What a Way to Spend a Saturday!

Monterey Big Sur Mud RunIt was wet and it was muddy.

In fact, it was extra wet and muddy. Because this year’s annual Big Sur Mud Run was held—appropriately enough—in the pouring rain.

Our intrepid reservationist Ashley Magallanes can attest to the fact: she was one of the 3,000 hearty (masochistic?) souls who showed up at Fort Ord March 24 for the five-mile gauntlet through wind and weather, mud pits, five foot-high climbing walls—and exercise stations manned by real life drill sergeants.

Individual runners showed up in tutus, tiaras, Hawaiian shirts (and in the case of one portly participant—a loin cloth over Speedos and a red cape), while teams wore tee shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Good Girls Like It Dirty” and “The Mud Studs.”

The winner made it through the crud and mud in just over 34 minutes.

Our Ashley clocked in at one hour and 19 minutes. And she cleaned up real good. The Presidio of Monterey fire truck provided cold showers after the race, and all proceeds went to support community athletic programs.

BIG SUR MARATHON AND HIGHWAY ONE UPDATE

032211-landslide-630You may have heard about the catastrophic road failure on Highway One south of Carmel (photo) but due to a rockslide further south near Limekiln State Park on March 24, about forty miles of Highway One on the Big Sur coast were closed briefly to all traffic.

However, as of March 26, Caltrans announced a plan to open one lane of Highway 1 at the site of the southern slide for an hour at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and then continuously overnight beginning at 6 p.m.  The highway is still closed at Rocky Creek in the north, and may be impassable for another month.

Due to the highway closure, the May 1st Big Sur International Marathon will take place on an alternate “out and back” course. This newly created course will begin just before the Carmel River Bridge and head south on Highway One to a turnaround point in the vicinity of Rocky Creek Bridge, and will detour through Point Lobos State Park on the return trip.

Marathon organizers are encouraging participants who had planned to stay in Big Sur to secure alternate accommodations in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Seaside or Carmel. Meanwhile, we are extremely happy to report that it looks like some sunny weather is coming our way this week! For up to date highway info, call Caltrans toll-free hotline at 888.836.0866.

You Will Get Wet and You Will Get Muddy

asset6486On March 26 at the Big Sur 2011 “Mud Run” – a five mile loop on roads and trails beginning and ending at Freeman Stadium on the Cal State University Monterey Bay campus.

This challenging course includes hills, water, obstacles, a tunnel crawl, five-foot wall, and four mud pits. Showers are provided at the finish, and there’s a free beer station along the way… talk about a “fun run!”

The race is limited to 1,000 individuals and 300 teams – participants can pre-register at http://www.bigsurmudrun.org/