The Muddy Buddy

Before the Race!!!! Team Twinkie!!



My mother came out to support us and take photos.


Adel and I came in first in our age group division and second out of all of the women teams in the competition.

It was a 6-7 mile course divided into 5 segments. The two buddies trade off biking and running. I started the race biking and Adel started it running. The bikers went first. I was in the lead pack but there were three bikers in front of me. The mud was sucking at my tires, and I knew there were 4 more legs of the race after this one. I didn't let any of the bikers out of my sight, but didn't fight to be in front. There was time. We got to the first obstacle. I threw the bike down, raced for the rock wall, climbed over it and down the rope ladder. Then took off running. Within minutes I had caught up to and passed all of the lead bikers. I was now in the front, pulling an 8 minute mile. I started passing co-ed teams that had been let out six minutes before the women teams were released.

I got to the next obstacle before Adel had caught up to me on the bike. It was an inflatable slide, 15 to 20 feet tall, with a rope ladder that we had to climb up to get to the top. Other co-ed teams were climbing up the ladder (none of the women teams had caught up yet). I climbed up the rope ladder with them, fighting for a perch on the taut rope. I slid down the slide, lept up and ran over to where the bikes would be dropped off, to grab the bike from Adel. When she came barreling she was screaming, "We have the lead Twinkie. Go!" I grabbed the bike and took off. She had on the first leg passed all of the runners and maintained the lead when she got on the bike.


After that, no other female team advanced past us.
Other obstacles - high balance beams at least 3 feet off the ground; low hanging net we had to crawl under, mud pit we had to crawl through at the end of the race

The last leg was the hardest. People were everywhere, my legs were tired, it was mostly up hill, and I didn't have the endurance to keep powering up the hill. I ran the bike up most of the hill. A man pushed me along on one section, giving me the strength to keep going. Adel and I together pushed the bike up another hill. We were the first all girl team to go through the mud.