Feature of the Week: Mike Nelson!

This Week’s Feature of the Week is dedicated to Mike Nelson. He is the founder for The Strawberry Distance Challenge, the Creator and Race Director of MudTitan and MudSlayers and the COO of The Youth Alliance. (Websites are all below)    

A Man with a Vision

Working for Winn Dixie for 21 years, Mike Nelson decided to do something that meant more to him with his life. He became a youth pastor. For 17 years, he has dedicated his life to the youth by becoming a youth pastor and then by becoming the COO of the Youth Alliance, a “non-profit organization that impacts the lives of youth, families and communities across the country,” (Youth Alliance) was one of Mike’s most impactful moments in his life. The Youth Alliance (TYA) brings customized programs across the globe with the purpose of uniting families, schools, agencies to empower and encourage youth. 

For seven years, Mike has been organizing street races. The Strawberry Distance Challenge in Plant City is a 1 mile/5k/8k road race that has been growing every year since. Working with lifelong runner Brue Baerwalde, this race has become a very popular race in Plant City. Looking for bigger challenges in events, he began looking into the Mud Run world. Intrigued by the idea of Obstacle Races, he studied and formed ideas for well over a year.The names of the races, how to construct the obstacles and how to make his races unique to plenty of time and planning.

 

He’s a Natural

Life experiences made the transition from road races to the OCR world go smooth. Building houses made the building of the obstacles easier.The good thing about the obstacles for MudSlayers and the MudTitan, is that participants have a guarantee that they are constructed well! Considering that Mike has been a high school football coach for years helped him understand some of the aspects of the obstacles and mass amount of people running through them

As an old boss used to say, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work,” and forming Mud Runs and OCRs are no different! Mike and his friend Ken Winter do almost all of the buildin and Mike’s wife of 31 years ensures that registration goes smoothly. She also works out all o the details!

 

A Bit about the Races:

                             The goal for The MudTitan and MudSlayers is to stay within the 3-4 mile length with 30 well-diversified obstacles. The main focus is to perfect the brand and their signature obstacles before anything else. Success for MudSlayers and              The MudTitan is to ensure that everyone has a great time with a well-designed course, well-built obstacles and their awesome volunteers! These races are not only fun, but they support an amazing anti-bully program called The Youth Alliance. These races will continue to stand strong in hopes that not only racers and spectators having a good experience but also to keep The Youth Alliance going! Hoping to continue to expand, Mike and his team have six races on the books for 2014!

https://www.facebook.com/AreYouMudcrazy

Go here for discounts to the MUDTITAN and MUDSLAYERS!

For more information on the races and the charity please click these links!

http://www.strawberrydistancechallenge.com/

 http://theyouthalliance.com/

http://www.themudtitan.com/

http://www.mudslayers.com/

Ugly Sweater 5k

This weekend was amazing! As always the Mudrunfun family brought it to the table with first place wins! MUDRUNFUN! I will always be  amazed by the athleticism of these people. First place at Mudtitan, Ken Corigliano completed the race in 27 minutes! I am still injured so I did not run, but it didn’t matter; I still had a blast! After singing the National Anthem I hung around the tent and had conversations with the family.

Let me get to the main event for me this weekend! Hogwild Ugly Sweater 5k! Not only were there people running around in ugly sweaters but there were games, a campfire, free beer and amazing people. There were three stops within the race. One with strawberry margaritas and water (This was were I was volunteering, which was a great choice), one with milk and cookies and the last stop contained  my personal favorite, smores. I am drooling just thinking about the melted chocolate intertwined with the hot marshmallow. Yum!

Included with the race, racers and spectators were able to play games too! Sitting around the fire with giant Jenga to my left and a game of corn hole being played to my right, I was at peace with the environment. As everyone sat by the fire, we all heard the DJ say that it’s game time! The first game “I scream, you scream, I can’t see my whipped cream,” entailed three groups of two, all blindfolded. The person in front had to hold their hands behind their backs and the person in the back used their hands to feed the person in the front whipped cream with a spoon! The next game, “The Gingerbread race,” sounds less complicated than it was. Four teams of two came together. The person in front sat in a chair as the person in back put a gingerbread cookie on their front persons forehead. The person in front, with their hands tied behind their back, then, had to move their heads to get the cookie into their mouth! They had to complete this three times to win! The next game was forty person eggnog flip-cup! I had to join this event! 20 people lined up on each side. Started at one end of each side a person chugged the eggnog and then tried to flip the cup to its opposite side, then the next person does the same thing, all the way to the end of the table!

