On April 20th I had the opportunity to run the Dirty Girl Mud Run in Atlanta. I recruited my friend, Jessica, and her sister to run with me, and it would be their first 5ks! I couldn’t wait to experience this race with them.
As usual, I laid my clothes out the night before – we all wore blue and yellow ribbons in our hair for Boston, and piggies on our socks in memory of Jessica’s grandmother, who passed away from breast cancer.
We got up nice and early as our heat started at 9:30, and headed to Lake Lanier Islands and Resort, where the race would be taking place. Getting there and parking was a breeze, and it was a bit of a walk to check-in, but luckily it was all down hill :) It was a pretty cold morning – 38 degrees!!
Check in was super easy – you picked a tent and they looked up your registration on iPads and gave you a race bib. How coincidental was it that they gave me my wedding anniversary?!?!
We grabbed our shirts and necklaces, located the bag check, browsed in the store where I bought a tumbler and some lip balm (I had left mine at home) then found a sunny spot to wait for my realtor and her friends to show up. In the meantime we snapped a picture of the three of us -
Finally my friends got there, we got rid of our warm layer of clothing, checked our bags and, of course, got some more pictures!
We headed to the start line where the DJ was giving us a little run through of the course and some of the obstacles that we would encounter. Soon enough, it was our turn to head out!
(I took a waterproof camera on this run and I’m so glad I did! Just a recommendation to some of you that might want pictures but don’t have a waterproof digital camera)
The first obstacle we came to was the Barn Burner – an inflatable obstacle that you climbed up and bounced your way down!
The next obstacle was called “Get Over Yourself!” You climbed up and over a wall :)
The next couple were the same – PMS (Pretty Muddy Stuff) and I can’t remember the name of the other one! But one thing was certain – that water was COLD!!!
The next couple of obstacles were “The Runaway Bride” and “Down and Dirty”
Next we came up to “You Go Girl” and, one of my favorites, the “Funky Monkey”.
(The easiest way to get over the Funky Monkey is to roll across the net…don’t crawl!)
We were a little over halfway done at this point. The next obstacle was “Get a Grip”
After we conquered the second cargo net of the day, we did the “Amaze Yourself” obstacle, which was like a huge spider web…I almost tripped myself a couple of times…oops…
Next up was “H2OMG!” and the water was STILL cold!
The most fun obstacle was next - “Dirty Dancing” – a HUGE inflatable slide with a mud bath you plunged into at the bottom!
The final obstacle of the day was the “Utopian Tubes” – it was dark, muddy, and a little gravel-y too!
Finally, we came up on the finish line – Jessica and her sister had completed their first 5k! I was so incredibly proud of them!
We had to stop by the Dirty Girl back drop and get a picture too!
Once we finished Jamie found us. We chatted for a few with her husband and made sure to grab our free beer…we earned it!
We were finally done being muddy and made our way back up to get our bags and change. I was happy they had a changing tent and rinsing station as the Warrior Dash I completed the weekend before didn’t. It wasn’t quite what I expected but at least we had a little bit of privacy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this race. If you’re looking to do a mud run but are a bit intimated by some of the bigger ones like Warrior Dash, Spartan Race, or Tough Mudder, this is a fun one to ease you into it. It’s untimed and completely just about having fun. Check out their website to see if they’re coming to a city near you!
Have you run a Dirty Girl Mud Run in your area? Would you do it again?
Until next time,
Disclaimer: I was given free race registration by Dirty Girl Mud Run. I was not compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Looks like you had fun...not my thing, but nice recap. Man too cold for that stuff LOL. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteLOL it was a lot of fun :)
DeleteThis looks SO MUCH BETTER than Warrior Dash! Dirty Girl was on my radar from last year but I wanted to go to Auburn's A-Day more. I considered taking my waterproof digital to Warrior Dash but I'm SO glad I didn't, the mud was insanely ridiculous. LOVE all of your pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was WAY better organized than Warrior Dash!! Not as muddy, but so much more fun :)
DeleteI'm just finding out about all these cool races. Dirty Girl sounds more my speed... And looks so much fun!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
Definitely check them out...I highly recommend them as a good starter race to some of the more hard core mud/obstacle runs out there
DeleteLooks like a lot of fun!!! I'm not about the obstacle races and stuff yet (So much of a klutz) but I feel like this is one I could get into with some friends and just have fun with it! Great job!
ReplyDeleteThese obstacles were fairly easy compared to some of the others ones at other mud runs. :)
DeleteIt looks like you guys had a blast!
ReplyDeleteAfter my friend cursed my name for the first 2 miles we really did :P
DeleteI did the Mobile, AL race back in February and it was fun but more dirty water than mud. It was FREEZING that day too. It was a really fun way to spend time with some girlfriends though.
ReplyDeleteThat's how ours was, too...it was 38 degrees when we got to the site! But we had a fun time and a hot shower never felt so good!
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