Race Recap: 2010 Muddy Buddy – Michigan

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The Grubby Hubbys (formally known as Team Grappa, next here we are changing our name to “2|~”) found themselves at the starting line once again. However their immediate competition was a bit tougher this year. For the once “Beast” team (weighing over 400 lbs combined) had shed a collective 40 lbs and now found themselves in the company of other fit old guys.

So after some rather strange pre-race antics they headed to the starting line.

Mike was starting off on the bike, just as he did last year. However this year he ran many more miles in hopes to handle the running legs better this time. Last year he almost feinted and vomited on multiple occasions. Confident that he was a stronger runner and still a strong biker, he anxiously awaited the starting pistol.

At the sound of the shot, Mike began cycling hard when he was overwhelmed with a memory of how much the run sucked last year. This recollection made him decide to ease off the bike a little bit to save some strength for the run. This will prove to be a vital mistake.

Scott had two minutes after his buddy started his bike to prepare for his start. Scott was feeling very confident about his performance today for he had trained three times harder for this race than he had for any of his previous three Muddy Buddy races. He had two goals he wanted to accomplish today. To beat last years time by 15 minutes, and to beat his buddy to the finish line.

Mike stated the night before that Scott would not be waiting for him, but Scott had his doubts. Although Mike had done a great job with his running this year, he had done very little bike training. But Scott was going to give Mike the benefit of the doubt and intended to run a hard race to reach his goal. So when the time came to start his leg, he ran an 8 minute mile pace.

Mike finished the first leg with relative ease and felt good as he dismounted the bike to climb the wall. As he descended the other side his legs felt fresh and he began his run. It was the longest leg of the race but Mike felt confident that he’d be able to run the whole thing without any walking.

Scott continued his pace for the duration of the leg and arrived at the climbing wall in good time. Quickly manipulating the obstacle, he found the well decorated bike and began his first biking leg. Unlike Mike, Scott trained on the bike this year as well and it paid off as he sped from the climbing wall, passing a few bikers on his way. He was about half way through the leg when he saw the “My wife is dirtier than me” writing on the back of Mike’s shirt.

Hmm, I was expecting him to further than this, he thought to himself, but Scott still had faith in his buddy and hollered, “Go Grubby Hubby’s” as he sped past Mike to pass even more bikers.

Mike was surprised when he heard Scott’s yell. I was hoping to further than this, he thought to himself.

Passing every biker that he could see, Scott arrived at the second obstacle. A quick glance at is watch revealed that he had been racing for a total of 16 minutes. Scott dropped the bike at the balance beams, but hesitated when he didn’t see anyone crossing the beams before him. It took him a few seconds to realize that the reason no one was crossing them was because he had passed all the bikers in his wave. Hoping onto the first beam, Scott scampered across and

Mike reached the balance beams and easily crossed them, retrieving the bike he pedaled hard. He had some serious catching up to do and could not think about reserving any energy.

Scott felt as if was slowing down a little during his second run, and was regretting the absence of his life savers. He still felt good though and plotted along, eagerly awaiting his buddy’s battle cry.

Mike was trucking as fast as he could up and down the hills of the course. Cranking his bike into the hardest gear he could handle he raced down a large hill so that his momentum would carry him up the next. Suddenly the biker in front of him slammed on his brakes and came to a dead stop at the bottom of the hill. Mike slammed on his brakes as well and narrowly missed the stalled biker. What the…

Now Mike found himself at the bottom of a large hill with is bike in a hard gear, but he continued on. The silent pains of his leg muscles echoed the agony of the grinding gears as he fought his way up the hill. The fact that he had not yet passed Scott was beginning to concern him.

Glancing at his watch Scott estimated that he was almost done with the third leg of the race and Mike was no where to be seen. What he did see around the bend, however, was the third obstacle, the army crawl. Dropping to his knees Scott crawled under the net and began scouring the bikes on the off chance that he just missed Mike passing him. But the bike was not there. He had no choice but to wait for his buddy to hand off the bike.

Rounding the final bend of the third leg, Mike swore to himself when he saw Scott waiting for the bike. He was going to have to pull out all the stops if he was going to save face. With a smile of embarrassment he handed Scott the bike and ducked under the net and began to crawl when his helmet snagged on the net. Son of…

Scott grabbed the bike from Mike and raced off. He wasn’t worried about beating Mike to the finish line now. It was pretty much a sure thing at this point, unless Mike pulled some mad skills out of his bike pouch. But he still had his time goal. So up the hill he climbed. Scott remembered this hill. It had tortured him ever since it beat him down last year. But Scott had a plan. Using every biking trick he had, Scott climbed up the hill that seemed to go on forever. Once he was three quarters of the way up, he legs began to ache with exertion.

Last year, Scott pushed through this pain and had a horrible final leg, so this year he hopped off the bike and jogged it up the remainder of the incline. At the top, Scott mounted the bike again and raced through the leg at speeds a bit frightening to him. It seemed mere minutes before he reached the fourth obstacle, the inflatable slide.

Extremely disappointed with himself, Mike started the fourth leg of the race with a fire burning deep inside which fueled his legs. Running at a pace faster than he had experienced before, he found himself passing runner after runner. When he passed the guy, bent over at the waste vomiting Mike thought, I’d be there with you guy, if I wasn’t so pissed right now. For the drink of water he took churned in his stomach, threatening, but he had a race to finish and nothing was going to get in his way.

Mike had no idea how fast he finished the fourth leg but his lungs were burning and his muscles where aching as he climbed the rope ladder and launched himself down the slide. Retrieving the bike, he took off down the path with the fury of demon.

At the bottom of the slide Scott glanced at his watch and saw that he had been racing for 38 minutes. He knew that he was not going to achieve his second goal of beating his time by 15 minutes. Last year they completed the race in 55 minutes and there was no way he’d be able to run the last mile in 2 minutes. He was momentarily tempted to slow way down to let his buddy catch up, but he knew that he would not forgive himself if he did, and neither would Mike. So he ran as hard as he could for the remainder of the race. When he saw the finish line, he kicked it up even more and finished with every bit of energy he had left, stopping his watch at 45 minutes.

The other bikers were mere blurs as Mike sped through the last leg of the race. With the bike set at its hardest gear he was moving faster than he had in several years. Every ounce of energy he had fed his legs as he rocketed to the finish line. His heart sank a little when he saw Scott waiting for him for the second time today. But he didn’t slow. When he met up with his buddy, the two of them raced towards the mud, dove into it and swam through it as fast as they could. Exhausted, beat up, and muddy, the Grubby Hubbys crossed the finish line in 56 minutes.