The Double D

A few weeks ago I participated in one of the most fun things I've ever done: The Dirty Dash. It was essentially a 10k with obstacles and lots of mud. It took place at Soldier Hollow, which meant lots of hills. I trained with my friend Rachel. We had lots of fun running three times a week. We trained for a regular 10k, but we were nervous because this was not a regular 10k. How do you train to run in the mud? I pictured myself struggling, being extremely exhausted and barely able to crawl across the finish line. Luckily, this was not the case. Though I pictured myself running the entire thing, we stopped a lot to wait for teammates (or walked up hills to let them catch up) and we had to wait in line for several of the obstacles. Hey, there were 4,000 runners that morning!

We ran with four other ladies (there were five to a team, but the race organizer said I could run with them). We got matching shirts and called ourselves The Sexy Sows. Our outfits were very mild compared to the crazy array of costumes out there. We saw tutus, prom dresses business suits, and lots of guys in tights and/or underwear. There was even a duo in sweaters and overalls running as Mario and Luigi. I'm glad I stuck with a t-shirt and leggings.

The beginning of the race was an uphill dash through slippery mud. After making it to the top, I was exhausted! I still had six miles ahead of me! But I continued on, encountering many more hills in the first mile. Right before Mile 2, we ran uphill into a snow-making machine that sprayed water on us. After that came the hay bales. They were too tall to hurdle, so we had to jump on top and then jump down. I didn't count how many, but there were lots of hay bales. After another long run, we came to the tunnels. We had to crawl through I think three sets of tunnels. Luckily, it was a piece of cake. After another long run we came to the obstacle I was most nervous about: the walls. I didn't know how I was going to be able to climb over a wall! It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the race. There were three sets of walls that were all surrounded by deep, slippery mud. This is where the real fun started. I covered my face with mud (partly for fun, partly to prevent a sunburn) and went for it. Luckily, there were three different heights of walls and I was able to climb over the shortest one each time. I wanted to finish the race in its entirety, not cut corners or skip obstacles like some people were doing.

The next obstacle was stepping through a bunch of tires, and then it was on to the swamp. We had to jump a creek to get there and then it was wet ground and more mud. It was smelly and dirty, but lots of fun. After lots more running, we had to run up hill to get to the "Slop 'n Slide", supposedly the world's largest slip 'n slide. It was an enormous inflatable slide with five lanes for teammates to go down simultaneously. This was probably the most fun of all. The hill wasn't steep enough for us to slide down the whole way, so we slipped, ran, slipped, ran, and slipped again. It was a blast! Right before the slide is when I saw Tyler for the first time. I was so happy he came and supported me! He tried (and failed) to throw water balloons at me. This was right near the end of the race, so he got to see me finish in all my glory. The final obstacle was a large pit of wet, wet mud. We were told to crawl through to the end. This is where we got the dirtiest of all. When we climbed out, the race was over! It was such a good feeling to be done! I felt good too. We got a group picture, ate some fruit, and then waited in line for the FREEZING COLD showers to rinse off. It was one of the best times I've ever had and I would definitely do it again. Here are a few articles about the event:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700069612/The-Dirty-Dash-is-part-masquerade-ball-part-mud-wrestling-event.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/68/10010194/Reasons-to-run-Running-dirty.html

http://www.parkrecord.com/summit_county-sports/ci_16198010

http://www.standard.net/node/55305


And, of course, lots of pictures!


Bethany made a new friend before the race


Just arriving (and looking very clean)


The Sexy Sows!


Running through mud after the walls


Me climbing over a wall


Rachel and me lookin' good!


Our team after climbing the walls


Can't forget this was a 10k. There was a lot of running!


Bethany and me running to the slide


Rachel getting pegged with a water balloon


The Slop 'n Slide. I'm on the far right


Rachel at the bottom


The final stretch


Slopping through the mud!


The whole team




Climbing out at the end


We did it!


Me, Bethany, Rachel, Sara, Sunshine, Rachael









Waiting to rinse off!