For the last two weekends, a big chunk of my Saturday was spent getting to, doing, and cleaning up after a mud/ obstacle run. I enjoyed the second one more than the first (Rugged Maniacs versus Del Mar Mud run) but I feel that I learned enough from the two of them to offer some great advice for anyone planning to do one of these in the future.
1. Wear skin tight clothing or clothes designed for water (i.e. board shorts).
The first run, we made the collective mistake as a group to just wear regular clothes. I wore a combo skirt/short thing, my friend wore loose capris, Blake wore cargo shorts and his brother wore exercise shorts, and we ALL regretted our choice after the first mud pit. Anything that can hold water will drag you down, and make you feel like you are taking the mud with you. It is also very uncomfortable. The worst part about my choice was the skirt portion because it was just an extra, sagging weight.
For the second run, I and my friend wore tight shorts, and Blake wore board shorts, and we were all much happier, and didn't notice the weight.
2. Protect your knees.
Mud runs include lots of crawls through mud pits, forced to stay low by barbed wire or something else. Both of our runs also included a crawl through a tunnel, and going up and down mud hills can also mean that your knees land in the mud.
After our first run, all of us had small scratches on our knees from crawling except for my friend who wore capris. So the next thing we learned was that it was wise to cover our knees for the next race. Two of the people we ran race two with wore high socks that covered the knees. I didn't have any high socks, so I tried out tights, which worked great! Protected my legs, but didn't hold water (see rule 1).
3. Bring a change of clothes, especially shoes.
While you are running, you embrace the mud, the wet clothes, the uncomfortableness that comes with doing a mud run, you signed up for it! Then the race ends. You are still wet, and muddy, and uncomfortable, and no longer loving it. Race 1- we didn't bring a change of clothes, and while we had towels, we had to make due with wet clothes all the way home. As far as shoes went, even though I didn't bring my sandals, I couldn't handle the wet foot/shoe/sock sensation any more, so our walk to the car, I was barefooted. My friend not only went barefooted, she donated her wet muddy shoes, so she literally had no shoes on the way back to the car. Race 2- it felt great to be able to ditch the wet, muddy layers, and feel warm and dry, with feet protected, and out of wet socks.
4. Go with a friend.
I haven't done one alone, but I can tell you that a big part of our enjoyment of the races came from having people to do it with. They can help you through obstacles, encourage you on the ones that freak you out, and laugh with you as you run in muddy, wet clothes or fall in the latest mud pit.
5. Tie your shoes well, but don't use duct tape.
Many people duck taped their shoes on, only to have that duck tape strewn across the course. None of the four people who did either race lost their shoes in a mud pit, and we had just doubled knotted them.
Hope these tips help anyone thinking of doing an obstacle/mud run in the future!
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