Dirty Girls

Today I ran the “Dirty Girl 5k Mud Run” with a bunch of good friends.  Dirty Girl is a 5k mud run that is just for women.  I loved it because it is not a race, although I never do these to be “the winner.  That is not my goal.  I do it to prove to myself that I can.  In this particular race, we were not even timed.  The other three I have done were all timed runs.  This particular race was an obstacle course that challenged all of the participants to do their best and to push ourselves a little harder than we might otherwise do.  Dirty Girls are held around the country and they donate a percentage of the money they raise to  Bright Pink, a national non-profit organization that focuses on the prevention and early detection of breast and ovarian cancers.  You can check out their website for some great tips.  You can also subscribe to their monthly alerts that will remind you once a month to check your breasts, (text PINK to 59227).

For some of us, this was not our first mud run so we had some idea of what was ahead.  For a few of my friends, this was their first and they were a bit apprehensive.  It had some really fun obstacles, with pretty clever names, such as PMS, (Pretty Muddy Stuff), H2OMG and Utopian Tubes so we could not help but laugh our way through it!  Although I found it to be the easiest of all of our races, it was also the muddiest.  It was raining as we raced which just added to the muddy fun!   We were totally supportive of one another.  We encouraged and cheered each other on and gave each other boosts and pushes to make sure we all could make it over the tough obstacles.  We waited for each other so that we could all cross the finish line together.  I am so proud of all of us, especially the “first timers.”

I would love to get in another mud run before the year is over.  I heard a lot of people talking about how many races like this are out there right now.  I was thinking about it and wondered if it is part of the reason I love doing them so much.  I like the idea that part of the money raised for all of these races goes towards a charity of some kind.  With finances very tight in our family right now, I am unable to donate to all of the solicitors that call or send mailings to me all of the time.  Of course, I would love to be able to help everyone, it is just not financially possible.  I think that I like the idea, of doing these runs because I am doing something for myself, and having fun, all while being able to help others at the same time.

Tagged: 5k, Breast Cancer awareness, Bright Pink, Dirty Girl, Dirty Girl Mud Run, H2OMG, Pretty Muddy Stuff