Saturday was Terrapin Event's Inaugural My Muddy Valentine 5k mud run/obstacle course race!
Race name: My Muddy Valentine
Registration/price: I paid $44 back in Sept.
Location: Lee Farms in Tualatin, Oregon
Events offered: 5k race with 17 obstacles
Number of runners: 925
Beneficiary: Candlelighters for Children with Cancer
Race name: My Muddy Valentine
Registration/price: I paid $44 back in Sept.
Location: Lee Farms in Tualatin, Oregon
Events offered: 5k race with 17 obstacles
Number of runners: 925
Beneficiary: Candlelighters for Children with Cancer
Whether you are single and ready to mingle or a couple tired of the same old boring dinner and a movie, box of chocolates and card on Valentines Day, we have the perfect solution for you. The inaugural running of the My Muddy Valentine features fun obstacles, lots of mud, beer, brunch, mimosas, music, speed dating and much more! Every registered participant will get an amazingly cool My Muddy Valentine zip-up hoodie ($30 retail) as a special gift for being part of the inaugural race. Register as an individual or as a pair and come be a part of the fun! As usual we are stepping up the game when it comes to fun events and we hope you will join us on February 15th!
Packet pickup: Friday at Foot Traffic from 10am-2pm... Which I couldn't make, because I was working. In Vancouver. It would have been nice if they'd extended it to later, but fortunately for me, my friend who was also running the race had Friday off and picked up both of our packets.
Swag: Registration included a zippered hoodie (cute but the girly cut was just a little short in the arms and a little too wide in the body for me), one Lagunitas beer (Pils, Lagunitas Sucks, or IPA), and brunch (scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes from Madison's Grill [OMG DELICIOUS], and bread with delicious Lee Farms strawberry jam). Also included--access to a changing area, fire pits. Lee Farms also had a country store with coffee drinks, homemade donuts (apple cider or marionberry... YUM), fudge, and country store type items. It wasn't very clear from the website until weeks before the event that certain things would not be included in your registration: showers cost $5 and were limited (and apparently were semi-co-ed... awkward), parking was $5 if you didn't carpool, and mimosas were $5 each.
Parking: Although we were in the 10:30 heat, there wasn't any parking left at Lee Farms, and so we took a shuttle. It wasn't clearly marked that the lot was full, so a lot of people ended up turning around. The overflow parking lot wasn't clearly marked either. At least it wasn't that far away, and the bus was making frequent trips.
Back check: There were tons of volunteers at bag check, and to keep things moving, there were stickers--one to put on your bib, and one for the bag. All of the stuff was kept dry and safe.
The race: It was rainy and felt pretty cold the morning of the race... As my friend Cari and I watched it pour on our way to the race, we began to wonder if this was really a good idea after all. Cari said to me, "I will give you this... my life has definitely been more interesting since I met you." By the time we arrived at Lee Farms, it wasn't much better. We stood shivering waiting for our heat to start... but once we did, we warmed right up! Though the course was only slightly hilly (especially compared to Spartan Race at Washougal MX Park!!!), it was very, very muddy--it was so sticky and deep that you pretty much HAD to walk a lot of the course. And the very first obstacle was a muddy pond up to your thighs!
The next obstacle was an over/under wall, with thick sticky mud at the bottom. The walls were pretty tall, and a lot of people were struggling, but I was determined to do it. I pushed myself up and threw one leg over the top, and then hopped down. The volunteer at that obstacle yelled, "YEAH! THAT'S how it's done!" And I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty badass.
We went through several more obstacles before getting to obstacle 6: the beer chug. I knew it wouldn't sit well in my stomach, but I just had to do it. I mean, I RUN FOR BEER. I told Cari, "BEER MAKES CHAMPIONS!!!" and chugged a plastic cup of Lagunitas Pilsner. The photog at that obstacle got a few shots of us--can't wait to see them!
Obstacle 11, Sisyphus, was one of the most difficult, and I'm really glad Cari and I were working together! You had to push a water filled exercise ball up a hill--and it wasn't easy, especially with the balls from those who had finished were rolling back down the hill at you.
Cari said to me as we're running along, "You have mud everywhere... but your makeup still looks PERFECT! Lipgloss and Spandex INDEED!" hahahaha
Obstacle 13 was a balance beam, where runners were posing, and a photographer was taking pictures. There was a bit of a line, but it gave me time to think of how I wanted to pose. I decided on tree pose, while Cari flexed her guns.
Our favorite obstacle was probably the slip and slide. It wasn't too long or too steep, but it was sure fun! And like many of the other obstacles, there was a photographer to capture the mayhem.
The last obstacle (#17) was a muddy watery pit, and then we were crossing the finish line! While we had kept warm while running, we cooled down pretty quickly, and it started to rain harder.
