Technically, this isn’t a play date. I was so excited that I found a mud race that our kids could participate in. Unfortunately, it fell right on Mary’s 10th wedding anniversary. That’s fine, I’ll be a family activity review. Then the morning of the race, Z was sick with a fever. So the family outing became a Mom and Aeris day.

Muddy Kids is open to families and kids aged 5-17, so we were right at the minimum line. They also have a version called the Muddy Princess that is women only. Kids must have a parent to register, and a parent must race as well if their runner is under 16 years old.

Obviously, a mud race does fit our playdate review criteria. It’s something my kid has never done before, and it tested her sensory processing as well as motor skills and physical fitness.

I’ve done three mud races prior to this: 5K, 10K, and 12 miles. The longer races really emphasize teamwork with your fellow runners, so I really didn’t worry about whether or not Aeris could do the obstacles along the route. She could always skip one if it was too difficult. The biggest challenge I anticipated would be the uncomfortableness of being dirty.

The OT Part

Participation in physical challenges has its developmental perks for our kids. Running, negotiating obstacles, even dealing with new and uncomfortable conditions activate their sensory systems to process and adapt. With all the sensory information they’re taking in, they are working their:

· Body and spatial awareness – establishing a physical sense of self in relation to objects necessary to interact and maneuver through their environment

· Self-regulation – adjusting their energy (arousal) levels to meet the task at hand, such as slowing down from a run to figure out how to accomplish an obstacle

· Emotional regulation – tolerating less than ideal situations and finding ways to cope with it in the moment (like wet shoes or running when tired), building resilience

· Interoception – getting that heart rate up allows your child to become more aware of what’s going on with their body, from their breathing to how their muscles are feeling

· Motor planning – since each obstacle is different, your child has to figure out what to do, how to do, and execute their movements to complete each one

· Coordination, strength, and balance – self-explanatory, right?

The Parent Part

I had prepped as much as I could, and it definitely paid off. I brought extra water, a ton of towels and full changes of clothes, extra snacks and Gatorade. In the car, I also had a travel First Aid kit, Band-Aids, sunblock, and bug spray.

I dressed her in a long sleeve bathing suit, Nike shorts and keens. It had also rained earlier that morning.

But there are a lot of things you really can’t prepare for: the weather, the terrain, and how to explain how long a race actually is to a little kid. The course was about 2 miles through the woods with about 15 obstacles throughout.

The race started off with excitement. In our time corral at the starting line, the emcee was playing music and leading stretches. We had about 20-25 other families in our start. I’m pretty sure Aeris thought she was going to be the fastest kid ever and get a cool first place medal. Keep in mind this girl has never actually raced a measurable distance.

The first thing I noticed was that she wanted to be the fastest kid right off the start line, forgetting that there were plenty of older kids and parents competing with her. She got tired much faster than she planned. As soon as we got through the first mud pit, she complained that there was grainy mud in her shoes (this is Georgia clay). This complaint lasted the entire race to the point where there was some weird (mostly fake) limping. We also learned a little bit about suction. In a few of the pits, the mud was so thick that she needed help getting her feet unstuck.

It’s not like there’s a clean water spigot to clean yourself after each job obstacle; so sorry kid, you kind of have to just deal with it and move on.

The second thing I noticed was that some obstacles were strangely intimidating. She could get through the knee-deep mud, swinging on ropes, going through tires. But crawling on the grass under a net with no mud at all was apparently a dealbreaker. I had to crawl with her and coach her.

By this point, there had been a few scrapes over some rocky terrain. Nothing serious, but the fact that I didn’t let her stop and clean it up and put a band-aid on was confusing for her. Another instance of “just suck it up.”

As we continued the course and got muddier, the obstacles became slippery and harder to complete. She still kept some enthusiasm and we only really skipped two obstacles that were beyond her strength ability: monkey bars and a giant hay bale pyramid.

There was a lot of handholding, a lot of reassurance, a lot of “You’re so brave, we can do this!”. It was definitely a weird juxtaposition between I-can’t-do-anything-about-that-right-now.

The hardest obstacle (the one she actually had a freak out with) was a two-story climbing net. It was a pyramid, so we climbed up the net and back down. She has no problem doing a climbing wall or climbing a playground structure that high off the ground. But when it’s just the net and mommy, suddenly a fear of heights pops up. We definitely conquered it, but a second adult would’ve made this a bit easier going.

I am glad that I had my crazier, “jump first, think second” kid with me. Z is much more reserved and I think she would have skipped this obstacle and a lot of the other dirtier ones had we done it as a family.

I’ve taken my girls hiking before, but hiking is not running. I also don’t think I’ve seen my kid fully physically exhausted before. I could tell she had a good time. She would ham it up every time there was a race photographer or another family on the route. She’d get a burst of energy and excitement going into each new obstacle, and she was so proud of her finisher medal.

The Verdict: Recommended, but have some support.

I think if this had been a playdate or even a family outing, it would’ve been much more fun throughout. We’ve talked in earlier playdate reviews about positive peer pressure and I think having a second or third kid to share the accomplishment would make it feel more like a fun run. I’m glad that it never occurred to her to quit.

I definitely felt “talked out” afterwards. All of the coaching felt like a challenge in itself. This wouldn’t be a problem if you have older elementary-age kids.

The on-site post-race showers get crowded, so it’s a test in patience and being barefoot. There are also some spots in the racecourse that bottleneck, and some kids aren’t as good about taking turns or being aware of smaller kids in their way. Just a heads up.

There are race photographers around the course, so don’t bring your phone. You’ll get a link with the free photo downloads a day or two after the race. Photo credit to them for the slideshow above.

Definitely go for the VIP parking closer to the race course. Little legs definitely don’t want to hike that extra bit to the parking lot after completing the race.

Check the Muddy Kids website for race dates in your area. There are a ton of other obstacle race variations as well if you think your kid might not like the mud aspect: Inflatable run, Bubble run, Ninja run, Color run, etc.

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Check out our other Playdate Reviews.
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