Dirty Girl Mud Run is a 5k, women’s only, obstacle course designed to get you muddy with your friends. You will walk, run, climb, jump, and crawl your way to the finish line. Not only that, but you get to support Bright Pink®, a national non-profit that is working to prevent and provide early detection of breast and ovarian cancer!
I arrived on Saturday morning wondering what I had gotten myself into. I am an avid obstacle racer who took part last year. I wasn’t wondering if I would be able to do the obstacles, if I would have fun, if I would see any friends. I was worried about the cold and the wind. It had been in the 80’s and 90’s the last few weeks and was hovering in the upper 50’s when I arrived with crazy wind.
Parking was easy and free! I got to the top and found quite a few that had opened up after the first wave runners had left. I parked close enough that I didn’t need bag check and could just go back and forth to my car.
Registration is so easy, you sign your waiver digitally and get a stamp, move to the next table and they assign your number right there, and you move on to the last table for swag. This year the shirt was white and was glad my car was close to go put it away. I was a little disappointed as last year we got a shirt, a bag, a necklace, and some sample shampoos and conditioner, that was all lacking save for the shirt. It wasn’t a huge deal as I decided to wait and shower at home since it was so cold.
The festival area had a great merch tent, ropes to climb, a bouncy house! Yes, a bouncy house! Several vendors and of course food and beer in the lodge. There were lots of people huddled up waiting for friends and family to race.
I didn’t remember what time I signed up for, they didn’t tell me when I registered, it wasn’t written on my bib, so after wandering around checking things out, I lined up! It was great, they gave everyone a warm welcome, cheered members of Dirty Girl Nation who were back again, cheered even louder for the newbies ready to tackle their first mud run. We did a warm up which was so welcome, it was definitely cold standing still in the corral.
With a countdown and really large bubble machine spewing bubbles, we were off. Dirty Girl did a great job of using the wide roads, paths, and trails. Things were a little slick with the off and on rain we had. There was never a large back up of obstacles except at the slide. They had one side shut down for some reason. Keeping your feet picked up certainly made it faster but ouch when you hit the bottom. The Utopian Tubes needed a bit of help when the wind managed to move the entire obstacle backwards and pull it off the blower keeping it up. The staff was quick to respond and get it hooked back up. The wind was fierce! We went up and down the mountain, although not to the degree that any other race does, rounding out a solid 3 miles.
The course was a blast, the 2nd to last obstacle was through a dumpster of dirty water, washing off much of the mud. While I certainly appreciated this, I heard a few grumbles from those who wanted the truly muddy and dirty finisher photos.
The medal was awesome, a major upgrade from last year in weight and style. Perfect for the bling whore in all of us.
Photo by Hannah Hawley
All in all, I had a great time, feel that it is a great race to bring your friends to who are intimidated by the harder courses. It is also just a fun way to have fun in the mud. Next year the weather better be warmer though!
Happy Hannah
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- Dirty Girl Mud Run – Killington - July 14, 2016
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