Overall
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Course
Post-race
Submitted by iKristin
December 19, 2013
Review
Let me start by saying I’ve done this race since the very first year it began, and it goes without saying, there’s a reason why I come back time and time again.
Packet Pickup: Always been hassle free. The t-shirts are never unisex which is so nice for a change. Tank top for the ladies, and a t-shirt for the men. Usually there’s some sort of store discount at Road Runner which is always nice for last minute necessities.
Pre Race: A great beer garden, great bands, great food trucks. Nothing is really left out.
Race Course: It changes every year, which is nice to have a mix up, but still have the familiarity that you expect. Every year, there’s more mud, more obstacles, and overall more fun.
Post Race: Everyone gets a medal now, yay! Same as pre-race. Just amazing. Nacho’s, pizza, Tommy’s, Dippin Dots, kettle corn, whatever you want, they’ve got it.
What sets this race apart from the mud runs I’ve done:
1. It’s geared for all fitness levels. Old and young, fat and skinny. That’s probably the best thing about this race. My team grows in size every year because of word of mouth, and the draw that even the slowest person will finish this race. You can race to be competitive, but you can also race to just have fun. And who doesn’t want to sling mud at a co-workers face? I’m all about that!
2. The level of customer focus is the best ANY race I’ve done, and I’ve done more than my bank account would like to admit. Firstly, they always ask for feedback and actually listen. This is why every year it just gets better. I keep thinking, okay, this can’t get any muddier, or fun, and it does! They’re heavily active on Facebook and get back to questions there quickly, as well as email. I don’t know how “Grubby” does it, but he’s always been so wonderful in helping me. It seems like every year I manage to mess up something (in my defense it gets hard to manage 20+ people on a team), and he’s always quick to fix it for me. As for Paul Rudman, I wish he could organize every race I’ve done. The folks over at Camp Pendleton need to take note and get their sh*t together.
Special Note:
1. If you purchase a discount code off Groupon/Living Social/CBS Deals, or any similar site, make sure to read the fine print. It’s 99% of the time for a later start time. If you want to be on a team that has an early start time, this promotion is not for you. I’ve been guilty of not reading the fine print, so just be aware of what you are buying so that you aren’t confused when you start at 10, but part of your team has a start time at noon.
2. Wear costumes. The people who come out to these events are some of the greatest personalities I’ve ever seen. It’s like an early Halloween from funny, scary, hoochie, to just plain strange, and I love all of it.
3. Dirty Dodgeball is an absolute blast to watch. Definitely worth staying for.
Does it lack anything? Not really… except maybe some hard alcohol. I would LOVE a margarita post-race… just sayin… HINT HINT HINT.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by sckornkid
May 22, 2013
Review
Things got off to a rocky start for my team since half of our bibs never arrived after paying to have them mailed. The communication from the organizer was good but I ended up having to drive out to one of the packet pick up locations the day before to pick up the missing bibs, we had an early wave and did not want to risk long lines at the venue, a trip that took about 3 hours to complete on a friday afternoon. I was not offered a refund for the mailing or anything else as “we’re sorry”, I guess I didn’t complain enough.
The course was nice, nothing too difficult and very enjoyable except for the foam pit. It was our first experience with foam and we did not like it. I was unable to see for about 5mins after exiting because my eyes were burning so bad. Maybe next I’ll just close my eyes and run over anyone that might be lost inside. The slide was very fun and overall we had a great time. I would give a B+ if I could and an A if all our packets had arrived together.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by ctljason
April 5, 2012
Review
The Irvine Lake Mud Run provides a great course that is fun, but still provides some good challenges. It also remains one of the few mud runs that still provides multiple mud pits through out the entire course. That being said. The entire rest of the event left much to be desired.
If you were unable to make an extra trip Thursday or Friday for packet pick up you had to pay an extra $10 to get it day of race. By 12:30 the only t shirts left were en’s XXL. Packet pick up was unorganized and individual race bibs were mixed in with teams.
There was no communication from the starting annuncer that the start waves were an hour behind schedule. When you finally did start the race was great until you came upon the water slide obstacle, because of safety reasons, which are important, there was a 12 minute back up. Not exactly ideal for a timed event. However, where you think there should be safety personnel,was the quarter mile of clay mud where I stopped to help three people get unstuck. The only warnings there were was a husband and wife sitting in lawn chairs, drinking beer, telling people it only gets worse up ahead.
After the race and quick rinse off from the fire hose, it was near impossible to try and get some food or a beer. By 3:00, three food stands we tried were out of at least half if not all of their food. Upon trying to get a beer all but one offering was tapped.
Event photgraphy was (not) provided by brightroom. Out of 20,000+, good luck finding one of yourself if you weren’t apart of only a hand full of teams. I was actually asked to move out of the way so the photographer could take a picture of a group of cute girls who finished behind me. I had to stand off to the side so my friend could take a picture of me at the finish with his cell phone.
