Mud Run’s have become a big thing I California with numerous different company’s coming up with their own version. Dirty Girl Mud Run is just one one them and as the name would suggest is for Women only and strongly believes in the cause of finding a cure for breast cancer, donating $250,000 to Bright Pink in 2013 to further this mission. Raising money for a good cause and having fun at the same time? I’m in!

Myself and friend Tram decided to do this event almost last minute as doing it together and meeting at the event for the first time last year we had a blast. We’re both the kind of people that love to workout even if it is just a light 5k on a warm October morning.
We both arrived at around 9:30am with our plan to run the 10:30 wave and what with all of the tent hopping to pick up everything included in our registration we made it just in time. The course was fun with multiple obstacles and where I can run a 5k in under 21 minutes this actually took us 75! We Jogged, we Climbed, we Laughed, we battled our fear of heights and we got very dirty!
Comparing to last year I don’t feel this year was quite as good but given the company I was in I still had a great time. If you’re looking at getting into events such as this then Dirty Girl is a good one to start. The Pleasanton location is every year, typically on the last Saturday of October and registration opens up around April time. If you want to take part register early. The earlier you register the better as prices can go up to $100 per person!
Tips for doing such an event:

– Get a team together and come up with a fun name.
– Arrive around 90 minutes before your wave to prepare, take pictures and chill for a bit.
– Take a spare change of clothes and shoes. Also trash bags to put those dirty clothes in.
– Baby wipes, and lot’s of them! Also a towel and small cloth for use in the ”shower” area (this WILL be freezing cold!)
– Do not crawl on your knee’s through the obstacles. The mud is filled with lot’s of tiny little stones that will leave you cut and bruised.
– Don’t take the event too seriously. Who cares if you’re not the most athletic, the fact that you’re taking part is what matters.

And of curse, if you enjoy this type of event here are a few others you might want to check out:

– Mud Factor
– Kiss Me Dirty
– The Color Run
– Color in Motion
– Roc Race
– Hit and Run
– Spartan Race (also Spartan Beast)
And for those serious Athletes the Obstacle race of all races… Tough Mudder

Happy Running!