Mud Factor
- Brenda Tollefson
- Jul 9, 2015
- 3 min read
Last summer my son and I had a blast running a Color Run, but at $50 per person it was not cheap. At the end of the school year I asked him if he wanted to run another 5K. I believe in supporting, encouraging, and even pushing your kids, but I don’t believe in forcing them into things. If he didn’t want to do another 5K, I wasn’t going to make him. I was surprised when he responded, “eh, we did that last year. Can we run a marathon instead?”…
Sometimes as a parent we need to know when to pull back on the reigns. 26 miles is a long haul for a 7 year old and he did not want to back down. Negotiations took place and he somehow talked me into signing up for a half marathon AND a mud run this summer. Our half marathon isn’t until September, but our mud run took place last weekend. We had started training as soon as school let out. We set up a plan to run 2-3 times a week, increasing our runs by a ½ mile each week. We’re up to 4.5 miles and the mud run was only 3 so I knew he’d be able to go the distance but I was unprepared for what actually happened. A lot of mud runs don’t allow kids his age to run and the ones that do, have a shorter version for the kids to run; usually only 1 or 2 miles. My son was pretty set on a 3 mile run. Mud Factor is the only one here that offered a 3 mile run with a separate time set aside just for the kids. What’s nice about this one is that I was able to run with him to take pictures, help him through the course, and cheer him on. It only cost $35 for the two of us to run it together. This was much more worthwhile than the color run we did last year.
Most of the parents cheered from the sidelines, but in our family we do things together so I fully intended on running the whole thing side by side. I’m not sure what got into him that day, but he took off like a bullet and never stopped! We started off near the back and finished near the front. Sadly, I have to confess that I had to take a shortcut to catch up to him. My allergies set off an asthma attack and I didn’t come prepared. We had been training in the mornings when pollen counts are lowest, but our run was in the afternoon when they are at their highest. I didn’t realize what a difference the time of day made, but I definitely learned to always come prepared. Also, the interval running involved in obstacle courses can exacerbate asthma symptoms. If you or your child want to try to take on a 5K, this is definitely something to keep in mind. My son’s already looking forward to running it again next year. I’ll have to be sure to bring an inhaler next time.
I thought for sure some of the obstacles would be too hard for him. He certainly struggled, mostly out of fear, but he managed to tackle all but one obstacle without turning back. He’s really scared of heights, so I was surprised that he climbed every one with nothing more than a little encouragement. The only obstacle he couldn’t do was a rope climb where the boards for his feet were a little too far apart. He was one of the smaller kids running it though. We both had a lot of fun and I would totally recommend a Mud Factor race for anyone looking to challenge themselves. I look forward to doing it again next year.
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