SoCal Part 2: Your Name is Mud

It was one year ago that Melinda and I ran our first 5K at our ward activity. A couple of months ago Melinda's friend, Tiffany Bryant, convinced her to sign up for a 3.1 mile run through a mud-filled course. Saturday morning we woke up, drove from Anaheim to Irvine and pulled into a sea of cars. It was a total party atmosphere. A band played on stage among throngs of people—some who'd run in earlier waves and were already covered in mud.

We dropped checked our bags and took a pre-race picture. The race website suggested that you come wearing costumes (for the fun of it) and duct tape around your shoes (so you don't lose them mid-race). We got the duct tape on our shoes, but since we forgot to bring costumes, we brought the next best thing: clown outfits. At least that's how Melinda describe our triathlon outfits from last year. Melinda hates the design so much she was actually excited to wear them through the mud in hopes of ruining them.

Since the race was totally non-pressure (most runners were just running for fun), Mel and I decided we'd run together and not worry about our time. After some pre-race partying, the horns blew and we were off. The first half a mile was just a run through a field, but then we hit the first obstacle. Inflated beach balls covered a giant mud pit with flags streamed across. We had to get down on our hands and knees and crawl under the flag streamers and through the mud. After about 10 yards, the flag streamers ended and we got back to running.

Throughout the next 25 obstacles placed on the course, Melinda and I were accompanied by teenage mutant ninja turtles, fairies, cats, Brittany Spears and a number of costumed-runners. The best part of the run was finishing hand-in-hand with Melinda.

And also taking pictures afterward.

And what was not the best part? Melinda's scraped up knees from some gravel in the mud and my super-sunburn (who needs sunscreen?) as seen in the video below.