The temperature climbed to borderline sweltering at the Gallup MX/OHV Park, and the live entertainment was “the bomb,” said 9-year-old Jennifer Begay.
The water gun fights were epic and the mud was thick and deep. Amid all that, somehow the Great Muddy Endurance Race, on July 22, managed to be a great time for racers, their friends and family, and the volunteers.
The race was a combination of a three mile fun run/walk first, followed by a 5k and a 10k. The run/walk saw both “runners” take part, as well as folks that desired more a more laid back exploration of the trail. The run/walk was very family/kid friendly with quite a few parents hiking it with their children. At one of the water stops a volunteer was standing with a water gun and making sure that ever racer was properly soaked down with her custom labeled super soaker. More than one racer liked it so much that they went back for another round.
After the run/walk it was time for the main event – the 5k and 10k. At the start of the race Greg Kirk, who helped put on the event, decided to liven things up a bit by offering a reward to the racer who won the holeshot by making it first to a spot a hundred or so yards down the track. It was quite a site to see to watch these racers about to go on a miles long endurance race starting it off on a dead sprint.
After that, it wasn’t long before racers had to scale Cardiac Delight, a towering hill that was universally agreed to be by far the most grueling obstacle of the course. It was such an impressive height to scale. Brandy Laughter’s FourCorners Yoga sponsored it, and offered a free class to anyone who took a picture and posted it. Caleb Cionelo, brother of 5k event winner Nehemiah, said that he would rather “go through any 3 obstacles twice” then have to do Cardiac Delight again. Most of the other racers agreed.
After that it off to the log runs, the rope climbs, and the 20+ other obstacles one would expect from a mud run. With the enormous heat, some of the mud pits were filled only minutes before the runners came through. Murphy Builders was there on hand with their water truck to fill one of the pits, and give some of the folks standing by a quick cool down soak as well
As with any good mud run there has to be one huge mud pit, and as Michael Wagner found out, it’s not quite as easy as it looks to get through! Wagner’s friends definitely made sure to remind him afterwards of how dirty he got, getting a great laugh out of it. Thankfully for all involved there was a wash station provided afterwards.
The Great Muddy Endurance Race had great local representation, but also drew racers from the rest of the state as well. Race winner Nehemiah Cionelo traveled from Albuquerque with his co-racer and brother Caleb, as well as their parents and friends. Indeed, they had such a great time at the event that immediately afterward Nehemiah’s mother said that “they are already penciling the event in for next year, and next time the entire family is doing this!”
Caleb said that despite Nehemiah’s favorite part of the race being “beating his big brother” that “next time it will be different.” Michael Wagner was there from out of town as well with 14 of his friends and campers from Cottonwood Gulch Expeditions. Wagner said there were all there to “support each other as a team and enjoy the outdoors.”
After the race was done and everything was starting to settle down the audience was treated to a live performance by Greg Kirk’s daughter, Acelyn Kirk. Acelyn Kirk got up and laid down a sick beatbox freestyle to the delight of the crowd, especially the younger ones. After Acelyn Kirk finished, and the crowd was done going nuts, Greg Kirk said “that’s right folks, it doesn’t matter if there are two or 200 people, she will lay down a beat.”
In addition to being great fun, several youth organizations were there with volunteering and generally helping out, including the Junior Public Safety Academy. Ken Langely said that the organization was designed to “expose kids to various public safety focused careers, such as police and fire fighters.” When asked what he hoped the kids would get out of volunteering, he said that the idea was for them to “give back to the program, help where they are needed, and give their best effort.”
All proceeds go to benefit UNM-Gallup’s Lions Hall renovation project and the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services Wellness Center.
Story and photos by Jonathan Gregg
For the Sun
