YMCA Mud Run muddier than usual thanks to wet weather

Sep 23, 2017

Gloomy weather and a light drizzle ended up being the perfect backdrop for the Dartmouth YMCA’s annual Mud Run on September 23.

The YMCA’s annual mud run featured a one-third of a mile trek through obstacles, mud pits, and slides set up on the YMCA farm to raise money for farm operations. This year, several new obstacles were added, including a rope swing over a mud pit suspended by a crane, and more balance beam walks over messy mud pits, explained Farm Director Dan King.

“It gives kids the opportunity to get filthy and have fun,” King said.

That’s exactly what Mike Bartholomew arrived at the YMCA to do with his son Isaac.

“I ran with my boy and we got down and dirty,” Mike said as the pair emerged from the obstacle course and cleaning station still drenched in mud.

Seven-year-old Isaac added that he couldn’t narrow down his favorite obstacle, but the mud was the highlight of the day for him.

Others, however, enjoyed the new additions to the mud run. For 10-year-old Peyton Voiz, that was the crane-suspended rope swing.

“I really liked the swing because I kept falling in the mud,” he said after getting cleaned up.

There was more mud than usual thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Jose, which brought with it steady rain for several days leading up to the mud run.

“In previous years, we've had very hot and dry weather,” King said. “The lead up to the event was perfect with the necessary rain we got.”

Last year’s mud run coincided with a major drought throughout the region, which transformed that year’s mud run into more of a dust bowl, King recalled. Even the temperature this year, which held in the upper 60s during the morning event, was vastly different from the bright, sunny, and humid 80s from last year’s event.

The Dartmouth YMCA received support from numerous companies and groups to put on the event. That included firefighters from Dartmouth Fire District No. 1, who ran the cleanup station, A1 Cranes, and Paskamansett and King Farms which provided hay bales and necessary equipment.