mtpennmudfest2007.jpgRace director, Ron Horn, had it right. In his pre-race announcement he said that 10% of the runners in the Mt Penn Mudfest trail race would love it, 10% would hate it and never want to do it again, and 80% would think of it like prostate surgery – hate it during the event but glad they did it. I landed in the sick-o category of the 10% who loved it.

The Mt Penn Mudfest is a 15K (9.3 mile) running race through the woods of Mt Penn, east of Reading, PA. It’s been rated as the top trail race east of the Mississippi by Runner’s World. IMO, that’s definitely a justified review. While the race itself is just just like any other trail race – up and down mountains on a (mostly) single lane path, it’s got a few twists, such as:

  • A water stop with marshmallow bunnies
  • A “beverage” stop with beer and margaritas. :-D
  • A contest to carry a raw egg over the 9+ mile course without smashing it
  • 4 (count ‘em – 4!) stream crossings where rock hopping is not an option. You get soaked up to your knees
  • An Easter egg hunt along the trail (mostly for the front runners)
  • A downed tree scramble that would rival playing Twister
  • Climbing steep, wet, muddy banks by having the person behind you give you a boost up.
  • Typical PA rocks strewn across the entire length of the trail making it a challenge to finish the course without a twisted ankle

Ok, so maybe it’s a little masochistic. But it’s a lot of fun. And apparently a lot of other people think so too…with runners from 20-25 other states in attendance along with a person from Switzerland.

And it’s definitely a digression from the ho-hum of daily life.