You mean finishing isn't enough this time?

I got together on Sunday with several of my fellow Mud Run members. We were all talking about the Mud Run, about how excited we were over having signed up for it again. Six of us are going to take the plunge yet again and run it on June 13.

Then, the question came up: "So how fast do you want to run it in?"

Great. I can't get away with just trying to finish the Camp Pendleton Mud Run now. I have to actually set a goal and try to finish under that. Finishing slower than the 1:07:44 I ran it in last year would constitute a failure, and getting between that and 1:07:00 wouldn't really be a great achievement.

Nope, the bar was actually set quite high as four of the fellow participants each said they were going to aim to finish the run in under one hour.

An hour is really fast for me. Running a 10K in under an hour wouldn't be a great challenge, considering I ran one in 52:55. However, running a 10K that includes hills for a good three miles, a river crossing, two five-foot walls, a mud crawl and a steep hill that features mud and water... well, that's going to be a challenge to finish in under 59:59 or better.

If I can shave a couple of minutes off my time from last year, I think I'll be happy. We'll see how I feel when the event gets closer, especially after my half-marathon. My thoughts are consumed with the half marathon for the most part right now.

Of course, we took the time to reminisce a little about it on Sunday. Here are the six of us who signed up for it already.


The quartet with shirts got together for some Sunday morning soccer. The outside pair, sans shirts, will be running it for the third time. Here's how we finished amongst our group, from left to right: fourth, fifth, third, first, sixth, second. Everyone can do better than their time from a year ago for various reasons. I know the two who had run it before hadn't trained very hard leading up to the event so if they train for a longer time, or actually train for it at all, they'll do well. And the rest of us should improve simply because we know what to expect now and can tailor a training plan around that. My youngest brother (the one to my right) doesn't have quality running shoes with traction so if he gets some of those, watch out! My younger brother (also in the black shirt) thinks he can beat the rest of us but he's full of it sometimes! (our other brother isn't into running and isn't pictured by the way)

Also, I am third from the left if you hadn't figured it out.

Anyway, there you go. The lines in the sand have been drawn. They'll all be training for and thinking of the Mud Run while I'm more concerned about the Run Through Redlands 1/2 marathon. But if training is any indication of how things will go, my 1/2 marathon should be excellent preparation for the Mud Run.