Does it Count?

Part of me knows that just having to ask the question already means that I know the answer. But in this case I thought it might actually be interesting to poll others and get a consensus. The question at hand is whether or not Mud Run MS counts as an adventure race, which is #4 on my Operation 30 list.

So first, what is Mud Run MS? According to the website "The Mud Run is a 10K (approximately 6 miles) race with boot camp style obstacles that have been surrounded by or consist entirely of mud. People cheer as teams of contestants slip, slide, and slosh their way to victory. It is a unique experience whether running or watching!"



They don't reveal all of the obstacles, but a few that are mentioned include:

Balance Beams	Once Unders	Stairway to Heaven	The Wall
Hanging Log Walk	Over and Unders	The Bog	Tire Crawl
Leap of Faith	Pots	The English Channel	Tire Mountain
Levy-ity	Quigley	The Hurdles	Tunnels
Log Walk	River Crossing	The Low Crawl	Web of Lies
Mine Field	Run Forest Run	The Moguls	Window to the World
Mud Pit	Slip-N-Slide	The Rope Bridge

I'm super pumped to be participating. It's coming up in just a couple of weeks, which means final team preparations are coming together. Team name - check. Team logo - check. Team uniforms - finishing touches are underway! I'll share our team name and logo which will soon be forever cemented on a fashionable men's undershirt and then promptly caked in mud on Saturday, May 7th.


I have to give my brother, Greg, credit for the team name. (Anyone get the South Park reference?) I still think it's the perfect fit for the event. Two weeks away!

If Wikipedia has any authority here, then my original suspicions were confirmed and there's really no way to count the Mud Run as an adventure race. According to them, an adventure race is, "a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering...cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours."

So while I had no intention to participate in a multi-day or super-intense Adventure Race, I'll admit that when I added it to my Operation 30 list that my intention was that it be some sort of kayaking, biking, trail running, orienteering combo. And while doing obstacle courses in mud may not qualify exactly, maybe I'll consider it a good training event for such an endurance event that will count for #4 on my list. :-)

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