Xterra Mud Run

Mud, Here I Come – Photo by Greek Runner

Distance: 10 Kilometers
Date: May 26, 2013

“I use to end up going home at the end of the day with lots of mud after playing along some mountain and cliff terrain near our house in Baguio when I was a kid.  Being in the Xterra mud run somehow connects the carefree kid in me and the passionate runner I’ve grown to become.”

Playing with mud – Photo by Photo-ops

Xterra Mud Run

Read about: Hit the Outdoors with Filinvest

I was among the few who did a test run at the newly expanded trail of Filinvest last month and after a series of events from trail clinics, bike trails and now comes it’s biggest event, Vaseline Men Xterra Mud Run which is a trail run with a lot of obstacles.    The road to the starting line wasn’t easy for me as I was battling cough and colds the whole week and I wasn’t sure that I’d be well by gun start.  Well, I didn’t want to waste a free kit (thanks to Vims of Kulitrunner.wordpress.com).  Somehow I felt a breath of fresh air can help me in my sickly week.  Up early on a Sunday, I had a hard time finding the strap of my watch so instead of leaving Makati at 4:30 am, I was able to leave at 5 am but thankfully, there’s the Skyway and Makati to Alabang was less than 15 minutes.  Finally, the starting line and it’s a GO for an Xterra Mud Run Experience.

Race Course and Elevation

Race starts in Promenade and gives you about 800 meter of road before you get to hit the trail and the first obstacle.  It goes to the race track 2 section of the trail which is relatively flat for the next two kilometers until you reach the second section which is the Twin Trees Area passing through the (1) mud crawl and the (2) log jam.  The race goes party uphill going in the Riverbank Section with the (3) tight rope crossing as the obstacle.  The fourth kilometer goes to a descent in the Freeway portion of the Trail with the (4) net crawl awaiting.  The 5th, 6th and 7th Kilometers is mostly climbs from the Exo section, Three peaks and the clubhouse section.  Midway the 7th kilometer going around the clubhouse is the (5) tire carry obstacles.  After finishing the 8th kilometer in the clubhouse, the race returns to the race track 2 area where the (6) grease crawl awaits.  Before going to the 9th kilometer, there’s a (7) spiral crawl and a (8) wooden crawl before climbing up 20 meters of elevation before descending back for the last kilometer of the race where you get to do a (9) wall climb and one final (10) military crawl before hitting the finish line at Promenade.

The Race

Let’s do a mud 5 – Photo by Xterra Philippines

The 10K runners were released in 4 waves to avoid crowding in the obstacles and I was part of wave C which was to be released at 5:50 am.  This was a no-pressure, all the fun run for me but will be a nice training run too.  Since the first 800 meters is road so I started fast just to take advantage of the road part before hitting the first obstacle, the mud crawl.  The mud was a bit high so ended up having my whole shoes covered in mud and so are my legs and there goes the part of running heavier with the mud build up.

Crawl unlimited – Photo by Photo-ops

I slowed down a bit going to the log jam where you alternative from going above and under the wooden logs.  It was a difficult climb from the obstacle pit because of the soft mud but the part I love here is that runners were helping each others and some people helped me out of the pit.  I was back on the road trying to shake of the accumulated mud going to the next obstacle which is the tight rope.  The rope was a bit shaky when I was there but I was able to cross it as well.

Shaky Tight Rope – Photo by Photo-ops

There’s a portion of road in the next kilometer before shifting to the climbs in the fourth kilometer so I was able to speed up a bit here.  Up next was a net crawl with a much sturdier mud which is a bit more painful since you can feel the stones as you kneel in the mud.  The next kilometers were a bit more relaxed and was able to chat with some runners along the way.  I was actually telling them that they could actually do this weekly as the trails are open to the public.   The race shifts to the area around Palms Country Club and the next obstacle was carry me where you carry a car tire around a circular loop and after which you proceed back to the race track area where the grease crawl awaits.  I crawled fast for the grease crawl as I can feel the small stones hitting my knees as they hit the greased floor.

Ouchie after the Grease Crawl – Photo by Photo-ops

Last 1 and a half kilometers of the race and we were promised 10 obstacles, which means 4 more obstacles to go.  In a race like, you don’t know which you’d dread more, the distance or the obstacles.  The next was crawling inside concrete tubes with a puddle of mud awaiting at the end immediately followed by another crawl this time under a wooden plank.   The race goes through a steep climb and descent before hitting a wall for the wall climb.  One of the toughest obstacle was the wall climb but I’d rather not think of that.  I pulled myself from the ground to the top of the wall and then there was a stair going down.  Glad that’s over.

Climbing the wall – Photo by Photo-ops

One final run and yet another crawl awaits a military crawl, which was a bit lower than the previous mud crawl.  I was having problems with my race belt as it keeps hitting the barriers but I was able to get past it by going lower and then the final run to the finish.

Drum Rolls Please… Here I come. – Photo by Photo-ops

It’s really satisfying finishing a race with 10 obstacles squeezed in a 10 kilometer run.  I guess, I just am glad that I’m back in my feet or rather down on my knees crawling for this one and what else can I say but…

The race did come with a cool camouflage finisher shirt coming from Berghaus

Trail has really been big lately with so many trail events and this one really was really a fun one and was well organized with sufficient water stations with water and Gatorade.  I also like that the obstacle was not congested so everybody got to enjoy (in other words suffer) the obstacles.  Well, it’s back to the road for me as I resume my build up for Adidas KOTR 2013 but wait anybody game for a do-it-yourself mud run at the Filinvest trails?  Well, the trails are always open to the public.