Brad’s Dirt on the Mud Run – and some fellow Muddy Runners.

I set out in the Sweaty 60 event optimistic enough to think I would do 4 laps within the hour. I was determined to pace myself and also avoid another muscle strain that has plagued my training so far this year. The first 50 metres of the course was strewn with huge round hay bales. Fortunately on the first lap, clambering over them was optional.

It wasn’t long before I got to the up-stream creek run and my shoes turned to heavy water buckets. It was obvious here that the smart runners kept to the bank as much as possible which created a bit of jostling for the best spot to tread. Only just out of the creek bed and we were into a mud pit thoughtfully covered with a netting to prevent us slipping over? No, I had it wrong. The idea was to crawl under the net. Fortunately the net was not pegged down low enough to force runners onto their hands and knees. We were able to crouch low and waddle under it while the muddy water from the net ran down our back, providing the twin benefits of cooling and applying a layer of muddy protection from mossies.

On later laps I had the benefit of added protection as Struan and Muzza, obviously bored with running, applied more mud in the form of mud balls as I emerged from the net and as I ascended the muddy rope that provided the only way out of the of the pit. I kept to my planned disciplined pace and within no time I was on my own. I couldn’t see a soul up ahead. If it wasn’t for the very well marked course I would have started to doubt that I was on the right trail. Up ahead there was another creek crossing and another cess pit, sorry mud puddle with netting over it to waddle through. What was more challenging though was a climb up the black snake section. Only a moderate climb but enough to bring about a substantial change in pace. The pay-off for that though was a great downhill run home on a smooth winding section of track. Which would have been more enjoyable had I not been dreading those damn hay bales. I seemed to fall over them more than “stride” over them.

My second lap on the course was memorable for a pair of feet I saw go past me as I was plodding up the black snake. I don’t know who they belonged to because I didn’t have the energy to lift my head but I know they didn’t have shoes on. It looked like the owner was wearing a pair of toe socks. My third lap was obviously a bit of a struggle because Muzza took pity on me and kept me company for a while – until he found the downhill stretch more tempting and took off. However I passed him next lap lounging in the creek and whereupon he was overcome by the same emotion and ran with me again. But as the results show, he couldn’t resist plowing down the hill again and leaving me in his wake.

The Smithfield conservation park is a great venue for a trail run and offers plenty of options on the many shady tracks that wind through there. A great spot for a future training run. Thanks Chris and Shane and to all who were involved. It was a run with fun. I will miss the Speewah event but I look forward to the other two events in the series.