Sunday morning was our 3rd annual Muddy Buddy at Pocahontas State Park in Richmond. Team Tankenwillow started in the 5th (blue) wave. The weather was hot, but manageable.
This year, I ran first, while my wife biked. It’s always a bit of a let down starting the Muddy Buddy. There is so much excitement, followed by a slow 15 minute run. Running isn’t always exciting. But the first wave is always a bit of a shakedown, with the faster people getting ahead, and the slower people getting behind. I ran pretty well, passing lots of people. I passed 2 of the Fantastic Four, a guy in overalls, and somebody with horns on his helmet. The first obstacle was a rock wall. Pretty easy. I was glad there was a cargo net on the other side.
I found the bike pretty easy. (We decorated it with easy-to-spot green paper, some multi-colored garland, and a pinwheel). The first few minutes were scary, riding my wife’s old mountain bike on loose gravel. But, I gained confidence surprisingly quickly. I flew at a decent pace. There was a long uphill, where at least half the people were walking their bikes. I smugly rode up past them. I kept flying by runners with blue numbers, expecting any one of them to be my wife. But she was nowhere to be found. Finally, I got to the second obstacle, where she was waiting for my bike. She must have been moving fast! The second obstacle was a balance beam (piece of cake!). I grabbed some water, and ran on.
I was amazed at how quick the race was going. I was already on leg #3! Running was a nice respite for my bike-weary muscles. But toward the end of leg 3, there was a newly cut trail, full of roots. One stuck up and grabbed my sneaker, sending me face-first into the dirt. I opened a would I got ripsticking in Wisconsin. At least 3 people stopped to help me up. (What a friendly race!) To be honest, I was just surprised that I took a spill, and it wasn’t on the bike! The 3rd obstacle was an over-and-under obstacle. It wasn’t until I was climbing down that I noticed the river of blood flowing down my leg. “Whoa!” the guy next to me said. “Hardcore!”
Once again, the green bike stuck out and was easy to find. I was lucky that this leg seemed mostly downhill. After biking so hard on leg #2 and still not catching my wife, I was sure she’d be waiting again. But I was getting real good on the bike, and had excellent trail to ride on. As I turned the corner to find obstacle #4, I saw my wife just ahead of me. Yes, I was almost keeping up! I yelled to her, dropped the bike, and pointed it out to her. Then I climbed the cargo net, and slid down the giant slide. Wheeee!
The last leg started with a big-time stream crossing. The stream was way over my knees (what a way to cleanse my open wound!). Then it was a long uphill back to the mud pit. I ran as hard as my tired body could go. It got a little easier when the trail reached the road, but the long hill still seemed endless. Since the last leg was me running and my wife biking, I knew she’d be waiting for a while. But she was always very nice about that.
I spotted my wife in a crowd of people waiting for their partners. We ran through, and under the cargo net into the mud pit. The mud was really thick this year. In previous years it was just a big puddle, but this year it was big clumps. I was careful not to get mud in my eyes this year. I heard a few spectators yelling that I was on my hands and knees, and not muddy enough. So before I got to the final line of flags, I did a belly-flop directly into the mud. I think the crowd liked that.
Out of the mud pit, we ran up to the finish line. We finished! Our final time was 61 minutes (4 minutes faster than last year). This comes out to roughly at 9:20 mile, which, in this race, means absolutely nothing. I felt really good about this race, and was surprised at how smoothly it all flowed. The Muddy Buddy is always our favorite race every year. It’s a little sad that we now have to wait a whole year until the 2009 race. Next year, we break one hour!
