rugged: /ˈrəgid/ having a broken, rocky, or uneven surface.
maniac: /mānē,ak/ a person exhibiting extreme symptoms of wild behavior.
This race is my third time, and probably my favorite time, running the Rugged Maniac. Two years ago, it was warm and sunny. Jumping into the muddy water was a relief-- but I found myself walking wondering, why did I sign up for this again?, often. Last year, it was cold. Very cold. I spent a lot of time bemoaning the cold. Obviously, I had enough fun each year to sign up again for the next.
This year, it was even colder. Jack, Erica, Steve, and I were standing in the corral before the start and the exhales of all the runners were visible-- little white clouds foreshadowing just how bone-cold we were going to be by the time we slid down the giant slide into the muddy water at the finish line. This race is just as much mental as it is physical-- you have to psych yourself up for jumping into the freezing muddy waters, for balancing across the beams that shake, ascending and descending muddy A-frames-- and have fun while doing all of those things. Like so many things in life, it's about your attitude and the people you choose to race with. The maniacs are all so supportive of each other: on a slippery piece of the course while I was carrying a tire and trying (and failing) to stay on my feet while sliding down a ramp, I felt a hand on my elbow, "you're doing great!" a stranger offered, "keep going! I got you." And that kind of support is infectious. At one of the walls, I saw a girl struggling to get enough leverage to lift herself over, "need help?" I asked. She looked down at me, "yeah, would you mind if I pushed up on your shoulder?" "No problem!" I replied. Is it corny of me to say I love the fraternity of events like this? I just want to say: we're all cold! we're all tired! we're all in this together! you rock! The team player in me just loves stuff like that. Speaking of teams, my team was pretty darn awesome. This race was definitely a bucket filler.
Happy Easter, for those of you that celebrate, and have a great weekend!
Love, Madelyn
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