MudRunFun Magazine Sept. 2013 | Page 22

There are only a handful of night races in the There are many races that I choose to run on OCR world at this moment, and many seem my own, pushing myself to my own personal to be geared more toward the elite athlete, limits in hopes of a competitive and noteworthy requiring an arsenal of accoutrements such as finish. I enjoy running solo at times, as I am headlamps, ruck sacks, and an assortment of able to truly put my training to the test while other random items to aid in sustaining stamina also providing myself an honest gauge of how as well as items to keep a racer from losing I am improving in my own personal journey. themselves in the dark of night. These night I strive, as many runners do, for improved challenges promise an intense challenge which performance with each race, a personal best, will provide the participant with a well earned and (fingers crossed!) a coveted spot in the top sense of pride when completed. Although the percentage of finishers. Runners seem to be appeal of these races is great for the seasoned wired with a desire to improve, if only by the obstacle racer, Mud Endeavor recently decided smallest margin, with each competitive race. It to take a more lighthearted approach to the is a personal test that can make us so incredibly night race in an effort to attract not only the trained athlete, but also the beginner taking 19 proud of our own individual progress, but it also has the ability to greatly disappoint should we not achieve the results we desire. Despite this, their first tentative steps I do find it nice to step back once in a while, into the mud. forego the competition, and simply race for the