cold.
Congratulations, Carl! That’s quite an accomplishment. I had two friends just complete a Tough Mudder race this past weekend and these two events look pretty similar. Challenging obstacles plus distance running.
Glad you had fun doing this. And even more glad that you completed.
Congrats again.
Thanks Logan. It was a lot of fun. I think Tough Mudder is a lot…tougher…but yes they are similar style events. I’d like to do several different kinds of these but they are not cheap! I wouldn’t mind doing this one again if it rolls through here next year.
Not sure how much Rugged Maniac was, but my friends registered late and paid ~$150 each to do the Tough Mudder. I think spectator tickets were $30 or so, too! Still, all the money is supposed to go to benefit the Wounded Warrior charity, so it’s all for a good cause.
I, too, would like to do some events like Rugged Maniac and Tough Mudder. First, though, I need to actually do any event. Sadly, all 5K events have conflicted with something else already scheduled for me. Eventually…
I think I paid somewhere around $60 for it. Would have been cheaper had I seen it earlier and registered earlier for it. By race day it was up to $100 although I was told you could get discounts coupons online. Spectator tickets for this one were $10.
I hope you can work out a 5K soon, I think you’d have a lot of fun. And once you catch that competitive bug (against yourself) it is hard to stop.
That’s pretty rugged! I went for a ramble in the English countryside and had mud up to my knees, but you outdid me Carl! Nicely done!
I don’t know. Walking through knee-deep mud sounds harder than swimming through muddy water! đ Sounds like a fun, adventurous ramble!
It was and it made me really think about the walks in Jane Austen novels. How did they do that in dresses? I thought I would lose my boots on a few occasions from the suction of the mud. Fortunately, not the entire walk was in mud.
That is one of the things I love about her characters, especially Elizabeth Bennett. They get out there and walk and get dirty. What I cannot imagine is the horror of the servants who then had to clean those dresses. In real life they would cringe and probably be ready to burst into tears anytime one of the family members ventured out the front door.
This is awesome! Good for you. I would love to do something like this one day.
Gotta say, the best way to do it is to find one and pay for it early (while it is cheaper) and then tell people about it. Putting your money out there is a good motivator to actually follow through, lol! It kept me from wimping out when the temps took a 40 degree dive from mid-week.
So that’s what rugged looks like! Congrats to you both!
Or at least that is what muddy looks like, lol! Thank you!
wow! congrats! crawling through the dark and running over fire would have cowered me. that is a crazy awesome course.
It was a lot of fun, L. And you’d be surprised what you could do with the adrenaline pumping through you. đ
I love the team that had the t-shirts that said, “This seemed like a great idea 3 months ago.”
Yes, I agreed with them too! But it ended up being a lot of fun. I’m glad you and Tori went with me.
I am in awe, Carl. Wow. You definitely are rugged! Way to go đ
Thanks Emily, it was a fun experience and one I would do again.
That Mud run looks like fun! I love the shot of you jumping the fire! Keeep it up!