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Press Information
Reasons to Run: Dirty Dash gets muddier
Published: Friday, Sept. 23, 2011
By Amelia Nielson-Stowell, Deseret News
I was barely half-a-mile into the Dirty Dash Saturday when I pulled my sticky braid off my mud-covered costume. "Mud in my hair — already?!" I squealed with excitement. "I wasn't this muddy during last year's Dirty Dash until the finish line."
The two-year-old Dirty Dash felt like a brand new race. The run on Sept. 17 at Soldier Hollow was full of more mud, more obstacles, more surprises and more sponsors. In just one race season, the Dirty Dash has managed to reinvent itself.
Instead of long chunks of trail running interspersed with a few obstacles, this year's Dirty Dash had lots of obstacles with shorter stretches of trails. Like wood beams towering over mud pits, a cargo net ladder wall, rope swings and over-and-under pipes.
The tunnels that were on top of dry dirt last year? This year they were covered in a mud pit, so we crawled through them "Shawshank Redemption"-style. The hay bales that were one-level last year? They were hay bale towers, so we scaled them. The empty hills we ran over last year? They were broken up with spectators with water balloons and more aid stations.
To view full article, click HERE.
Adding mud to a run turns sport into a party
Published: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 5:01 p.m. MDT
By Amy Donaldson, Deseret News
MIDWAY, Summit County‚ How do you turn a 5K into something just about anyone would want to do?
Cover it in mud.
Sounds simple, even silly, but adding copious amounts of water to a trail run turns what would normally be a tough task into child's play.
Seriously.
Adding mud to a run is like dipping raisins in chocolate. It's taking something that's wholesome but unappealing to many and making it a lot more enticing by coating it in something nearly everyone loves.
Adding mud to a run reminds adults why they used to jump in those puddles on their way to the playground. Getting dirty on purpose is a blast, but it is more thrilling when you can get your friends filthy.
Adding mud to a run turns a solitary sport into a party. While most people run for themselves, a mud run is definitely meant to be a shared experience.
Converting running into a group activity may be the most attractive trait of the Dirty Dash. Founders John Malfatto and Jeff Harps knew mud runs would be popular in Utah because so many residents love the sport of running.
"There is such a great running community, and so many people are searching for new outdoor activities," said Harps. "There were different 5Ks and races every weekend, but nothing like this."
To view full article, click HERE.
Old shoes no more in Ghana - Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 - Deseret News
Old shoes no more in Ghana
Published: Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011
By Amy Donaldson, Deseret News
The smell of new running shoes is intoxicating to someone who loves to run.
And then there is the drama of choosing shoes that will help you reach goals. They're so light-weight, but will they make me faster? Will they keep my knees from aching? Will they minimize the damage done to my toenails? Will they keep my IT band from burning? Can they help reduce the pain of my plantar fasciitis?
And then, there is the obvious — just a plain, old love affair with a good-looking pair of shoes.
I don't use my running shoes for anything but running. When I was a kid, however, my "running shoes" were the shoes I went to school in, worked in, played in and, on occasion, wore under a dress to events my parents forced me to attend. They were simply "my shoes."
I didn't think much about the luxury of having a designated pair of running shoes until I met Tim Collings at the Dirty Dash 5K in June. He was asking — almost begging — for the shoes we'd all worn during the mud run. I ran in a pair of old running shoes that I had been using as gardening shoes. (I know: They are more specialty shoes. But in all honestly, running shoes are the most expensive footwear in my closet, so I try to recycle.)
To view full article, click HERE.
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