MudRunFun Magazine Aug. 2013 | Page 14

Family - A term that brings specific ideals to mind; but usually when others think of family, they think of a brother/ sister, mother/father, grandparents, uncles/ aunts, cousins. Generally, we think of family as blood relatives, but in a broader context, we may define family as those who are around us so often that it feels like we are blood relatives because of having such a strong relationship with each other. We feel this way because of familiarity and interactions that cause each of us to view each other in brother/sisterhood. What brings people together in these types of bonds specifically? What is it that makes someone feel that they are in a family. Even people who are blood related don’t always feel that they are “family”. However, what if there was a group, a team, a community that is brought together with a common goal or bond 12 that is so strong that it can only be defined as “family”. Challenges tend to bring people together whether it is on the battlefield or going through a traumatic experience. But attaining closeness with one another doesn’t always have to be challenges of extreme. Sports teams tend to have a closeness more than other types of friendships because they are working or playing toward a common goal and that is to win or attain a championship. When MudRunFun was created, it had very low expectations and only a few people. Likeminded friends who wanted to get together at various mud/obstacle course (OCR) races to have a good time and share time together. To also get discounts for having a little group guaranteed to get together in order to challenge themselves from point A to point B and achieve personal victories and share those victories.