Flemington School’s mud run fundraiser goes ahead as organisers make their own amid dry weather

Two weeks before the Flemington School mud run, organisers toyed with the idea of cancelling it.

Not because they wanted to but because it was looking like there just was not enough mud with a continuous spell of dry weather.

Yet as Sunday rolled around, Lake Station, where the event is held, sacrificed water from their stock dams to dampen and muddy the tracks, holes, obstacles and water slides for the hordes of enthusiasts.

Flemington School fundraising committee chairwoman Abby Taylor said the lack of rain to produce mud made the lead-up to the event “stressful”.

“We have never had this problem with lack of water before, so the lead-up was a little bit frantic, and we did contemplate cancelling a few weeks out because it was so dry.”

Despite this, she said the event attracted over 700 participants of all ages taking part in “muddy fun”.

Spiderman participants try to keep balance through the muddy challenge. Photo / Lester Oliver.

“There was a lot of pumps running on the day, getting water from the main dam to the different muddy spots.”

Taylor said ticket holders were able to challenge themselves with a 2.5km, 5km, and 10km courses that left them covered in sticky mud.

“We thought we would have a lot more injuries because the ground is so hard, so we were on tenterhooks about twisted ankles.

“We have plenty of diggers on site, digging holes to make mud pyramids, piles and ditches.

“The idea is to get them as muddy as possible, this year, the mud was really, really sticky because...it was the bottom of the dam mud, really gluggy.

Participants fought their way through the "gluggy" mud.

Taylor attributed the success of the event, which has been held for more than a decade, to the fact that it was “grass roots Kiwi fun” that could be enjoyed by all ages.

“There is a lot of people out there that like getting muddy - it’s the inclusiveness and something people can do as a family or a group...you kind of revert back to childhood and play in the muddy puddles.”

Eager runners took to the muddy course in costume.

The run, which also has an auction and the Rural Air Work lolly scramble, is the biggest fundraiser for the school and has only been cancelled once because of Covid.

Taylor said the money raised this year would go towards employing teacher aides, help with camp costs, Year 8 leavers jerseys, classroom resources and transport.

She estimated they would make well over $30,000, including the auctions and raffles.

Slightly lower numbers than last year meant they couldn’t quite top the previous $40,000 effort, she said.

For any future participants wanting to take part next year, Taylor suggested wearing a wetsuit to navigate the course.

“Wetsuits are a game changer - it’s tight, mud doesn’t go where it shouldn’t go, and you have that bit of extra cushion.”

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.