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.