I wrote the following for both the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer; it appeared in both papers on Tuesday, April 23. It appears here in updated form, with links. A story on Big Muddy participants Dave Case and his son, Owen, appeared in this space yesterday.

Adam Spisak thinks a good way to spend time with your kids is covered in mud.
Last fall, nearly 1,100 parents and their kids agreed.
That’s how many showed up for the inaugural Big Muddy Challenge, an obstacle race with a twist: It’s for families. Adult-oriented obstacle races – the Tough Mudder, Spartan and Rugged Maniac, to name three – have grown in popularity over the last three years. While some have separate kids’ courses, none were open to parent-kid teams, until last September’s Big Muddy Challenge.
Based on the success of that first race, held outside Raleigh, Spisak has turned last year’s hunch into a seven-race mid-Atlantic series in 2014, with two events in the Triangle and one near Charlotte.
The idea for the Big Muddy Challenge came to Spisak, who lives in Raleigh, in 2012. He had just completed an adult obstacle race, the Tough Mudder in South Carolina, and he envisioned someday sharing the experience with his newborn daughter, Margo. Trouble was, he couldn’t find a family-oriented obstacle race.
An obstacle race, with its emphasis on running through mud and water and getting dirty and climbing over and through stuff, seemed such a natural for a parent-kid combo. So he started putting together the Big Muddy Challenge.
“We planned for about 200,” Spisak says of the first event, “though I was secretly hoping for 500.” By race day last September, 1,092 parents and kids had registered.
“It was neat to see whole families competing together,” said Lynn Marotta of Raleigh, who competed with her 7-year-old son, Graye. “And the course was challenging without being too challenging.”
Spisak says the emphasis is on fun, not competition. That shows in the 12 obstacles he has planned for 2014 year’s first Big Muddy Challenge, Saturday in Youngsville. Obstacle No. 3, for instance, is called Chips and Dip. In about 10 inches of mud and water, says Spisak, family teams will need to find a specific combination of colored chips before they can proceed. At MudCasso, Obstacle No. 6, contestants will emerge from a soupy quagmire to draw a team portrait on a whiteboard.
“We’re expecting lots of family photo ops at that one,” says Spisak.
Family is the name of the Big Muddy game for the extended family of Andrea Norman of Huntersville.
“Let’s see,” she said, ticking off the roster for the June 28 Big Muddy Challenge in Weddington. “It’s me, my two sons, my sister her husband and their two kids, and my mom and dad.” Her mom, Sharon Norman, did one of the Spartan adventure races with Norman last year.
Based on participation in the first Big Muddy and early registration for this Saturday’s race (more than 1,200 had preregistered as of Monday — Spisak believes that number should top 1,500 by race time) — family adventure racing appears to strike a chord.
While family competition has been common to many 5K races and fun walks, Cynthia Edwards, professor of psychology at Meredith College in Raleigh, says there’s something different about this type of event.
A 5K, for instance, sends a good message about exercise and healthy living, says Edwards. Throw mud and water and a climbing rope into the mix, and the message expands.
“By watching their parents play, kids learn that life can be joyful,” says Edwards. “Playing teaches kids that parents are people, too. That life is fun.”
Getting muddy and being silly are especially important for budding adolescents about to discover that their parents aren’t perfect, she says. Working as a team, as equals, to accomplish a goal is also good, she adds.
That was one of the things Dave Case appreciated about last year’s race with his then 7-year-old son, Owen. “It was neat helping him through some of the things,” says Case, who lives in Apex. “And it was great to see his sense of accomplishment when we were done.”
There was another benefit for Dad. Two years ago, Case, who is 38, realized he’d become a couch potato. He enrolled in a three-day-a-week boot camp, lost 55 pounds and got turned on by his trainer to obstacle racing. Last year, he completed three Spartans, earning the Trifecta designation; this year he’s signed up for six and is going for a Double Trifecta.
“I can get competitive,” he says, “but all that was out the window with Owen. It was kind of a refreshing feeling, actually.”
Fun over competition isn’t the only difference between the Big Muddy and its adult counterparts. Bolting through live electrical wires (sizzling with up to 10,000 volts) and jumping through flames are signature obstacles for most adult races.
And the Big Muddy?
“No electricity,” says Spisak. “And no fire.”

