IT'S MUD SEASON IN MAINE, AND RUNNERS IN WATERVILLE HAVE DECIDED TO COMPLETELY EMBRACE IT. THE THOMAS COLLEGE DIRTY DOG MUD RUN WILL BE TAKING PLACE THIS MORNING... WHICH IS WHERE WE FIND JACOB MURPHY, HE'S GOT HIS MUD BOOTS ON. JACOB, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS -- UNIQUE -- KIND OF RUN? GOOD MORNING NORAH! IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THE MUD, JOIN IT, RIGHT? WE'LL SEE IF THAT THEORY HOLDS TRUE. YES THE MUD RUN HAPPENING TODAY IS GOING TO BE A 5-K AND THERE ARE SEVERAL POSSIBLE HEATS THAT RUNNERS CAN CHOOSE TO RUN IN. UP EARLY WITH US THIS MORNING IS KERRY SMART WHO HAS BEEN A PART IN ORGANIZING THE RACE, SO KERRY TO START... WHY A MUD RUN? THIS IS OUR EIGHTH ANNUAL DIRTY DOG MUD RUN. IT IS A 5-K OBSTACLE COURSE CHALLENGE OPEN TO COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THOMAS STUDENTS, ALUMNI FACULTY AND STAFF. THE RUN BENEFITS THOMAS COLLEGE STUDENTS THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION. WE ALSO HAVE AN AWARDS CEREMONY HAPPENING AT 11 A- M. WE HAND OUT BONE-SHAPED TROPHIES. THERE ARE PRIZES FOR OVERALL, AGE GROUPS, AND OTHERS FOR MOST MUDDY AND HAVING THE BIGGEST TEAM. BECAUSE IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE RUNNING RIGHT? IT'S ALSO ABOUT HAVING FUN AND THE MONEY RAISED. THAT'S RIGHT. WE ALSO HAVE OVER A DOZEN HEATS FOR PARTICIPANTS TO CHOOSE FROM. THE EARLIER ONES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR AWARDS, BUT IF PEOPLE ARE JUST LOOKING TO JOIN IN THE FUN AND AREN'T CONCERNED ABOUT WINNING ANY AWARDS, THEY CAN JOIN ONE OF THE HEATS HAPPENING LATER IN THE MORNING AS WELL. WE ARE ALSO BRINING BACK OUR LAP MOST PEOPLE
Advertisem*nt
Mainers embrace mud season with annual Dirty Dog Mud Run
More than 600 runners signed up for the Dirty Dog Mud Run put on by Thomas College. Students, faculty, and alumni come year after year, and it has become a big reunion for the school.
If you can’t beat mud season in Maine, you might as well embrace it.More than 600 runners signed up for the Dirty Dog Mud Run put on by Thomas College.Jim Delorie was the one who started the annual program. Now in their eighth year, he says they have just about doubled in size since they first started."We really have learned a lot since then on how to scale up, have more obstacles, get more mud and really make use of our campus," he said.The entire course is five kilometers long and contains fifteen different obstacles. Some of them include steeple chases, hurdles, climbing walls, monkey bars, mud pits and hills.If you aren’t able to complete an obstacle, you have to take a jumping jack penalty.Students, faculty, and alumni come year after year, and it has become a big reunion for the school."Many of our alumni come back because they did it as students, they volunteered or they ran, so they come back every year," Delorie said.The money raised from the event goes towards improving student life on Thomas College’s campus. Their next project is a sand volleyball court."I like supporting the local school here and it's just something fun. It takes the need to be fast and stuff out of it," said Hannah Meneses, a returning runner. Kerry Smart has been helping to set up the event for several years. For her, she loves getting to talk with the people willing to run the course."It's just so fun when they finish and come back and tell their stories. Whether they lost a shoe, whether they fell, what they thought was their favorite obstacle," she said.It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but Delorie says that the racers that do come have a blast."Really people come out here to have a shared experience. They support each other, they cheer each other on. So, they really have the camaraderie of having something interesting that they want to do together,” he said. “They want to try something they've never done before."
WATERVILLE, Maine —
If you can’t beat mud season in Maine, you might as well embrace it.
More than 600 runners signed up for the Dirty Dog Mud Run put on by Thomas College.
Advertisem*nt
Jim Delorie was the one who started the annual program. Now in their eighth year, he says they have just about doubled in size since they first started.
"We really have learned a lot since then on how to scale up, have more obstacles, get more mud and really make use of our campus," he said.
The entire course is five kilometers long and contains fifteen different obstacles. Some of them include steeple chases, hurdles, climbing walls, monkey bars, mud pits and hills.
If you aren’t able to complete an obstacle, you have to take a jumping jack penalty.
Students, faculty, and alumni come year after year, and it has become a big reunion for the school.
"Many of our alumni come back because they did it as students, they volunteered or they ran, so they come back every year," Delorie said.
The money raised from the event goes towards improving student life on Thomas College’s campus. Their next project is a sand volleyball court.
"I like supporting the local school here and it's just something fun. It takes the need to be fast and stuff out of it," said Hannah Meneses, a returning runner.
Kerry Smart has been helping to set up the event for several years. For her, she loves getting to talk with the people willing to run the course.
"It's just so fun when they finish and come back and tell their stories. Whether they lost a shoe, whether they fell, what they thought was their favorite obstacle," she said.
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but Delorie says that the racers that do come have a blast.
"Really people come out here to have a shared experience. They support each other, they cheer each other on. So, they really have the camaraderie of having something interesting that they want to do together,” he said. “They want to try something they've never done before."
