Greenville Mud Run 2012 video

I’ve had a lot of people shake their heads at me. A shoe salesman actually said after looking at my battered body, “Maybe if you get some new shoes, you won’t fall down as much.” I’ve had a ton of people simply ask, “Why?”

Well, I wrote about it in Getting Naked. That mostly tells the story. But’s its more than that.

These races I’ve started doing are more than just a way to push myself to limits I didn’t think I could reach. Whether it is a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon, a trail, or some crazy adventure race I’m doing, it’s all become a great way to hang out with people I really enjoy being around. They are people who want to see me succeed as badly as I want to succeed. What’s more, I want to see those people meet their goals, too. We’ll never win. We’ll never make money doing it. We’ll never be pros. But that’s not the point.

Last Thursday, I got to play cards with nine really good people that I enjoy spending time with. On Friday, we grilled meat and sat around a fire pit. Saturday night, we went out for tapas and drinks. We might not have done any of that if it weren’t for the 45 minutes of exhaustion, pain, and fun of the Mud Run on Saturday morning. Because of that silliness, we had three more days of silliness that made up a perfect weekend. Six days later, I still look like I’ve been in a fight, but it was worth it in every way.

One of the barbed wire bogs

The simple fact is this: there is no price you can put on having good friends who share your goals. There is no price you can put on enduring a big weekend like that and actually feeling good and accomplished when it’s over. In the video below, you see two very in shape guys and two not-so-in-shape guys playing in the mud, breathing hard, getting cut up, and generally doing everything 35-45 year-old bodies shouldn’t. Why? Well, it’s fun to act like a kid. And it’s a damed good excuse to hang out with good people.

We already have another big weekend planned at the end of the summer in Tahoe. And there’s something else special coming on the horizon that could turn into a very big event if early interest is any indication. For now though, I have to go back to letting my wounds heal.

Right after the 10k in the morning, of course.

You can find the full HD version (not available for mobile devices due to copyright problems with some 80s band), right here.