Mudnewton

This was a small local "obstacle" race that looked pretty shabby, but I signed up because my Spartan buddy ES was turning it into an awesome birthday party!

Just a few of the Solo crew

It did in fact turn into just a cute little 10km trail run (on fairly nice mix of open field, forest, single track, downhill), and the obstacles were pretty sad, but that wasn't what this was about.

It was about ES bringing in about a quarter of all the entries to the event through her friends and training mates - some from as far afield as Montreal and from Soldiers of Fitness in the Kawarthas! It was about her writing her nickname "Solo" on everybody's forehead in camo paint, including many of the volunteers and bewildered onlookers. It was about settling a racers' rivalry with two of our friends by running the 5K and 10K events back-to-back. It was about her racing with bib number 1.

As far as small, family-friendly fundraiser events go, they had some cute ideas for a few obstacles, like using advertising for other charity runs as a kind of slalom obstacle, or an entire trashed-out school bus as a tunnel, again with advertising for an international charity. I had a terrible run, though. My legs were not moving at all, and I was seriously overheated. But again, not why I was there! I was there to give ES an appropriate b-day gift though: shampoo and soap to wash all the mud out.

--Distance: 10km
--Duration: 1:13:20