Skip to main content

A Muddy Saunter

Last Saturday our family participated in "The Dirty Dash".  We had never done anything like this so we really didn't know what to expect.

We drove up to Soldier Hollow where it took place.  On the way, the traffic was a little heavy because the Utah Valley Marathon was taking place so one half of the road was blocked off.  There were a lot of really tired and hot-looking people walking and running down the road as we drove past.

After our 4 participants got their race packets with their T-shirts, they went to the starting line for their starting time of 10:40--when you sign up, you pick the time you start.  We could see a lot of the race course from the observation point which was on a ridge above the start and finish lines.  There were a lot more obstacles than we had realized there would be.  The whole race was a 5K and there were maybe 15 or more obstacles scattered throughout.

Obviously, the main point was to get really dirty.  Immediately after starting there was a big mud pit to get through and there were many more like it.





The very last obstacle was a very deep pit of muddy water which required help to get out of:



There was a Slip 'n Slide in the middle:



And other unique obstacles:


I didn't run the race; I sat on the side by the bleachers with our two youngest.  I have to admit, I was getting pretty tired of being there mostly because I had to listen to the very loud race starter who was doing all kinds of gimmicks to keep the people waiting to start entertained.

I had no idea where my family was on the race course, so after a while, I started asking the people coming up from the finish line when they started.  The first guy I asked said he started more than two hours earlier!  He confessed that they didn't run at all; they just walked.  It was really a social event--not a race.  I started feeling concerned this was going to take another hour! But after a few more minutes my son and daughter showed up.  They had actually run the whole course and finished it in a reasonably amount of time.  After a little longer my husband and older son also showed up.  We took our obligatory pictures:



My husband was the dirtiest of them all--he had gotten submerged at one point when he slipped in the mud.  They took some very cold, quick showers and then we headed home.  It was definitely a unique experience which they enjoyed but aren't looking to do again any time soon.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River.  This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize.  This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night.  It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania.  However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet.  I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Book Review: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a juvenile fiction book about a young girl named Melody with severe cerebral palsy.  Her body doesn't allow her to feed herself, speak, or do much at all.  She's very intelligent with a photographic memory but she can't really communicate.  Finally, in 5th grade, she gets a "Medi-Talker" which is a computer that speaks what she types in.  Finally she has a voice. This book explores what it is like to be severely physically disabled but not mentally disabled. It seems like one of the most frustrating of all scenarios.  She is completely aware of all the cruelty (subtle and otherwise) that her classmates inflict on her because they don't really want to include her in their activities.  One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she realizes that every one of her special ed classmates is kind, where the "normal" ones are not.  Who really has the worse disability? The book was a quick read and fairly enjoyable.  Wha...

Hansen Family Plot in the Provo Cemetery

On Memorial Day this year, our family went to the Provo Cemetery, as we do almost every year. We spent some time at the Hansen Family plot which contains the grave of my 2nd great-grandparents, Peter and Mary Hansen. They both emigrated from Denmark with their spouses to Utah. My grandfather lost his first wife Ane to cholera on the plains outside of St. Joseph, Missouri, along with three of his little boys within a very short time--about one month. It's a sad story but it's also one of admirable resilience. He brought his one surviving son, Jorgen, to Utah. He married his second wife Maren (Anglicized to Mary) some 9 years later in Utah  She had been married before but lost her first husband at an unknown date. I wish I knew more about her but she left very few records, although I could do more research! Peter and Maren had 6 more children together. The youngest two were twins, Enoch and Ephraim. Ephraim is my great-grandfather and is buried in California. He is the father of ...