Almighty Mud Run

In October, I participated in the Almighty Mud Run. It is a 5k run with around 20 obstacles.  It is put on by Bridges of Faith, a ministry that ministers to Ukrainian orphans.  Our good friends, the Tatums, are adopting a young man from Ukraine. They met him through Bridges of Faith. We ran in his honor. This was our team, team Dima.

This was our first obstacle. I do not like heights. There were very tiny places to put your feet to help climb. My foot kept slipping at the bottom. All I could think about was my foot slipping at the top and me falling/sliding back to the bottom. I seriously contemplated skipping the first obstacle. Then I saw Darren and Nate watching from the distance and I could not let Nate see me "cheat." So, I started climbing and quoting Joshua 1:9 - be strong and courageous, be strong and courageous. I am at the very top in this picture. I made it without falling or sliding! 

 

The wall was the hardest/scariest obstacle for me.   There was an ice water obstacle that I was really dreading, but I didn't think it was too bad.  The other girls would disagree.  After the ice water, we had to jump fire.  It sounds wild and crazy, but it really wasn't. There were plenty of places to jump that were hot, but fire was not burning.  After that was the first mud pit, which you see below. 

Forget what I said about the wall being the scariest obstacle.  This slide was the scariest.  This pictures does not show the real size of this thing.  It was so soapy and slippery.  I was not afraid of the slide, but the mud pit at the bottom.  There was not much mud or water in it and I could tell that the landing was was going to hurt and it did.  I landed so hard, I had whiplash the next day.  I also scratched up my wrist and back.  I was not happy. 

This wall followed the slide.  I stopped to help another team get one of their members over the wall.  Nothing like putting your hands on a stranger's bottom. :)

Now it's my turn.

I can only imagine what I am talking about here...probably how bad it hurt coming off the slide.  It took a while to get over that.

Another mud pit.

I love this picture of Casey, Sandi, and me.  I love these girls.  I wish the lighting was better.  I have a feeling if we weren't so muddy you would be able to see us better.

We did it!  Our time was 1:51 instead of 2:51 because started in a later heat. We did not have a time goal. Our only goals were to not get hurt and have fun.  We stopped for lots of pictures, let more serious competitors pass, helped other competitors, and laughed a whole lot.

 

There were lots of other fun obstacles.  Some I have pictures of and others not.  My favorite obstacle was swimming across a small lake.  It was so nice to dive into the water and get clean for a few minutes.  There were obstacles in the middle of the lake also.  We also had to carry concrete blocks, crawl under barbed wire, climb a tire wall, climb a rope net, and many others.  It was so much fun and an experience I will never forget.