from the desk of stinkpot

the boston muddy buddy race took place this weekend. this race has been a huge event on my calendar. my teammate – andrew – signed us up some time in february. chris and i even cut short our european odyssey to make it back in time for the muddy.

the race sounded incredible on paper. in teams of 2, you bike + run 6 miles through the woods. teams share a single bike; runner and biker switch off about every 1.5 miles. supposedly, the race organizers would ensure that you would finish the race caked in mud.

the muddy buddy certainly did not disappoint. 5.95 miles of the race were grueling and moderately muddy. (it poared today, which played right into the course’s hands.) andrew and i even donated some skin to a crop of big, sharp rocks, thanks to the smooth tires i had installed on my mountain bike for urban cycling.

the last twentieth of a mile, however, was unbelievable. the course finished in a gigantic mud pit, through which you had to crawl – g.i joe military style – headfirst.

if that sounds nasty … that’s because it is. nonetheless, judging from the expressions on everyone’s faces, the mud pit was like some wonderfully filthy adult epiphany: getting really dirty is really fun.

ok, enough words. the photos i’ve posted below should speak volumes. oh and i want to note that most were taken by christina with the SLR – she’s a natural!

a bunch of people had made clever, mildly distasteful shirts for the race:

andrew led the charge on the bike. (he’s on the blue bike in the center, sporting the “liter” on his shirt.) our team name was “liter of cola” – completely lost on me, since i haven’t seen super-troopers. at least half of our team was in on the joke.

(that’s me in the yellow helmet, tackling the mud pit.)

i found that the best way to get under the flags was to simply do the breaststroke. of course, that meant a faceful of mud. i should also mention that the mud was just disgusting – it felt, looked, and tasted, like the earth’s watery stool. bleh.

immediately after the race: (this is, i think, one of the best photos anyone has ever taken of me. also, notice andrew on the left: he’s super-nauseous right there, from a combination of exhausation and inhaling mud.)

filth + exhaustion = love at first sight:

i had no idea how andrew could tell where he was going:

our shoes are done:

i’ve also now got the perfect headshot for my page on the lab website:

syvlia (andrew’s sister) and her good friend liz also ran the race as teammates. both also got dirty (sylvia has her back to the camera, while liz is introducing her back to the sticky, slimy mud):

there were a fantastic number of opportunities for great photos of strangers:

these guys below won the costume competition:

such a fun way to spend a day!

[all the photos live here. i highly recommend checking out the mud pit sub-gallery.]

(ugh, once again, i got no work done today. argh.)

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