MUDDY BUDDY CHICAGO

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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.

Face Plant

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!

NIGHT SWIM ACROSS LAKE MENDOTA

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For my birthday this year I thought it would be fun to swim across Mendota at night. I've wanted to swim across the lake for a while, and at a recent aquathlon the sun was going down after the race and the lake seemed very peaceful.



Luckily I was able to talk about 7 friends into joining me for the swim and even better, we had Kruppa and his fishing boat + Kelly and boyfriend in kayaks, and another boat with friends of Katie.



We planned on getting in the water about 8 and thought it would take about 2.5 hours for the 3.5 mile swim from Warner Park Beach to Picnic Point Beach on the other side. We had to have two boat trips of people ferried across so we didn't get started until about 8:30 p.m.





After everyone getting a few glow sticks we were ready. We grouped up for a photo and began swimming.



Kruppa stayed close with his fishing boat and Katie's friends stayed off to the side with their boat. They were cranking loud music, dancing, and taking requests for songs. Ryan made a request for the song night swimming by REM. When we were in the middle of the lake they had a surprise for us. Huge mortar style fireworks that lit up the area.





The farther we got from shore the darker it got and it became harder to see your hand in the water. It was easy to draft off of people who had glow ankle bracelets or wrist bracelets because they lit up under the water. As we swam, the Capitol got closer and much brighter which was a beautiful sight from the dark area of the lake.








Kelly lead in the Kayak and we would swim for a while then regroup and repeat. The water was super warm, I would guess at least 80.







We got to the other side by about 11:00 p.m. and Katie's friends launched a couple of beers to celebrate the crossing. The swim was perfect.

July Aquathlon 2010

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Place-Warner Park Beach Madison, WI
Weather-Beautiful
Racers-About 100
#of Chicken Wings eaten during race-5

One Aquathlon per summer includes a time bonus for eating Quaker Steak Wings after the swim and before the run. Last summer I got beat by a few guys who ate the wings even though I finished ahead of them so this race I decided to eat some wings and see what happens.

KELLY SERVING UP THE WINGS

The swim was a little rough in the beginning. This race continues to attract fast swimmers and there were definately a few UW swimmers attending. Since it's a mass start, the first 100 yds or so get a little bumpy. This just adds to the fun though. My friend Rob was on my left and Cindi and Mark in front of me. I always try to line up near some fast people rather than try to find them in the mass after the start. I accidently bumped Rob while running into the water and he started grabbing my arm and pulling and pushing me. Once we started swimming, there was some more bumping from both sides, but it generally strung out pretty nice. It did seem that the water was more cloudy than usual making it difficult to see swimmers in front and draft.

The swim went by fine and I came out around 12th or so and not feeling to tired. I was thinking about the wings during the swim. I stripped my wetsuit, put my shoes on and headed to the wing table. The limit is 5 wings with a 30 second time bonus per wing. I started eating the first wing and had to stop to catch my breath because I couldn't hold my breath long enough to swallow. After the first one, it got better and I managed to put down all five. Unfortunately there is no wing transition so the time spent eating is unknown. I did talk with Krupa-the Guru of all things timing about this after the race.


PHOTO OF THE WING STOP AFTER SWIM AND BEFORE THE RUN

Nevertheless, I finished the five and was off on the run. The wings were like a performance enhancing drug, and I felt great the first part of the run. I was clipping people off left and right and felt really strong. Nick came up behind me and he usually is quite faster but because of the wings I was able to hang with him for a while. I saw a UW swimmer ahead of me who hadn't had any wings and I used my wing power to take her down. As I approached the turnaround I could see how far everyone was ahead. I reminded myself that most of these people had not had wings meaning they had to beat me by at least 2:30 to finish ahead.

I ran the hill a little slower than usual to avoid puking up my super food. I made it to the finish straightaway having only been passed by Nick on the run. About 1/4 mile out, I looked back and saw a badger runner gunning for me. I used my wing energy to hold him off by a few seconds.

The best part was seeing the look on other people's faces who finished ahead of me but I ended up beating because of the time bonus. The wings definatley helped me out as I finished 4th overall and last month was 7th. Such a fun race.


ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL AQUATHON

Sign up for the next two Aquathons HERE.

Pardeeville Triathlon 2010

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Weather- 80 and sunny-no wind
Start Time- 8:00 a.m.
Distance- Sprint

My summer so far has consisted of fun runs, bike rides with friends and swimming when it's hot out to cool off. I noticed it was July and I haven't done a tri yet so I decided to do Pardeeville the night before the race.


Swim: The water was quite warm but everyone still wore a wetsuit to swim faster. I raced in the elite heat so we got to go off first at 8:00. My friend Jon was racing and last year I finished one place ahead of him. We are both former swimmers so I hoped to draft off of Jon in the swim. The race started and I got behind the leader (not Jon). After the first turn, he seeemed to be zigzagging and a few others were coming up on our right. I got behind the guy passing us and we rounded the second buoy next to each other. Normally I would save energy and just draft behind someone the whole race but I knew I was going to lose some time on the bike and run so I decided to hammer the last stretch and come out first.

T-1 I lost one spot to someone whilst putting on my shoes but then passed him on the road when he was playing with his shoes on the bike.

Bike-I tried to hang in as best as possible but got passed by several bikers. The nice part was that everyone was spread out and I didn't see any drafting at all. I was happy to get off the bike in about 7th or so.

