Muddy Buddy competitors describe the race as unlike anything they’ve done before.
The event, which combines mountain biking, trail running, obstacle climbing and mud pit “swimming,” not only tests competitors’ athleticism, but also their teamwork skills.
D.C. residents Tyler Coffey and Andrew Tuttle, competing for the first time, won their age group and placed fourth overall in the Richmond race, with a time of 43:31.
“It went really smoothly and sort of fell into our laps,” Coffey said.
» Teams can be men or women and must be over the age of 14.
» The course is six or seven miles long, divided into five legs. Obstacles separate the legs and can range from a balance beam to a large, inflatable slide.
» Buddies alternate between running on trails and riding a mountain bike, taking turns for each leg of the race. One starts out running, the other biking. After completing the first obstacle, they switch, and continue to leapfrog for the remainder of the race.
» A mud pit greets racers at the end — both teammates must crawl through it to cross the finish line. » For kids, there is a Mini Muddy Buddy race. Visit muddybuddy.com for more information.
The two were prepared for the 7 a.m. race — they had practiced the running and biking switch-offs in Rock Creek Park for several weekends before the race. The two often compete in other running and biking races as well.
Obstacles between the running and biking sections of the seven-mile course vary from race to race. This time, Tuttle and Coffey encountered a balance beam, a giant inflatable slide and a net they had to crawl under. Other parts of the race became obstacles, as well.
“There was a moment in the race when you do a water crossing,” Tuttle said. “It’s a pretty big creek, and when you get in it’s waist level. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Both the running and biking on the seven-mile course were difficult, Tuttle said, because the running was on wilderness trails and the biking was uphill.
Buddies are greeted by a mud pit at the end of the course, which they both must army-crawl through.
“It brings an element of playfulness to the event,” Tuttle said.
Coffey, 25, competed last year with a different partner but found that they didn’t mesh well enough to place strongly.
“Your time is dependent on someone else,” Coffey said. “There’s a dynamic of relying on someone else that is neat.”
While the pair trained and expected to do better than Coffey did last year, they didn’t expect to place so well.
“We were really surprised,” Tuttle said. “There was a guy who had started out when I did and at the end he pulled ahead of me. I thought [another team] was going to beat us, but I got there before his buddy did. It was pretty exciting.”
The event is gaining popularity, Coffey said.
“I’ve been telling people about it,” he said. “It seems like more people this year than last year knew about it.”
In 2008, nine cities participated. This year, eight have hosted the race so far, with five more lined up before the end of the year.
The two plan to compete again, but “it’s hard to get up at 4:30 in the morning,” Tuttle said.
