Saturday, May 4, 2013

I’m Officially a Dirty Girl!

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.
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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?!?!
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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 -
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Finally my friends got there, we got rid of our warm layer of clothing, checked our bags and, of course, got some more pictures!
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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!

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The next obstacle was called “Get Over Yourself!”  You climbed up and over a wall :)
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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!!!
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The next couple of obstacles were “The Runaway Bride” and “Down and Dirty”19_19A18_18A
Next we came up to “You Go Girl” and, one of my favorites, the “Funky Monkey”.
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(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”
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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…
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Next up was “H2OMG!” and the water was STILL cold!
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The most fun obstacle was next - “Dirty Dancing” – a HUGE inflatable slide with a mud bath you plunged into at the bottom!
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The final obstacle of the day was the “Utopian Tubes” – it was dark, muddy, and a little gravel-y too!
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Finally, we came up on the finish line – Jessica and her sister had completed their first 5k!  I was so incredibly proud of them!
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We had to stop by the Dirty Girl back drop and get a picture too!
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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!
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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.
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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,

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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.

12 comments:

  1. Looks like you had fun...not my thing, but nice recap. Man too cold for that stuff LOL. Nice job!

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  2. This 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!!!

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    1. It was WAY better organized than Warrior Dash!! Not as muddy, but so much more fun :)

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  3. I'm just finding out about all these cool races. Dirty Girl sounds more my speed... And looks so much fun!!!
    Thanks!!

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    1. 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

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  4. Looks 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!

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    1. These obstacles were fairly easy compared to some of the others ones at other mud runs. :)

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  5. It looks like you guys had a blast!

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    1. After my friend cursed my name for the first 2 miles we really did :P

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  6. I 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.

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    1. That'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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Your comments make me smile :)