Post-race: After the race, we headed over to a photo op spot, and asked somebody to take our photo. Then we grabbed our brunches, and beers, and huddled under the Car2Go tent (thanks!), before getting our stuff out of bag check. The changing area was covered, with one heating lamp. My hands were so cold and I was
Overall, it was a really great race. Terrapin Events did a good job, especially for their first year. There was a bit of bottlenecking at a few obstacles, and it would have been nice to know that certain things (mimosas, parking, showers) would cost extra from the time registration went live, but CARI AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN and we can't wait to do this race again next year!!! (Fingers crossed they do hoodies again...and fingers crossed that the fit is a little better next time around!)
Swag: Registration included a zippered hoodie (cute but the girly cut was just a little short in the arms and a little too wide in the body for me), one Lagunitas beer (Pils, Lagunitas Sucks, or IPA), and brunch (scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes from Madison's Grill [OMG DELICIOUS], and bread with delicious Lee Farms strawberry jam). Also included--access to a changing area, fire pits. Lee Farms also had a country store with coffee drinks, homemade donuts (apple cider or marionberry... YUM), fudge, and country store type items. It wasn't very clear from the website until weeks before the event that certain things would not be included in your registration: showers cost $5 and were limited (and apparently were semi-co-ed... awkward), parking was $5 if you didn't carpool, and mimosas were $5 each.
Parking: Although we were in the 10:30 heat, there wasn't any parking left at Lee Farms, and so we took a shuttle. It wasn't clearly marked that the lot was full, so a lot of people ended up turning around. The overflow parking lot wasn't clearly marked either. At least it wasn't that far away, and the bus was making frequent trips.
Back check: There were tons of volunteers at bag check, and to keep things moving, there were stickers--one to put on your bib, and one for the bag. All of the stuff was kept dry and safe.
The race: It was rainy and felt pretty cold the morning of the race... As my friend Cari and I watched it pour on our way to the race, we began to wonder if this was really a good idea after all. Cari said to me, "I will give you this... my life has definitely been more interesting since I met you." By the time we arrived at Lee Farms, it wasn't much better. We stood shivering waiting for our heat to start... but once we did, we warmed right up! Though the course was only slightly hilly (especially compared to Spartan Race at Washougal MX Park!!!), it was very, very muddy--it was so sticky and deep that you pretty much HAD to walk a lot of the course. And the very first obstacle was a muddy pond up to your thighs!
The next obstacle was an over/under wall, with thick sticky mud at the bottom. The walls were pretty tall, and a lot of people were struggling, but I was determined to do it. I pushed myself up and threw one leg over the top, and then hopped down. The volunteer at that obstacle yelled, "YEAH! THAT'S how it's done!" And I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty badass.
We went through several more obstacles before getting to obstacle 6: the beer chug. I knew it wouldn't sit well in my stomach, but I just had to do it. I mean, I RUN FOR BEER. I told Cari, "BEER MAKES CHAMPIONS!!!" and chugged a plastic cup of Lagunitas Pilsner. The photog at that obstacle got a few shots of us--can't wait to see them!
Obstacle 11, Sisyphus, was one of the most difficult, and I'm really glad Cari and I were working together! You had to push a water filled exercise ball up a hill--and it wasn't easy, especially with the balls from those who had finished were rolling back down the hill at you.
Cari said to me as we're running along, "You have mud everywhere... but your makeup still looks PERFECT! Lipgloss and Spandex INDEED!" hahahaha
Obstacle 13 was a balance beam, where runners were posing, and a photographer was taking pictures. There was a bit of a line, but it gave me time to think of how I wanted to pose. I decided on tree pose, while Cari flexed her guns.
Our favorite obstacle was probably the slip and slide. It wasn't too long or too steep, but it was sure fun! And like many of the other obstacles, there was a photographer to capture the mayhem.
The last obstacle (#17) was a muddy watery pit, and then we were crossing the finish line! While we had kept warm while running, we cooled down pretty quickly, and it started to rain harder.
Post-race: After the race, we headed over to a photo op spot, and asked somebody to take our photo. Then we grabbed our brunches, and beers, and huddled under the Car2Go tent (thanks!), before getting our stuff out of bag check. The changing area was covered, with one heating lamp. My hands were so cold and I was
Overall, it was a really great race. Terrapin Events did a good job, especially for their first year. There was a bit of bottlenecking at a few obstacles, and it would have been nice to know that certain things (mimosas, parking, showers) would cost extra from the time registration went live, but CARI AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN and we can't wait to do this race again next year!!! (Fingers crossed they do hoodies again...and fingers crossed that the fit is a little better next time around!)