Do you want to get down and dirty this weekend?

Are we all getting a little bored with the plain old 'fun run' that use to entertain our fitness goals?  It seems so. It's hard not to notice that weekends these days are full of races of torture..mud, fire, ice, water, live electrical wires...eekk...and it's all in the name of FUN!

Just what exactly is  the allure to get down and dirty while pushing your body to the absolute limits?

Perhaps we have just got so much going on in our lives that it is just nice to bare all and connect with the earth.  Lose your worries just for a couple of hours and feel completely exhilarated afterwards.  Seems like a good enough reason to me!

Tough Mudder has self proclaimed itself to be the toughest event on the planet.  It's a 20km hard core obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie.  Each mudder is required to take the tough mudder pledge before competing

 

 

- I understand that the Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge

- I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time

- I do not whine – kids whine

- I help my fellow Mudders complete the course

- I overcome all fears

Enough said.

The Mud Run which is run in Sydney in November is a similar kind of concept but scaled back to 7km of pure mud indulgence.  Oink oink!

 

Then you have The Stampede which like Tough Mudder is an around the country event but in a more manageable 5km or 10km course that will push you to the limit. Inch you way through thick mud, climb cargo nets, speed down a mega slip & slide and dash through live wires charged with 10,000 volts before washing it all down with a beer. To me having the beer would be the hardest part...blah.

 

Or if the mud is a complete turn off, then the organisers of The Colour Run have catered for you. This event has pretty much has TWO SIMPLE rules: 1) White shirts mandatory at the start line. And 2) color plastered EVERYTHING at the finish. Each kilometer of the event is associated with a designated color: yellow, orange, pink, or blue. As the runners/walkers reach the kilometer colour zones, they are blitzed by our volunteers, sponsors, and staff with COLOR. It is like the dirty race for those that don't like getting dirty...sort of.

 

So do any of these inspire you to get out and go running in the morning?  It is a far cry from the fun runs of the 80's but I think it's great, I mean c'mon it is nice to see that we can still get out and have fun without taking everything so seriously!

 

pics via the colour run and tough mudder