Quantico, Va. — It’s after a four-mile race when you get to your picture taken a second time. At that point, runners aren’t so pretty. In fact, they’re such a muddy mess that everyone needs to get hosed down by the fire department.
“The badge of honor for running this race is getting as messy and dirty as you can,” says Mark Goldman, who’s with the Run Amuck race. The race is part of the Marine Corps Marathon event series.
This year, Goldman says more than 2,000 people took part in Saturday’s Run Amuck (a four-miler) and Mini Run Amuck (a two-miler). The event began in 2008, at Quantico Marine Corps base, to promote physical fitness.
Goldman says the runners never know what’s ahead. “Not only [are they] running through mud but going over 21 different obstacles and physical fitness challenges on their way to the finish line” he says.
The entire Abel family, five of them from Manassas, participated in the race. Although the family came out as a treat for Father’s Day, the mom, Tammy Abel had a plan. She says, “I’m going to get muddy and they’re going to do all the laundry.”
You could hear the Marines barking out orders at the final mud pit, “All the way down to your stomachs,” as the runners were trying to crawl across before getting to the finish line.
After finishing that final mud pit, the Abel family talked about the event and especially that last challenge (the pit).
“Cruel, right,?” Tammy Abel says to her husband Carter. “Yeah, they make you crawl in the mud on your face. It’s awful,” he says. Tammy chimes in, “pictures don’t say enough.”
Also here celebrating Father’s Day weekend is Madison Stuckey. She’s with her dad, David Stuckey. They’re from Frederick, Maryland. Madison says, “It’s like a Father’s Day bonding.” He says he will be doing all the Marine Corps runs this year. But this was his first Run Amuck.
At the end of the race, Goldman says runners were at their muddy best. “Everyone comes through the finish line and the Quantico Fire Department is spraying everyone down all day,” he says. “So you get dirty and then you get drenched at the finish line.”
Goldman says this race is about giving people and families a good running experience. “This event is really one that we hope leads people to feel good about running and being active. And eventually maybe, these are future marathoners.”
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