The Ugly Sweater Dash 5K

Saturday morning, I completed another 5k! The race was held at Remlinger Farms in Carnation, WA - about 30 minutes away from Bellevue.

I had a choice to try and beat my Turkey Trot time, or to run it for fun. I ran it with two friends: one who had a 5K PR much faster than mine, and one who had never run a 5K all the way through. I decided to stick with the latter, and ran and walked when she did. I didn't race. I couldn't have even if I tried - it was MUDDY.

Mud, everywhere. Ugh.

My training plan was specifically for a 5K, but it was barely a plan at all - really it was just to maintain. I skipped a long run of 8 miles, and I did every single run since the half marathon on the treadmill. I hadn't even ran since Monday!

Me and my running buddies :) (My shirt says "Paw Humbug", if you're wondering. Hah!)

They had little stations you could take pictures at!

Ready to run!

The tiniest Start line in existance - we had to wait for the 4th wave!

Around the halfway mark, there were more picture-taking opportunities.

We crossed the Finish Line probably about 35-40 minutes after we crossed the Start Line.

Some sugary cider that I had a sip of

Happy to be finished!

We walked around some afterward and saw all the festivities (hah, hah, GET IT).

These were awesome!

Sweet Potato Syrup?? Ummm yes please.

Overall, a pretty fun race - purely for fun, but muddy as hell. Lots of hills, actually- and we only really stopped to walk once! It was really, really crowded... and the only aid along the race was that halfway point picture-taking opportunity where there was some water. So, not a very supported race, but I guess it's just meant to be fun anyways.

Going to and coming from the race was a pain, since it's this one long road that comes to an intersection with a busy street that doesn't stop, so it took us about 15 minutes extra of just sitting in traffic before we really got on the road again.

Would I do it again...? Meh. :) Probably not. A fun experience, but not one that I would repeat! I've decided I never want to do a Mud Run, either!

Ever done a Mud Run?