On Saturday July 18, 2009 I participated as a member of FROC (friendsrunorangecounty.com)in the inaugural Orange County mud run. All would have been well and good if the race wasn't so poorly laid out and unorganized! We literally baked in the sun at the start line and waited for half an hour while the 5K runners finished and the course cleared. Let me start at the beginning...
I was to meet my other teammates (Cynthia, Jessica, and Maya), at 7:30am so that we would have all the waivers signed and turned in for our 10k race which was to start at 9:30am. The parking lot was backed up at my 7:30am arrival but, it flowed nicely and I was parked in about 5 minutes. Check-in went off without a hitch and we got out shirts quickly. Then came the waiting portion...
We all gathered near the start line, bag check area and port-a-potties to wait for our start time. Off go the 8:30 am 5kers. After eating our pre-race snacks and energy bars we checked our bags (no problems there), and headed to the start line to watch the racers come in.
This is where the disorganization really reared it's ugly head! The course was set up so that you have to run down and back out to the parking lot and a round some obsticals before running back through the start line and past the finish line and up a hill for more obsticals. Now mind you people have already run about halfway when they passed the finish line so a lot of unexperienced runners thought they were done and had suffered enough torture... But, there was much more to come. The was complete chaos at the finish line juncture. The organizers where yelling at the runners for being confused and making the race harder than it needed to be. The looks on the people's faces sent a pang of instant pity because you could just tell that they had NO idea what they had gotten themselves into! Luckily for us we were a witness to the chaos so we knew when it came time to race that we would pass the finish twice before actually finishing on our third pass.
At about 9:15am we headed down to the start line so secure a good spot in the front. We had heard stories about bottlenecks and hold ups at certain points along the course. Well, we didn't want any part of that so we got to the front which is usually reserved for the elites. Then we waited... And waited... And waited. Until people started booing and hissing at the organizers. Man were people ever grumpy! Finally, at 10ish we were set free to complete the course at our leisure. Yea right! The course was not easy by any means but, it would have been a lot easier if the race had started on time. It was very hot and most people were already tired from baking in the sun for so long. There were so many people cheating I lost count. If you sign up for a mud run then you sign up to do the course as intended and get dirty. But, these people were going around the barriers instead of over them and around the mud pits etc. Very sad indeed!
Even for all the disorganization and late start it was grueling but fun, however, it was NOT worth the $42 entry fee I paid! It would have been better priced at about $15 -$20. The upside is that my team actually came in 2nd place! Woo Hoo! Unfortunately, they were way behind on posting the results and we got tired of waiting for them, so we left and missed out on our much deserved award and recognition! Oh well there's always next year... NOT! I think I'll stick with the well organized and fun Camp Pendleton Mud Run from now on! I will post photos when I get them. :)
**Update August 4, 2009 - We got our medals, finally, and I was not very impressed. For 2nd, place we got a block of wood with a tiny ribbon tied on it that read "Orange County Mud Run & Eco Fest 2nd place". Woo Woo! Yay for Us!**
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