Mud races abound in the Blue Ridge, but Mad Anthony’s is one of the only winter mud run challenges. Sure, diving through mud pit and getting soaked to the skin is easy when the weather is warm, but it takes a true mud warrior to brave freezing temperatures and wintry winds while slip-sliding through muck and ice.
Mad Anthony’s Mud Run is a 4.5-mile historical stomp to test your resolve, intensity, and character. A battle awaits you at Coyner Springs Park in Waynesboro, Va., as runners pay homage to the city’s namesake, General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. Beginning at 9:30 a.m with a wave start, over 500 runners will navigate the new course for 2014, which will include a tire pit, balance beam, wall scale, haystack climb, swamp run, log hop, tunnel crawl, and a mystery challenge. Here is how race director Ben Lancaster describes the course:
“At the tire pit, you will find yourself building confidence running through tires hoping not to get your feet tangled at this first battle. Up next is a balance beam suspended over mud, testing your balance and coordination. Then runners must scale a six-foot wall. The hay bale climb will meet you with force as you try to scale up and over the massive barrier on your way to victory. Then prepare to go over and under the fallen timbers and logs. Watch your step as you trample through swamp terrain that will strike fear into your feet and ankles. Hopefully you survive the fence and river crossings in one piece before making your way to safety through our darkened tunnel. Prepare to get wet! Then, with a mystery obstacle at this stage in your quest for victory, how will you respond with the unknown? Finally, you’ll crawl through a series of muddy, wet tunnels up hill toward the finish.”
As a reward for your battlefield victory, all finishers will be awarded with a custom-made Mad Anthony Mud Run Medal, fashioned like the medal that Congress awarded to General Wayne after his victory at Stony Point on July 15th, 1799.
Earn your stripes at Mad Anthony’s Mud Run on February 22. Find more race info at www.runthevalley.com.
