Last week  Lisa asked if I wanted to do the Muddy Buddy race with her…on Saturday. Absolutely no training and four miles of running and obstacles followed by a mud pit. Are you kidding? I was in before she could even get the question out. I mentioned that I wished my kids could do it too and she told me they had a Mini Muddy Buddy race for the littles. I immediately registered my kids and we were ready to go.

Once again my children were there for the start of my race. They cheered me on as Lisa and I took off running to the first obstacle.

They started us off easy with a short cargo rope climb, then a balance beam, water crossing, “spider webs” and a river walk. We couldn’t run as much as either of us would have liked because this really was more trail running than anything else. I can run on trails from my experience living in Utah and doing so much hiking. However, this was totally new terrain for Lisa, so I let her set the pace. It was such a beautiful trail, so it was great just to take our time, have fun, and enjoy the scenery.

After we’d been out for a while, and done quite a few obstacles, I knew it was getting late and was afraid we were going to miss seeing the kids do their race.  I suggested we pick up our step a bit. We started to run and then came upon the last 3 obstacles. First up was the cargo climb/giant slide. You know those big bounce house slides? Yeah, that, twice in a row. I was SO tired after that. Then came the rope climb (I kind of did that) followed by a climb up a wet and soapy wall. I was determined to get over that wall.  Twice I tried, and twice I made it to the top and found myself just short of the ability to get my body up and over. Both times just as I was at the top and ready to go over, I lost my grip and fell to the ground. I have some awesome bruises and scrapes from that one.  After falling two times, Lisa and I looked at each other and said, “screw this” and walked around it.

This is the first time we caught a glimpse of our families we were tired, sweaty, sore and ready to climb into the mud pit. I was ready to get dirty and to be done. We slid down a small slope and landed in the muddy water. I tried to figure out what would be a better strategy, army crawl or baby crawl. Either way it hurt since the mud pit was filled with small pebbles and gravel.

We climbed out of the pit and gingerly made our way through the sticky mud to the finish line. As we approached I first saw a darling girl with golden locks – I realized she was mine. My sweet Libby came to cross the finish line with me. She wouldn’t hold my muddy hand but she was running with me. Shortly after she joined me, I spotted Seth, he was also coming to finish with me.

I loved crossing the finish line with two of my children.

I got my medal, then took my kids to the starting line for their race. I was nervous for Seth. I knew that Amelia would stay with me, but he is older and more independent and wanted to just do it. We lined up with the 6 year olds (she’s 5, he’s 7, so we split the difference) and when the airhorn blew, we took off. They took the kids on a little quarter mile run, over a wall, through some tires and into the mud pit. Amelia was pretty cautious through the pit and at one point lost a shoe. We couldn’t find it so I told her not to worry about it. As we went to run the final part, her feet were hurting from the rocks, so I put her on my back. She and I crossed the line together.

Seth went back to look for us, but couldn’t find us and while he waited, his shoes got stuck in the sticky mud. He was finally able to extract them and found us. It was so great to be back with my babies and for all 3 of us to be covered head to toe in mud.

It was so much fun to share this experience with my kids. To watch them run and have fun. To see the pride on their faces as they wear their medals.

Lisa and I agreed that this is a race that will become a tradition for our two families. What a great way to spend a Saturday.