I’d always heard great things about this race, but was left unimpressed and wanting. The only offering from the race organizers I saw to anyone was “you should have signed up for an earlier wave” and “suggest another photographer”.
I loved the course, I just wish the rest of the experience could have matched.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by Kc Brown
February 29, 2012
Review
If you like one mud pit at the end of this race with rocks in it this is the race for you.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by tif.ortega
February 8, 2012
Review
The race itself was awesome and a great experience, however, the pre and post race did not really offer much or a reason to stick around.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by Jeff Nguyen
January 28, 2012
Review
Irvine mud run was the second one I have done. The first one was at Camp Pendelton near San Diego. So that gives you a frame of reference for my experience.
Lets start with the pre-race. I ran an early race (9am) which was definitely a good idea in terms of heat as well as parking. While there was quite a bit of parking the road leading down to the race area is actually quite long. There was a lot of volunteers directing traffic into the mulple large dirt parking lots. Lets just say when I left the 1-2 mile drive down to the parking lots was fully backed up. Word of advice… TRY TO GET THERE EARLY!!!
The sign in was painless I already had my bib so I was good, plenty of safety pins and lots of bathrooms. I ran with a group so we staged by the start line.
Next…the course. After running the Camp Pendleton race this course was definitely easier. So you start out turn a corner and you are gonna get your feet wet right off the bat running through multiple pools of water about calf deep.
You will see the usual obstacles, tires, hay bales, low walls and water pits. What I experience here was worth the price of admission. Approaching a rather steep hill I got to the top and what was waiting for me was a 100 yard sheet of plastic with water running down it and a guy that said…go for it dive head first. I haven’t been on a slip and slide since I was a kid…this thing was awesome!! Don’t go slow…just run and dive!! You fly down this thing so fast…just time it so that to turn and put your feet forward and you can transition right to the run.
Plenty of water pits that you can just launch into and not break stride…dig through them and you can fly though pretty quick. This course has the usual, crawl through tubes (watch your knees) and a large water pit at the end that you pretty much have to wade through.
Over all I enjoyed the race, its a little over 5k more on the end of 3.4 miles. If you run as a group you have to make sure you all cross as a group…and there are waiting areas before you cross.
Post race was good, lots of vendors with plenty of swag, all the free bananas and orange slices you care to eat. Bonus is there is a beer garden after the race…I didn’t visit because I don’t drink but I know the rest of my team was there.
Clearly you want to take a shower…and there is a big shower area…cavieat though your gonna be waiting. If you don’t like to wait…visit the guy with the fire hose that is ready to hose you and your buddies down…good enough till I got home.
Overall I gave the race a B (I’d do B+ if I could) because I wasn’t overly wowed, but its pretty close since it had the giant slip-and-slide.
Overall
Pre-race
Course
Post-race
Submitted by Jeff Nguyen
January 28, 2012
Review
Irvine mud run was the second one I have done. The first one was at Camp Pendelton near San Diego. So that gives you a frame of reference for my experience.
Lets start with the pre-race. I ran an early race (9am) which was definitely a good idea in terms of heat as well as parking. While there was quite a bit of parking the road leading down to the race area is actually quite long. There was a lot of volunteers directing traffic into the mulple large dirt parking lots. Lets just say when I left the 1-2 mile drive down to the parking lots was fully backed up. Word of advice… TRY TO GET THERE EARLY!!!
The sign in was painless I already had my bib so I was good, plenty of safety pins and lots of bathrooms. I ran with a group so we staged by the start line.
Next…the course. After running the Camp Pendleton race this course was definitely easier. So you start out turn a corner and you are gonna get your feet wet right off the bat running through multiple pools of water about calf deep.
You will see the usual obstacles, tires, hay bales, low walls and water pits. What I experience here was worth the price of admission. Approaching a rather steep hill I got to the top and what was waiting for me was a 100 yard sheet of plastic with water running down it and a guy that said…go for it dive head first. I haven’t been on a slip and slide since I was a kid…this thing was awesome!! Don’t go slow…just run and dive!! You fly down this thing so fast…just time it so that to turn and put your feet forward and you can transition right to the run.
Plenty of water pits that you can just launch into and not break stride…dig through them and you can fly though pretty quick. This course has the usual, crawl through tubes (watch your knees) and a large water pit at the end that you pretty much have to wade through.
Over all I enjoyed the race, its a little over 5k more on the end of 3.4 miles. If you run as a group you have to make sure you all cross as a group…and there are waiting areas before you cross.
Post race was good, lots of vendors with plenty of swag, all the free bananas and orange slices you care to eat. Bonus is there is a beer garden after the race…I didn’t visit because I don’t drink but I know the rest of my team was there.
Clearly you want to take a shower…and there is a big shower area…cavieat though your gonna be waiting. If you don’t like to wait…visit the guy with the fire hose that is ready to hose you and your buddies down…good enough till I got home.
Overall I gave the race a B (I’d do B+ if I could) because I wasn’t overly wowed, but its pretty close since it had the giant slip-and-slide.
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