BREMEN – On Saturday more than 400 people participated in the Second Annual Mud Run at the Stony Lonesome OHV Park.
The event’s second year brought about changes and improvements that Park Manager Tyler Lindsey says made the event much better.
“We learned a lot from last year’s event,” Lindsey said. “Putting up boundaries, caution tape, you know, letting people know where to go. Making sure people understand the course. It is very important that they know where they’re going and their options.”
For this year, another change Lindsey and his crew made to the race was the 1-mile fun-run. A full mile of the track was for those who wanted to can just enjoy “a lot of the best stuff and the obstacles.” Or, runners could choose to participate in the 5K.
The day was perfect for an outdoor event. The sky was big and blue, and the temperature was hovering around 75 degrees. “I was worried it might be too cool,” Lindsey said. “I was riding around the course this morning at around 4:30 a.m. and it was a bit nippy. But it warmed up for us.”
The runners were sectioned into three waves. The first batch of runners were the serious runners. These were those who wanted to compete for first place and were allowed to go ahead of the rest of the participants, so the runners who wanted to go at a more lackadaisical pace were free to do so. Then the following two waves were the less-serious runners, in it more for the fun. The waves were spaced out in 5-minute intervals.
Families came from all around Alabama for this event. The Harper family drove from Jones Chapel for the race. Parents Rich and Barbara packed up their three kids, Martin, Lucy and Savanna, for the family affair.
“Rich comes up here (to Stony Lonesome) all the time with his four wheeler,” Barbara Harper said. “That’s how we knew about the Mud Run. It’s so fun to be able to bring all the kids to the event, even if she (Savanna, age 2) can’t participate just yet.”
“We have to take advantage of our resources,” Lindsey said. “5Ks are a growing thing. We have mud. Why not a 5K Mud Run?”
