Muddy Buddy podium finish!

Vial of mud is a nice touch.

That's right kids, your humble buddies of Team Live Badass took 3rd in men's open at the Boulder Muddy Buddy run last Sunday.

Not bad for old dudes.

The victory was bitter sweet though. My race partner, Dave, managed to acutely sprain his ankle a mere 22 hours before the race. For the Muddy Buddy, you have to race as a 2 person team, no singles allowed. Fortunately our friend, fellow racer and training partner, Billy was there when it happened and I managed to convince him to take Dave's place.

We frantically tried to get Bill up to speed and I contacted the race staff via email to get the buddy change pushed through. The deadline for changes is one week prior to race day, but I pled my case all this via one single email from me. It was Saturday night and I didn't figure I'd get a response before go time at 0645 the next morning.

So we devised a devious plan, where Dave would go with us, hobble through registration, and Billy would have to race under Dave's name. The high school girls running registration weren't paying too much attention and we got through easily.

So up to the line it was and Billy and I got off to a good start. This race is a lot more about running and less about the obstacles. It may surprise you, coming from a guy who writes a blog on racing, but I'm not the greatest runner. I can run OK, and for a decent distance, but even though I'm 6'2" tall, I'm not all that fast. Billy on the other hand, has a long stride and I played catch up most of the 4.5 miles the course followed.

Obstacles were few, mostly rope ladders, and often too close together for my liking, leaving long stretches of running. There are a couple interesting balance obstacles where you have to lean on or hug your partner to get through. Also, being at Boulder Reservoir, the course utilized the water quite a bit, including a pretty good stretch of about 75 yards to cut across the lake.

A few groups got way out ahead of us, but we stayed out front pretty well. Often leap frogging the same teams a few times. We attacked the obstacles well and would pass a team, then my slow running would get us passed by them on the straights.

We knew we finished well, but didn't think we did as good as we did. It always surprises me how good we do on these things and afterwards I think about how I could have pushed just a little harder. The current goal is to get my running form up to Billy speed for the Devil Dash in September.

We were surprised when we saw the posted results.

As always, a great time with good friends. Looking forward to the next one and maybe taking that first place finish for once.