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The Big Muddy Challenge

Triangle race: Saturday, April 26, waves of racers will be sent out starting at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Location: Hill Ridge Farms, Youngsville.

Cost: $78.01 per parent-child team. Additional charge for additional adults and children.

More info here.

Charlotte-area race: Saturday, June 28, at Hunter Farm in Weddington. Waves of racers will be sent out starting at 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Cost: $63.79 per parent-child team.

More info here.

A portion of proceeds from all Big Muddy Challenges benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters.

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Muddy facts

• Course length: 2-2.5 miles, 12 obstacles
• Average. time to complete last year’s course: 47 minutes
• Minimum age allowed: 6
• Oldest 2013 competitor: 72
• Demographics: 57 percent of kid competitors in 2013 were male, 43 percent female.
• 12 percent of 2013 participants were on a team of 10 or more

The post A Muddy Good Time appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Coast

My friend Jason did the Tough Mudder in Georgia earlier in the month and he did not take it lightly, training for the event by dedicating four months of his life to P90X. Surprisingly, though, not everyone approached the grueling event with the same dedication. “There were people who hadn’t trained at all,” Jason told me. It’s in that spirit of last-minute “What-the-hey” that we draw your attention to Saturday’s Combat Mud Run in Wilmington. The 5K course includes such obstacles as 4′, 6′ and 8′ walls, mud crawls, a mud walk, a swamp run, tire climb, culvert crawl and “fallen trees” (presumably not felled whilst you’re running beneath them) and a “Foot Long Bungee Hall Way Obstacle.”

Logistics: Saturday, April 27, 8 a.m., at the National Guard, 2412 Infantry Road, Wilmington. $65, $260 for a team of four. More info here.

Saturday forecast: Overcast, high of 73.

Piedmont

The bike tour season is kicking in: on tap this weekend, the East Wake Bicycle Tour. Sponsored by the Knightdale Kiwaniz Club, the tour includes 50K, 75K and 100K tours of eastern Wake County. I’ve done a couple of tours in eastern Wake and there’s a lot to recommend riding the area: it’s flat, there’s minimal traffic and bucolic terrain is a nice distraction as it begins to dawn on you that you are woefully ill-prepared for a long tour this early in the season.

Logistics: Saturday, April 27, commencing at 9 a.m. from Knightdale High. $35. More info here,
to register, go here.

Saturday forecast: Overcast, high of 70.

Mountains

In addition to being the start of the bike touring-riding season, it’s also the start of the paddling season. In the mountains, things kick off with Saturday’s French Broad Classique Canoe, Kayak and SUP Race. Saturday’s events include an 18-mile downriver race, a 4-mile stand up paddleboard race and a 50-mile test race. Sunday’s races include a 16-mile downriver race and an 8-mile family friendly fun race.

“Test race,” you ask? Check out the website to find out.

Logistics: Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. For more specifics, check the website here.

Weekend forecast: Overcast with a 50 percent or greater chance for rain.

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Those are our thoughts on the weekend. Find more options at the sources listed below.

Coast

CapeFearCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar for the Cape Fear/Wilmington/southern N.C. coast searchable by date and event name.

Coastal Guide
Comprehensive calendar including nature programs from a variety of costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs. Covers the entire coast.

Crystal Cost Tourism Authority
Comprehensive calendar focusing on the Crystal Coast. Good source for programs offered by N.C. Coastal Federation, Cape Lookout National Park, N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve and other costal conservation and research agencies that offer nature programs.

NCCoast.com
Comprehensive calendar including programs for the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast.

North Carolina Coast Host
Comprehensive calendar for the entire coast that lets you search for events by day, by region, by county, by city or by event (based on key word).

