Pretty Muddy Chicago Recap

***** Pretty Muddy supplied me with free registration in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own!*****


Last weekend I travelled to Chicago with my friend Shannon, and Gigi from Running on Candy. I was so excited to be having a girls' weekend away, and to get muddy! I packed WAY too much, and was sure to capture my Flat Mama before I left. I made those tutus for the four of us (Gigi had a friend meeting us there!) and I couldn't wait to do a mud run in one!

We arrived Friday night, just in time for dinner! We sat next to a crazy guy on the flight in. He was super friendly but he felt the need to tell us that Midway Airport was small and if the plane didn't land properly we could hit a fence. Oh, but don't worry! Only one plane ever did that. Just before Christmas. And crushed a kid. Who was listening to Santa Claus is Coming to Town on the radio. 

Thanks dude. Big help.

We had dinner at a restaurant that was in the parking lot of our hotel but I cannot remember the name! It was Texas Roadhouse, or something like that. Yummy food! We got up early the next day, but not too early, and had breakfast at the hotel. They had a really great spread, and made waffles to order. Yum! Then we all piled into Gigi's rental car and drove the three miles to the farm where the race would be held. It truly was a farm! We were directed rather quickly to where we should park and were on our way to bib pickup almost immediately! 

Bib pickup was also super speedy! My line, for bloggers, was super short, and I was ready to go within minutes. I got a super cute pink tee, and a super cute purple bib, and met back up with my friends. We found Christine, pulled on our tutus, and posed for the obligatory pre race photos! Luckily, Christine brought her fiancé, he took pics and held all of our wedding rings!

with Shannon

Gigi and Christine

the four of us together!

with Gigi

 We decided to line up a bit early, since we had time, and get ready for the fun! The emcee was hysterical and was pumping everyone up. And then it was time to start!

Tutu power! The course ran us through corn fields, so the ground was uneven and soft. I think there was maybe 3-4 obstacles per mile. Walls to climb over (thank you for the cheater bars!) and a blow up slide with mud at the bottom. We all went up together, but Shannon and I landed last, and she whacked me with a nice wad of mud at the bottom. I was picking mud out of my ear all day!
There were mud crawls, and at one point we had to carry heavy logs around a cornfield.
There was an amazing cargo net to climb over, with a photographer underneath taking pics! More walls, with more cheater bars.
Let me stop here to chat about wearing a tutu to a mud run. Tutus get muddy. They get heavy. They fall down. It is a disaster. It was a fun disaster, but in future races, I will wear the tutu in the back, and not so much in the front. When it weighs down between your legs it is awkward!
Some of the walls were in twos or threes and you had to climb over one, under the next, etc. Lots of fun!
We crawled through tubes, and then ran through more cornfields. It was SO much fun!
I noticed that most groups were walking. We ran the whole thing! This is a great mud run for beginners! They are very low key, very high energy, very supportive!
The final obstacle was definitely put there to ensure that you finish muddy! It was a giant mud pit. Gigi and Christine were ahead of us the whole time, but they waited so that we could finish together. Gigi wanted me all the way to the right when we entered the obstacle. I didn't think anything of it at the time....

We definitely got nice and muddy, and when I finished, I got the surprise of my life. My little buddy, from I Run 4 Michael, was at the finish line waiting for me, with his parents and little brother! OMG what a shock. I squealed and scared the crap out of him! Big buddy fail! They held up a sign that said Kim Runs 4 Me, and I was just so excited to see them! We posed for some official finisher photos, although I won't share them here, since he is still so little! I did take a muddy selfie.....

muddy Shannon

muddy Gigi

 They had an area for you to hose off, and we all donated our old shoes. The water seas cold, but the pressure was perfect and we hosed off most of the mud! Then we headed back to the hotel to shower off and have lunch.
Lunch was the Rockhouse Brewery (I think) which was amazing, and then we headed into Chiacgo with Bryce and his family. Poor Gigi had a headache and she stayed behind :(

view from the Skydeck

Bryce

Skydeck

 Afterwards, we all piled back onto the train to meet Gigi for dinner. Friday's has a gluten free menu, so we went there for dinner. Shannon, as well as Bryce's family, are all gluten free. Shannon is new to it, though, and totally fangirled over their gluten free buns!

 Sunday was an easy day by the pool for me and Bryce's family while Shannon get a pedi. Mud runs are dangerous for the toes! We took a cab back to the airport, and were gifted with an amazing driver from Hawaii named Sam. Once he realized we had a great sense of humor, he regaled us with hysterically inappropriate stories about his life in Hawaii and his wives, etc. I have never laughed so hard in my life! We laughed the whole way there!
Dinner was at Harry Caray's in the airport which had a great gluten free menu for Shannon. On our way back, I realized I lost my Fitbit One! Oh no! My phone was syncing with it, though, and we were standing in front of security when I noticed.  Luckily, they had it! Once I got over the shock, I was bummed that I had wasted an easy 1000 steps!
Getting on the plane was bittersweet! I didn't want to leave Chicago, but it was exhausting, so I was glad to be home!

Do you like to travel to races?