Fort Bragg Spartan Sprint.

While many of my inspiring friends were in Vermont taking on the Beast and the Ultra Beast this weekend, I was in North Carolina taking on the Fort Bragg Spartan Sprint with a very special group that I am extremely happy and honored to be a part of.

Waking up at 5 AM is a ritual most of us OCR (obstacle course race) junkies do on Saturdays. But this Saturday was different. This Saturday, I knew I was about to embark on a special kind of 5.4 mile journey. After parking, I signed a death waiver, like every race weekend. Ok, I have at least 150 burpees if I miss the spear throw and plenty of attempting to “run” uphill with my Florida legs. I do this before every Spartan Race out of Florida.

   It was almost time to run! Adrenaline went through my chest, down to my finger tips and through my legs as I jumped up and down preparing for my burpees. AROO AROO AROO GOOOOOO!!!!  The 8 AM wave starts! One thing I loved about the beginning of this Spartan Race is short distance we had to run before the first obstacle to separate the fast and the not so fast runners. This was a fantastic idea to try to eliminate back ups! Good job Spartan! The course was pretty flat considering it was in North Carolina. The biggest hill was at the sandbag carry but it still wasn’t the normal hell that we all expect from Spartan.

I was happy with my 14th Place Female finish and with STICKING THE SPEAR THROW (seriously, one of the best moments of my life) but this post is not about me or about the race itself. It is about the people I ran with for my second lap. 170+ people strong, we walked two by two behind the color guard and Masked Athlete Team (M.A.T) to the start line hearing people shout OEW! OEW! USA! USA! The people I walked to the start line with are all supporters and/or part of an organization called Operation Enduring Warrior. This team does not only consist of active military and veterans, but also adaptive athletes. Working as a team, the M.A.T helped the adaptive athletes over walls, through mud, under barbed wire and even up a rope as the rest of the team helped each other as well as other Spartan racers through the course. Carrying an American flag high throughout the course, cheers from volunteers (which were great at this race), racers and team
members gave me goosebumps. Part of the team ran ahead to let the M.A.T know what was coming and made sure the team had enough water in their hydration packs. Part of the team stayed at the end of the group making sure everyone stayed together,. As we waited for the rest of the team to catch up to each obstacle, people shouted to ensure everyone on the team had enough food and water and gave what they could out of their packs if needed.

As we were nearing the finish, I heard the DJ let spectators know we were coming to the finish line. I saw everyone waiting and heard everyone cheering us on. This was the first time I have run with OEW and I was wondering how they would get some of the adaptive athletes up the rope climb. The M.A.T climbed the rope and made a harness for the athletes! This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. (yes, I am tearing up as I write this.). It was the end. As the athletes and M.A.T conquered the last obstacle, hugs and tears were shared watching this amazing team that I am lucky enough to be a part of conquering something that some people wouldn’t even think of doing, especially if they are missing a limb. Seeing and hearing so many people shout and jump when the American flag was displayed for everyone on top of the
rope climb obstacle was nothing short of amazing. This goes to show, people are good. People are helpful. People will help if you reach out.
People are inspiring. Don’t ever think you can’t do anything. If you can’t do it yourself, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There is always someone who will help you! All you have to do is take the first step!

Not only is OEW veteran operated, but it is also a non-profit whose mission is to “Honor, Empower and Motivate wounded service members through physical, mental and emotional  rehabilitative cycle modeled for overcoming adversity and hardship through innovation, teamwork and perseverance.”

 I am honored to be a community ambassador for OEW.

Please click HERE to help me reach my goal of $500 for Operation Enduring Warrior.

I Am Back!

Man, it has been a while hasn’t it? I know, I owe you an explaination!

Well here it is:

I started working for an obstacle course race which made me stop promoting other races. It made complete sense at the time to drop everything and persue my passion in working for an obstacle race, but now that I resigned from that position, I am happy to be back here at MUDCRAZY and giving you discounts and prizes and free races if I can!

So first thing is first, no, I did not stop going to races and hanging out with my awesome team in the mud. Second, I have met a ton of amazing people, moved to Orlando and started a new journey! I am now an abassidor for Operation Enduring Warrior.

I have updated a few things on this site also. I made sure I updated the promocodes and I will be adding more!  I will also have codes for other items and not just mudruns! Make sure you check out the Facebook page and Twitter for updates or you can check here for a complete list that will be updated as I receive discounts! I am very happy to not have lost my connections during this break so I can give you want you want. DISCOUNTS!  

I also updated my page to reflect which races I will be at so you can say hello if you want to. I will eventually be doing SELFIE CONTESTS! Another thing I added was my race stats. There are more but these are all I can find. I updated this section just to show you that I am not JUST a promoter. I do these races too. 🙂

What’s in Your Body?

Check out this Nutrition blog I took part in!

MudQuarters

   What’s in Your Body is a series of articles from you, the OCR athlete.

“As an athlete, it’s important to pay just as much attention to your diet as any other aspect of your training.” Alec Blenis is a plant-based Elite OCR Competitor on the Spartan Race Pro team from Georgia.

Alec reminds us to “eat with a purpose.” “Foods high in nutrients, not calories, are what will fuel you for the long haul. Ditch the processed foods and eat foods as close to their original form as possible.” As a plant-based athlete, he recommends nuts, seeds, quinoa, fruit and as many bright colored vegetables as possible.

Alec Blenis

“As for me, I have found that I perform my best when racing/training on a relatively empty stomach, but refueling big time as soon as my workout is over. I’ve trained my body over years of endurance-focused training to rely…

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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/