This Week Magazine
Primary focus is the Crystal Coast (North Carolina’s coastal midsection).

Mountains

Asheville Citizen-Times
From the main page, click on “Outdoors,” then WNC Outdoors calendar.

Blue Ridge Outdoors
Searchable calendar lets you extend your reach to events throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast (or you can just limit it to North Carolina). Also lets you search a boatload of categories, ranging from Hiking, Mountain Biking and Climbing to Trail Running, Triathlon and Road Walking.

The Mountain Times
From the main page, click on “Calendars,” then Main Events.

Todd’s Calendar

Piedmont

Charlotte

Charlotte Observer events calendar
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including Nature, Recreation, Recreation & Wellness, Running

Charlotte Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triad

GoTriad.com
Comprehensive calendar includes a Sports & Recreation category.

Piedmont Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Triangle

Triangle.com
Comprehensive calendar searchable by category, including: Birding, Boating, Cycling, Nature, Rec & Wellness, Recreation, Running, Swimming, Tennis, Yoga.

Carolina Parent
Comprehensive calendar concentrating on things the family can do together.

Statewide

Office of Environmental Education
One calendar for the numerous Environmental Education Centers statewide.

North Carolina State Parks
Lets you search for programs at the state’s parks, recreation areas and natural areas by location, by month, by topic. To reach the calendar from the home page, click on “Education,” then “Fun & Free Programs at Parks.”

National Forests in North Carolina
From the home page, click on Carolina Connections for news updates on the state’s four national forests as well as hints on recreational opportunities and a detailed rundown of recreation areas and the amenities at each.

U.S. National Wildlife Refuges
Rundown, by month, of regular activities at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service refuges in North Carolina.

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The post This weekend: Peddlers, paddlers, plodders appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

They go by names such as the Gladiator, Warrior, Rugged Maniac, Spartan and Tough Mudder. They feature obstacles ranging from mud pits covered by barbed wire to a gauntlet of dangling, live electric wires. To pitch themselves they use adjectives like “grueling” and “insane,” boast that the Navy SEALS and British special forces had a hand in their design, and feature promotional videos of paramedics carting bloodied contestants off the field of battle.

They’re the new breed of 5Ks: 3.1-mile races peppered with obstacles that vow, in the words of  the Tough Mudder, “to test all-around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie.”

The races have become enormously popular in the past five years. Ask anyone who’s done one why and they answer pretty much like 41-year-old Craig West of Raleigh: “They’re just fun.”

West was one of 776 fun-seekers at Cary’s WakeMed Soccer Park in May for the Triangle’s inaugural 5K obstacle race, the Gladiator 5K.

For a first-time event, nearly 800 runners isn’t a bad showing. But it’s peanuts compared to some of the more established races around the country that draw 20,000 or more and have to be held over an entire weekend. This weekend’s two-day Warrior Dash in Logan, Ohio, has sold out its 25,000 allotted spots.

The races represent an evolution and marriage of fitness and fun. The multidiscipline events — which typically require crawling, climbing, shinning and swimming in addition to running — reflect a logical outlet for the growing legions of boot camp and CrossFit exercise buffs.

And the races are in the same fitness-for-fun vein as military-style mud runs and “harrier hashes” — a mix of running, orienteering and drinking thought up by bored British military officers in Kuala Lampur in 1938 and revived here in the 1990s as an entertaining break from the tedium of training runs.

Adding to the obstacle 5Ks’ allure: There’s often live music, and alcoholic beverages are sometimes served.

This year, there are 35 Warrior Dashes scheduled, 32 Spartan races, 13 Tough Mudders and a handful of Gladiators. Races in the Carolinas include the Metro Dash June 11 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway; the Second Annual Marine 5k Fun Run, also June 11, in Pinnacle; Carolinas Super Spartan June 25 in Winnsboro, S.C.; and the Warrior Dash the weekend of Aug. 27-28 in Huntersville; the MS Mud Run Sept. 24 in Stem; and the Timberjack Challenge Oct. 1 in Princeton. For more details on these races, go here.

