PORT ANGELES — Dozens of colorfully dressed teams and individuals — some sporting bat wings and others witch hats — showed up to get wet, dirty and mucky during the inaugural Run A Muck Challenge & Music Festival at the Extreme Sports Park in west Port Angeles on Saturday.
The event was slated all day at the sports park, 2917 W. Edgewood Drive, culminating in musical performances headlined by Hell’s Belles, a nationally known AC/DC cover band.
Taking the plunge
A team comprising seven employees of Clallam Transit was one of the first to take the plunge at 9 a.m. into the chest-deep water that served as the start of the 3-mile obstacle course.
After his team finished roughly 40 minutes later, Clallam Transit Maintenance Manager Kevin Gallacci said he had a blast running the course — but was also glad to be done.
His favorite part?
“The end,” Gallacci said with a smile, mud still clinging to his chin.
Gallacci, a lifelong Port Angeles resident, said he did not know much about the obstacles littering the course when he arrived for the race Saturday morning — only that a 100-foot mudslide would be involved somehow.
“It really was kind of unknown when I got here,” Gallacci said.
The Clallam Transit team finished about 10 minutes behind Keidi Niemann, the first runner to finish the course.
Chocolate-brown mud
Niemann, a helicopter pilot based at Coast Guard Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles on Ediz Hook, said she signed up as a lone competitor in the event because she has a passion for running — but occasionally wants something a little more challenging.
“I like running, but I like sometimes when there’s something more to it,” she said, her hands and shirt sporting a dripping layer of chocolate-brown mud.
Niemann said her favorite parts of the course were most definitely the obstacles, which included a boulder climb, mud pit and mazes of stacked industrial-sized tires.
Saturday’s race was Niemann’s second mud run this year.
She said she’s planning to run another with a group of friends next weekend in Silverdale.
“I like mud runs better than regular runs because they’re just for fun,” Niemann said.
“They’re not so competitive.”
Each finisher of the challenge walked away with a medal, a commemorative T-shirt and cup, and a well-deserved protein bar.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
