Mud Run!

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Friday

In the morning we set out to drive the 9 hours to Oregon. We hoped that Reba, Justin's Chevy Blazer, would continue with her reliable service and deliver us safely. It was a long drive, and we were glad to get out of the car once we finally arrived. Finding our hostel was difficult, as we had no map and Eugene has several one-way streets; but finally we show up. The area looks just like Berkeley and we quickly get our spot and set up our tent in the backyard. The people are all very nice, and there's a birthday party going on, but we're exhausted and opt instead for some cribbage playing in our tent before passing out for the night.

Saturday

We wake up early and pack up, looking forward to grabbing breakfast and heading to our race. Unfortunately the "breakfast" they said they provided was to make your own pancakes, which we did not have time for. We stopped quickly at the first bakery we saw, scarfing down a scone and muffin before hurriedly driving out of the city. We got there just in time, so we thought, and rushed to register, only to find out that you can jump in on any wave of racers, and we didn't have to run around like headless chickens to get there by 10. woops!

First thing we noticed was the obvious lack of mud anywhere. We were both very concerned. Where was the mud they promised us?!? We lined up and then we were off! I wish that I had trained or such (or maybe not forgotten my inhaler), for while Justin had no problem running, I was struggling for breath by the time we reached the first obstacle, tires. I face planted in the dirt. I jumped up quickly, focusing on the fact that I got muddy before anyone else in our wave. We faced a rope ladder triangle and monkey bars over a giant pool of freezing water (I, unfortunately, can personally vouch for the temperature). Then we saw it!! a whole trench of mud! We had to crawl through, under the barbed wire, then on to more running and obstacles. I nearly froze in fear on top of a climbing wall, and would likely have stayed there if Justin hadn't coached me over the top. The craziest part was the completely dark tunnel that they were pumping full with smoke and eardrum-busting music, and which we had to crawl along and slosh through mud to get to the other side. A few more obstacles (more mud, and even a fire to leap over) and we were done!

We had a water fight and then washed off with the freezing hose water, changed, and set off back south

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Photos

Fire leap
Justin be nimble...