“The darn things have really taken off,” says Butch Robertson of NCRaces of Raleigh, which has been in the race management business since 1978.

A good example of their soaring popularity is provided by the Warrior Dash series. It debuted in Illinois in 2009, there were 10 WDs held in 2010, and this year there are 35.

According to Warrior Dash Broadcaster of Buzz Lauren Shield, it’s not just about the race.

“Participants make a whole day of getting muddy on the course, drinking beer with friends and enjoying live music in the festival area,” says Shield, with WD’s promoter, Chicago-based Red Frog Events.

Of course, some of it is about the race.

“There is a challenge in Warrior Dash for all levels,” she adds. “It appeals to ultra marathoners to people who have never run a race before. Some challenge themselves to get their best race time while others are just looking to complete the obstacles and course.”

Curiously, the races have a wide-spread appeal.

Hurdling a wall of fire, navigating a junk yard (a feature of the Huntersville Warrior Dash) and those dangling live electrical wires (an element of the Georgia Tough Mudder that prompted one contestant to write on Facebook, “This is the only obstacle I can’t do … [my] pacemaker/defibrillator could be damaged”) might seem the domain of “Nitro Circus”-addicted 20somethings hopped up on Red Bull. Yet at Cary’s Gladiator earlier this month, 297 of the 776 runners — 38 percent — were over 35, and 26 were over 50. The field was nearly equally divided between males and females, and there were a number of Gladiators along the lines of Kadesha Roach.

Roach, a self-described “big girl,” got talked into doing the Gladiator in January by her friend Jennifer Hampton. A fitness challenge at their church inspired the two. To a degree.

“We tried to train,” said Roach, 31. “But it didn’t work out.”

Still, after the race, Roach had only one complaint. “I came out here this morning cute!” she said, examining her mud-splattered pink and black outfit.

Regardless of the courses’ obstacles, which could send contestants home blood splattered as well as mud splattered, Warrior Dash’s Shield says there’s one overriding factor for every event.

“Safety is a number one concern of ours, and as far as mud and fire pits go, we do everything to comply with local authorities and always have a medical team on site.”

Because of the unorthodox nature of the 5Ks — and because beer is often a feature — the races tend to be held at venues more accustomed to higher-risk activities: paintball parks and motocross parks, for instance. But that doesn’t necessarily rule out a more staid municipal park as a venue.

For instance, the Gladiator 5K in Cary initially was to have a fire obstacle. But it wasn’t the town of Cary that put the kibosh on the feature, says William Davis, who oversees athletics facilities for the Town of Cary.

“Any event that involves fire would require getting the fire department involved,” says Davis. That would have been up to the promoter to handle, he adds. “I’m guessing they didn’t want to do that.”

If the promoter can get get liability insurance for an event, Davis says the town doesn’t get that involved in an event.

Another key difference between these 5Ks and their obstacle-free brethren: the price of admission. While next weekend’s 2nd Annual Marine 5K Mud Run has fees comparable to a typical 5K — $25 in advance, $35 day of race — most of the obstacle races cost at least twice that. The Carolinas Super Spartan June 25 in Winnsboro costs $95 if you register by June 8, $105 if you procrastinate.

The races are unorthodox, too, because the person who brings up the rear can feel as much the victor as the jackrabbits up front.

Asked what she liked most about the Gladiator 5K, Roach didn’t have to think for long. She crossed the finish with the race’s second-slowest time, but based on the crowd reaction, she might as well have been 27-year-old Benjamin Eades of Zionsville, Ind., who finished with the fastest.

“The highlight,” said Roach, “was people cheering me on like I was a superstar.”

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Watch it

Nothing paints a picture like a bunch of pictures strung together in very fast succession. For a sense of the Warrior Dash experience, check out these pictures strung together in very succession.

For a taste of the Gladiator 5K, you’ll find more strung together photos here.

Photo at top: Runners at the Gladiator 5K scamper over a cargo net.

The post Obstacles are no obstacle for these 5Ks appeared first on GetGoing NC!.