Run-I knew I was ahead of Jon but also knew he ran 18 flat last year. I got passed at about mile 1 but felt o.k. There was a guy in front of me who looked to be slowing and I caught him and passed him at mile 2. The rest of the run was uneventful and I felt strong at the finish but very hot. Ended up 6th out of about 350.

The race was a lot of fun and I saw tons of friends all happy at the end-many took home plaques for age groups. We stayed until the end and cheered in the last finisher who started crying at the finish. It's impressive to see how many people come out for these races and I love seeing all the smiles on peoples faces at the end.

I wasn't smiling because Jon beat me by one place. I guess next year is my turn again.

Race Day Events June Aquathon 2010

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Weather: About 75 and sunny
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Water: warm with a little chop

About 140 people showed up for this once per month aquathon at Warner Park. I tried to get behind a few fast swimmers at the start to draft. I lost the leaders right after the start but settled in behind a few others. Swimming to the first buoy was a little choppy but not bad-especially if you just follow the bubbles in front of you and don't lift your head up. The first section was also pretty crowded with people bumping each other and fighting for position. After making the first left we started to string out single file and the rest of the swim was uneventful. There was a nice push on the way in with the waves coming from behind. I didn't know how far off the lead I was and got out with about 3 other swimmers-turns out we were about 1 min of the lead.


My transition was fast-and I passed the swimmers I drafted. Headed out onto the run course. Course is mostly flat (one hill about 1/2 mile from finish that hurts a little). Got passed early on the run by UW tri guy and couldn't stay with him. Managed to hold off another UW guy and another runner and maintain my place. Ended up finishing 7th of 140 or so. It was a good and fun way to spend a Thursday night here in Madison. Congrats to all racers.

MADISON MUD RUN

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When's the last time you crawled through a gigantic mud puddle? Up until this past weekend, it had been a while for me too. It's funny how people get older and stop doing the fun things we did as kids, even though they are still fun.




I can remember teaching fifth grade and leaving school one day after a big rain. A girl in my class noticed a huge muddy puddle and quickly ran home to get parental permission to take a flying leap into the puddle. After about three or four dives and slides in the mud she seemed much happier.

I noticed the same level of happiness and smiles on the faces of the runners at the Madison Mud Run at Badger Prairie this past weekend. Participants of all ages were forced to crawl through a mud pit that had been fire hosed for about 10 hours the day before. In addition, the race involved multiple tire obstacles, two five foot wooden wall climbs, and a 53 foot inflatable obstacle course with a ladder and slide.


THE INFLATABLE GETTING TESTED OUT BEFORE THE MUD RUN







The run itself was cross country style-wide start, grass surface, and was about 4.5 miles. I decided to run after helping set the course and borrowed some shoes and shorts to race. We started in a wide field and narrowed onto one of the trails. The multiple obstacles helped take my mind off of running and I couldn't keep the mud pit out of my mind during the race (kept looking forward to it). The mud pit is about 50 yds before the finish. The mud pit was water was really cold but crawling through the mud was a blast. It got a lot muddier as more people finished. Some people were covered from head to toe in mud and a lot of people who tried to stand up early tripped on the flags and went face first into the mud. See pics below. This was a great non-traditional race. Many people raced as teams and there was a huge variety of ages racing. I ended up 10th of 474. If you get the chance, I highly reccomend racing the next one on Halloween.

Monona 20K 2010

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I did not race this as I helped my brother Ryan put on the race. It had record attendance and was a beautiful spring Wisconsin day with temp of about 70. The location for this race can't be beat, large grassy park. Music was provided after the race by Bob Rocks in addition to a bounce house for the kids from Race Day Events LLC and also 7 barrels of complementary Capital Brewery Beverages







Posted by Clayton Griessmeyer Wisconsin Bicycle Accident Lawyer

CRAZY LEGS 2010

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This year's crazy legs had record attendance with 20,000+ runners and walkers. The weather was much better than last year's pouring rain. The race was a blast. From high fiving the UW athletes leading up to the start to observatory hill, to the finish through the gate at Camp Randall- this race is definately unique. Too bad my time was 1:01 slower than last year even without the rain. Ended up 198 out of over 10,000 runners.

Black Earth 10 Mile- 2010

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This was my first race of 2010. The weather here in Madison has been great with highs in the 70's recently. Day of race it had cooled off to about 45 and there was serious gusting winds out of the West.

We met about 10-15 bikers at Fleet Feet Madison http://www.fleetfeetmadison.com/ at 8 a.m. This race and brick workout were a celebration of Fleet Feet's 5th Birthday. Since the entire ride to Black Earth from Fleet Feet is West, we faced a strong wind the whole way. Since I had the 10 mile run coming up (some people were only biking or only doing 2 miles) I decided it would be alright to just sit in on the ride.

We got to the Black Earth Elementary School with plenty of time. Had some water, paid the $5.00 entry and waited inside for until the start. There were about 20 young kids at the start (elementary age) who were all racing the two mile. Some of them ran quite fast.

We all had a massive tail wind for the first five miles though you couldn't tell because it was from behind. I took it easy knowing that after the turnaround it would hurt. Ran the first 5 in 32 mins and hit the turn around with no one to draft. I slowed a bit and got behind a guy around my age. We took turns leading most of the way back and a third guy joined us with about 2.5 to go and lead most of the way. Managed to hang in their with the wind and finish in 66:44. Was surprised with the time because of all the wind. Great start to the race season. Ride back seemed to take about 10 minutes only as we had the wind at our backs. Next up-Crazy legs!