At the end of it all, we all sat around the fire talking to each other and enjoying each others company. I got to know two people from my mudrun family better at this event and I love them even more! If you get a chance to go to a hogwild event, you don’t want to miss out. The atmosphere at hogwild events cannot be beat. Every hogwild run I have been to has been some of he best experiences I have had!

How I got started

Growing up, I never was that kid playing sports or the kid bringing home soccer trophies all the time. I was just a normal kid, living life and hanging out with my friends. I was the chubby tall girl that had her own group of friends in Elementary school and Middle school. The kid that never wanted to wear a bathing suit in front of anyone. In High school, I didn’t play sports. I stuck to my three best friends and my boyfriend. I wore big baggy jeans with straps on them, t-shirts from Spencers and Hot Topic and mostly kept to myself.

It wasn’t until a friend of mine asked me to run a half-marathon two years ago that I even thought about running. She does marathons and runs for someone that has passed. I decided to give it a go! I started training to get ready for the St Pete Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Long Story short, she came down from New York to run it with me and although I tore my meniscus (My first injury in my life) in mile eight, tears came pouring down as I finished my first half marathon with a pace of 12:30. I was proud of what I have done and decided that putting a 13.1 sticker on my car was an Amazing accomplishment. I had a great time with that race, but I think I will stick to mudruns. 😉

Now, mudruns came about a little differently. I was working for a company that encourages team outings and team building events. One of my supervisors (Who now does announcing at several events) asked me if I would go to a Mud Run. When I heard of what exactly it was, I was a little scared but thought, “What the hell, let’s do it!” I went with one of my employees. My first mud run was Highlander and I walked the entire thing. I was fearless. Jumping, climbing, swimming and loving everything about this event. I enjoyed every second of it. When I came home that afternoon, I decided to look up these mudruns. I found a group of about 15 people called MUDRUNFUN. I was invited by a an funny woman named Rita. She, then, invited me to a race called Savage Race. I was lucky enough to start out with such great races to keep my interest. If you know me, you know that is hard to do. I am in a world that I love and it’s all thanks to the people I have met throughout the process.  I met Damion and Tracy (the mom and dad of MRF), Troy, Joselito and Deater at Savage race and instantly fell in love with them.

Ever since that second race, I have been hooked and if I wasn’t always injured, I would do every single one! I have completed over 50 of them and wouldn’t change it for the world. I am happy that I have found everything that I have found within this past year and hope that the good mud runs will stick around and keep me on my toes & in the mud!

To My MUDRUN family

   There is something about feeling the squishy in between my toes and dirt in my nose that keeps me pushing. The obstacles before me do not stop me if I struggle because there is always someone to push me over that wall.  This past year I have found beauty in people that I have never before seen in my life. The people I have met doing what I love and the love that I feel when they are with me. I can’t help but think that I am lucky to know people that make me happy every time I see them. I have met a wonderful couple that no matter how much they argue, they love each other more, I have met people from different places all over the states, Men and women that cannot be stopped, the realist girl I’ve ever met, a guy that was my best friend and I know no matter what he will be there if I needed him, an amazing designer. I have been on road trips with some of the best people I’ve ever met. These are the important things in life. The fact that I know one day before going to a mudrun, I can still hitch a ride with someone is a great feeling. Knowing people that will help in every aspect whether it be injuries (That’s me) or if someone is in a bad situation at home is almost too good to be true. Whether it be my MUDRUNFUN family, my Karma family or my Cornfed family, I know that I am lucky. I know that no matter what is going on, I can talk to someone and they can be honest and make me feel better. This is just a preview of what my mudrun family has done for me and have done for others within the community. If you can be part of this, be part of it. Do not miss out on the beauty of the people that you meet in your life. I hope that I never lose what I have found.