Mud Hero was part two of a recent trip north to Canada. I figured I was already the country for Xman Race and decided to get as much Canadian racing experience possible in one trip. I researched Mud Hero and knew it would be a course that is designed for all levels of racers and happy to have a second race with such long distance travel involved in a weekend.
The Course:
The course started out with a turn and a very short sprint up a hill, right away I was seeing small wall climbs and leaped over the first two, it was at this point I realized the course was running through a paintball field and what I thought were obstacles were actually parts of the paintball course. I looked around and only a handful of other racers were going over the walls like I did. The first obstacle of the course was a nice water crossing and then after a brief trail sprint the course came to a set of wall obstacles, this obstacle had three versions of the walls ranging from beginners, medium, to more advanced versions. The course had another brief trail run and came to another water crossing and then not far from the water was an “Over and under” obstacle. The course now went into the deeper woods and provided tree protection from the direct hot sun rays which I personally liked. While in the woods, the next obstacle was “Spidey Web” which was a series of stretchy ropes criss-crossed and racers had to climb/work through the obstacle.
The course had another brief trail run and then exited the woods and came to a challenging “Cargo Net Climb” and then after a short distance came the obstacle “Trench and Trudge”, which was a very muddy pit that required racers to really take their time and use a lot of energy to get through. The course then shortly came to “Demolition Derby”, which were several cars that racers had to climb over, I am pretty sure these cars are part of the paintball course and were not brought in by Mud Hero, but it was still fun to get to climb on and over cars! The course went again for a short distance and came to “Kong”, which was a challenging wall climb with the assistance of a rope and then once on the top of the wall, racers traversed across a rope ladder to the other side and then back down and off the Kong obstacle. The course now made its way back in the trees and out of the sun and shortly after came to “Weeble Wobble”, which was a seesaw obstacle that offered if I recall three versions of difficulty. I enjoyed this one more than other seesaw obstacles I have done as it was very solid and not slippery at all. The course continued in the woods and bush trail for what felt like about a mile of trail course and eventually made its way to “Bogs Galore”, which was very deep and thick mud that was brutal to get through and just about every racer looked exhausted and were covered head to toe in mud. The course then came to a few logs that needed to be stepped over and then back on solid dirt, but at this point I had so much mud on me I had to be carrying an additional 10 to 15 pounds! A short distance later was a tire crossing and then the course made its way into the water that was about 4 feet deep and yet another chance to take a full dip in the water and cool my body down.
After a brief trail distance was the next obstacle “Light at tunnels end”, which was a set of tube crawls and as always, being a larger shouldered man, it wasn’t that easy for me (lol). The course then came to the next obstacle that was a hill climb with ropes for assistance, I knew my Icebug Zeal’s would be able to handle the hill climb with no problems, so I split between the two ropes and climbed up without the use of the rope with no problems. The next obstacle was “Punch Drunk Love” which was crossing a pretty wide balance beam while inflatables where trying to knock racers off. The course went on for a very short trail run and came to the next obstacle “Backwards Bullfrog”, which had racers, lie on their backs and pull themselves via a rope net across the wet ground while having water sprayed on their faces and bodies. I enjoyed this as it was another chance to get wet late in the course. The course went up a short distance incline and then came to a “Mud Slide” obstacle; we climbed up to the top of the slide and then got to slide down into the water which was another fun obstacle. The course then came to one last very muddy mud crawl and then came the finish line and the course was completed!
Overall Feelings:
Not all courses are designed to be mega hard and mega challenging and that is good for the OCR sport and its growth. Mud Hero, in my opinion is clearly one of those OCR’s that is targeting families, friends, and first timers and as well is still fun for the more experienced obstacle course racers and they really did a great job making a fun but still challenging course and a killer fun times festival. If you live in Canada, this is a race I would suggest for sure.
The Schwag:
The schwag was a very sexy medal that also is a bottle-cap opener and a nice shirt as well. On site was also several sponsors giving out samples of products which is always nice.
Final Thoughts:
As noted above the Mud Hero course is not the hardest or most challenging course you will find in Canada, but it's still a fun course and the party was good times, I would suggest anyone in Canada do a future Mud Hero event and it's a perfect race/event for you to take someone new to and experience their first obstacle course race.
Overall event rating:
The festival area was good times with good music, the course was both fun and challenging and a course anyone would be able to run and complete. The schwag was top notch. I am rating the event/race a 5 out of 5 stars
Have you tried Mud Hero? Share and Rate Your Own Experience…
I agree, great race, good location and well organized event, this is our third year attending! If you want more hills next year try it in Albion Hills, Ontario!