They weren't all wearing the most functional attire but with 5km of mud, slush, swamp and slope, the competitors at the 2013 McDonald's Mud Muster certainly looked the part on a sunny Saturday morning at the Rangitikei Farmstay in the Turakina Valley.
The Sport Wanganui-organised event took in 5km ofriver and lake water hazards, but got really gnarly when the runners reached the rope net crawl up out of the first valley, creating a bit of a bottle neck and some hard to distinguish muddy faces.
Reality was starting to sink in for many, more so than when the event MC was telling the spectators what would be the best vantage points on the roadside of the Tyrone Farm. "Once they go past the dams, say goodbye to your loved ones, and I hope their insurance is paid up."
Farm owner Andrew Stewart had to ease tensions as he told the nearly 350 runners they were on a working farm so would be passing a multitude of likely bemused livestock. "So for all you city slickers out there, don't be scared of them, they'll be scared of you."
Marshall Rachel O'Connor added her own advice. "Watch out for the frogs, I can tell you from experience they are out there. And the eels."
Despite their exhaustion, there was still time for mud larks, as Collegiate's Sophie Collins discovered when she turned around to get a mouth fill of the stuff from her group of school mates at the bottom of a climb.
Sherylee Spencer had been quite cheery carrying her large doll in a front pouch, but as her travel companion soaked up water, the wisdom of trying to win a best dressed prize seemed to be in question. "She's getting heavy actually. It's more like taking a sumo wrestler somewhere," Spencer said.
After the round through the second valley, the competitors split after the tarpaulin waterslide, with around 50 going back around for their second leg of the 10km event, while the one-leg 5km runners made a welcome break for home.
There were multiple medals for each age group category, but a number of competitors distinguished themselves by being the quickest by "gun" time. In the 10km event, the best overall was Isaac Murphy, finishing in 54 minutes 40 seconds to lead the men home, followed nine seconds back by Jordan Reardon, then Craig Wills. For the 10km women, the fastest was Ellie Bowen in one hour, 9.47 minutes, ahead of Sarianna Seivi-korte and Jodi Marino. Amongst the 5km runners, Troy Macdonald completed the course in 30.43 minutes, clear of Jess Simkin then Ethan Breuer. In the female event, the fastest was Melina Holmes in 42.12 minutes, followed by Margaret Tyson and Alison Hanegraaf.
