Justin and Lana Spencer Family: MAN vs MUD

On Saturday, Sept 1st Lana and I went up to the American Heritage Ranch and participated in the MAN vs MUD competition. It was an absolute blast. There wasn't an inch of us that wasn't covered in mud. The event is a 5K run with 31 obstacles mixed in to the mix. We weren't able to take our camera with us due to the extreme conditions of the course; however, we were able to get a few shots of some of the obstacles. Next year we will take our entire family. They had horse rides, wagon rides and train rides free of charge for all the kids and the environment was just super fun.

We got there a little early to register so we had time to walk around and watch others compete. One of the funnest things was a couple that ran the race in their wedding clothes and then said "I DO" at the end of the race. Our starting time was supposed to be at 11:20, but it was such a calm and relaxed environment that we started a little early. They didn't even time you on the course. We finished the entire thing in about 50 minutes.

Lana went to the DI on Friday night and bought some cheap clothes since we figured they wouldn't be salvageable after the race. Good thing she did. All the clothes were ruined. More than anything it was just a ton of fun to be together and have a great time helping eachother through the course.

This obstacle was way harder than it looks. You get a little comfortable then you think "oh this is pretty easy" and the next thing you know...you're swimming in ice cold spring water. This was the midway point of the course.

This rope wall was fun. It was one of the longest lines we had to wait in though. There were a few overweight folks ahead of us that slowed the group down. They were cautious to say the least.

This was the last obstacle before the finish slide. As you can see from the photo, there was quite a line up here too.

We started the race by going down some 300 feet of slide on a tube. You got going pretty darn fast. The tubes were mostly flat so you had to lay all the way back on the tube. After you went down the hill the race began. You had to run back up the hill, drop off your tube and then run about 3/4 mile to the next obstacle.

You can see how long the tube track was. Lana and I went at the same time....I kicked her butt down the hill. That is probably because I have a huge, fat butt.

This is the slide at the finish line. It is on the same hill as the starting line slide, just about 100 yards away. This slide you went down on your keister and landed in a huge mud puddle. you can see the splash of those leaving the slide and landing in the puddle. After the slide you had to army crawl through a mud bog and then they took your picture. They let us take three poses. Once they post them we will be able to download them and I will put them on the blog.

At the end of the race they had showers for you to clean off. You could take a free ice cold shower or pay $3 for a hot shower. We elected to take an ice cold shower. It was a nice way to end the race.