Muddy Princess 5K 2019

We all know how I feel about non-competitive exercise, and running a race absolutely doesn't count as competition to me - I'm more of a team sports kinda girl. However, playing in the mud in a tutu AND a tiara is absolutely the kind of exercise I can get on board with! 

The Muddy Princess tickets were $80 if you were to buy them in the weeks leading up to the event, but if you volunteered, you could "run" for free! (Which is exactly what we did, and I have to say I did enjoy the volunteering bit as well).
Dyana and I are really hoping to get a good size group together to go next year. We had a blast, but it was so fun seeing the large groups of women obstacle-ing together in their matching socks, shirts, and tutus (or my personal favorite costumes - the Handmaids!) If you want to join us next year (and you absolutely 100% should!) here is some stuff to know!

TO BRING WHEN VOLUNTEERING

• A lawn chair to sit in between heats
• An umbrella to keep you cool as you sit in your lawn chair between heats
• Cold water
• More cold water
• Cooler for your cold water
• Snacks (They give you a sandwich, a snack, and water, but the sandwich was a small Subway 4" and slightly soggy from sitting in a cooler and the water was warm)
• A book (or something to keep you occupied between heats)
• Portable phone charger so you can play on your phone between heats but still have a full battery to take pictures with throughout your race!
• SUNSCREEN and a hat or visor, sunglasses

Volunteers get a t-shirt at the beginning, and get 3 free photo downloads from the professional photographers that are stationed around the course. You can also check in your belongings at bag check for free (it is $5 for normal participants). 

TO BRING WHEN PARTICIPATING

• Cheap shoes: they have a tent where you can donate your muddy shoes after the event. You can bring an old pair, or just get a cheap Walmart pair that will still be in good, albeit dirty, condition to donate at the end. I wore my Chacos- not cheap and I did not donate them, but I’m totally fine with them getting muddy. There were people losing their running shoes in the mud, and others running barefoot. I wouldn’t recommend running sans shoes, as the terrain isn’t exactly pleasant for the sole-less
• A plastic grocery bag: after the course there are showers for you to wash off in. You can change or just rinse off. Honestly I don’t think any amount of standing in that dribble they call a shower would have rinsed the mud from my clothing. After ten minutes of "rinsing," I ended up tossing my tutu, but I wish I would have brought a plastic grocery bag to have put my shirt in so I didn’t have to carry it while trying not to get mud over everything else I owned as I picked up my stuff from bag check. I brought extra clothes to change into, but I ended up leaving them in my backpack and driving home in my sports bra and towel. Some people changed into "clean" clothes, but honestly you're still so covered in mud at the end that I don't think it would be worth it.
• Water proof phone case: I have this one, it was covered in mud by the end but I was able to take pictures with my phone in the case throughout the course and my phone stayed dry and clean!
• Draw string bag: Dyana and I set down our water bottles and phones for each obstacle, but next year I'm going to bring a cheap draw string bag.  There were only a couple of obstacles that I wouldn't have worn it in, and I think it would be easier to have something to carry my stuff that I brought with on the course than carrying it in my hands and setting it down at every stop
• Cold water: There were only two water stations set up around the event, and the water was air temperature - which on this 95 degree day meant WARM. You can toss plastic bottles along the course, so I'd recommend packing a few frozen ones that you can discard along the way
• Not super nice clothes: I'm honestly not sure if I will ever get the mud out of my shirt and shorts...When I came home, I showered (for like an hour) and continuously rinsed the mud out of my clothes. They're still stiff with mud....

ABOUT THE COURSE

The Muddy Princess is a 5K obstacle course, which means you’re running (read: walking) 5 kilometers while participating in 18 obstacles along the way. The obstacles were:

1. Mud pit & mud slide
2. Giant hurdles to climb over
3. Sack race
4. Giant mud puddle to wade through
5. Log ladder thing
6. “Jail” which was climbing under a toppled fence in a mud pit sort of situation
7. Water station and balance beams
8. Punching bags
9. Army crawl under a net in mud 
10. Walk across a seesaw
11. Climb up, over, and down a tire wall
12. Crawl/roll under tires
13. Water station and mud pit with beach balls that you wade through using a net to help you
14. Two more mud pits with a hill to climb and mudslide to slide down
15. Walking across chains
16. Use a rope to climb a slanted “wall”
17. Army crawl under another net
18. Wade through another mud pool with floatie things you have to climb on to make it to the finish line

   
   

I would recommend long socks. I didn’t wear any socks, and my legs kept getting scratched in the nature on the trail. Also, there was a huge, steep freaking hill in between obstacles 9 and 10, which Dyana deemed, “Heatstroke Hill,” due to the number of people that needed the medics to come and retrieve them while climbing it. (You find out a lot about what goes on when you volunteer and get to carry a walkie talkie around!) That hill was definitely the most exhausting part of the course, but if you take a break as needed it’s not so bad.

The view from "Heatstroke Hill"

AT THE FINISH

All participants get a medal and a swag bag at the end with goodies from various vendors/donors. There were some food trucks there for you to grab some grub, and a merchandise tent for all of your Muddy Princess gear. A few other vendors were set up as well with information regarding different programs as well as free samples.

Before

After

There are two runs in the Nashville area next year - one north of Nashville and one south of Nashville. I'm not sure which we will do, but we will definitely be doing it again. If the inviting photos above weren't enough to convince you to join us next year, then just take my word for it - we had a BLAST, but the more people we can get, the more fun we will have!