Muddy Buddy combines trail biking with running or walking. It’s a team event and everyone must have one partner and each team shares one bike. There are same sex and co-ed categories as well as age groups. This August at the Chicago event, there were about 1400 teams of two. The youngest age allowed is 14 years old, but there is also a mini muddy buddy for little ones.
The event starts with the bikers going first. The bikers ride about 1 mile from the start to an obstacle area. The bikers drop their bikes, complete the first obstacle (climbing wall) and then start running or walking to the next obstacle.
Two minutes after the bikers start, their runner teammates run the first mile. When these runners get to the first obstacle area, they complete the obstacle and then find and pick up the bike dropped by their teammate. They get on the bike and bike the next leg whilst their partner is running or walking. This continues and the biker and runner switch about 3-4 times. Each person bikes and runs, and each person completes about 4 obstacles including a balance beam walk, crawl under nets, climbing wall, and cargo net inflatable. At the end, both partners meet up at the infamous mud pit.
I raced with my brother Ryan. I started out running and by the time I got to the first obstacle, Ryan was already gone and on his first run. Since there are a lot of bikes at each obstacle, it’s a good idea to make your bike stand out with tape, decorations etc. Another helpful technique is to park the bike handlebars facing you unlike most of the other bikes. It’s also smart to shift to the little ring before parking the bike.
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After running the first leg, it felt good to get on the bike. We chose to use a cross bike. Most people ride mountain bikes, but I would recommend the cross. It’s much faster for climbing and riding on wet grass.
Most of the riding in this event is on a fairly narrow grass or gravel farm type road. The course gets very crowded with both runners and bikers on the same route. Runners/walkers generally stay to the right and let bikes pass on the left. The bike legs are a blast because of the corners, hills, terrain, and opportunity to pass a lot of people. Because of the terrain, most of the bikers are only traveling about 5-10 mph aside from a few nice descents. I didn’t see any crashes or collisions and people were helpful moving aside and calling out on your right, on your left etc.
At one point in the race I rode by Ryan who was running off to the right. I got to a huge hill and a lot of bikers were walking. I took it wide to avoid having to get off the bike. I was going pretty slow, but still on the bike when Ryan caught up behind me and gave me a nice push towards the top. After that it was a nice descent to the obstacle. This last obstacle was a cargo net on the side of an inflatable with a climb about 15 feet up the side and then a slide down the inflatable on the other side. I dropped the bike, completed the obstacle and was off on my final run. Ryan rode by about a minute later and said “See you at the mud pit”. He was waiting at the mud pit and we ran through the pit together.
The mud pit is a thing of beauty. About 50 yds long, two feet deep, with several small hills, it gets you really dirty from head to toe.
Participants are encouraged to crawl under the flags and get booed for lifting the flags. We got through pretty quick, although I got a lot of mud in my eyes and everything was foggy for about 30 seconds. They have an eye wash station at the end which comes in handy.
We finished, rinsed off, and went to cheer on the other participants and sample some free 312 in the beer garden. We were pleasantly surprised to find out we got 1st in our age group, and 6th overall out of about 1400 teams.
The Muddy Buddy is a very fun event. Most of the people are there for a fun time and the event is more of a fun ride/run than it is a serious competition. Many people have costumes on and it’s all about having a good time. Part of the fun is looking at all the different bikes and bike accessories that make them stand out. It’s also fun to see all the smiling faces and watch people finishing in the mud pit.
The best part is that Muddy Buddy benefits the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a charity that provides prosthetic limbs for athletes and has already raised over $25 million.
If you have the opportunity to do this bike/run next year, I would highly recommend it, especially if you like to mountain bike or ride on trails. It’s a fun experience, appropriate for bikers of all ages and abilities. My only advice, bring some swim goggles for the mud pit!
