 "Photo: Michelle Trincia")
Andrew Shearer turned a sharp corner, ran down a short, but steep hill and stared at the 30-yard-long pool of mud that lay ahead. A moment of quick thought was followed by a full-on sprint into the muck. Kicking up dirt in every direction, Shearer, the self-described “senior citizen” of his group, finally succumbed to the adulation of the cheering crowd and dove head first into the swamp.
He emerged, mud dripping from every part of his body, and raised his hands in victory as he waited for his other teammates, all recent college graduates, to make the final push to the finish line. The group of four completed the messy obstacle course in just over 20 minutes with no other teams ahead of them.
“We got through the mud pits at the start but then had to zigzag through the woods, over hay bales and into tunnels,” Chris Ward, captain of the winning team, said. “It was an awesome experience, though and a lot of fun.”
Ward’s team, the “Mudder Heffers,” was one of more than 500 four-person teams that competed in the first annual 5K Delaware Mud Run and Walk at Frightland on Oct. 11 in Middletown, Del. The Mud Run was a three-mile long race with boot-camp-style obstacles that have been surrounded by or consist entirely of mud.
More than 2,000 people signed up for the event in four-person teams and paid $100 to register. Denni Ferrara, owner of Frightland, said she was stunned by the large turnout.
“I think we have more than half of Delaware here and I’m overwhelmed,” announced Ferrara at the commencement of the race. “This is amazing and I’m going to cry in front of all of you.”
The unexpectedly large amount of people helped raise close to $125,000, an amount that far exceeded the $50,000 that Ferrara said she hoped for. All proceeds go toward the Leukemia Research Foundation, a 100 percent volunteer driven organization established in 2007.
To foster the funding of cancer research, Ferrara and her husband, Nicholas J. Ferrara III, created the organization after their daughter, Natalia, survived cancer after being diagnosed at the age of four. Ferrara said the organization is small, but consists of hard working individuals.
“We do this out of love and because we want to cure cancer,” Denni said. “This is my passion now, it’s our life and it’s what we do.”
Todd Roselle, organizer of the event, presented the option of a Mud Run—rather than a 5K—to Nicholas Ferrara last summer. He said the Ferrara’s had the perfect property and area for the event.
Creating the course required hard and extensive work. The crew, which ended up laboring until 5 a.m. the day of the event, brought in water, dug the mud pits over a month in advance and consistently worked to soften the areas. Once they were filled with a little bit of water, the pits became big, sloppy messes – exactly what Denni wanted.
The prospect of a mud-filled course seemed to make the race more appealing to participants, who showed enthusiasm for the event through their creations of clever team names, matching T-shirts and costumes.
Runners raced in three separate heats, with short intervals between the start times for each. Aggressive-running experts kicked off the event with novices and leisurely walkers followed suit shortly after.
“Good thing we finished somewhere in the middle because we didn’t want to be last,” Megan Lafferty, a university senior who participated in the Mud Run, said. “The idea of a mud obstacle course made it more exciting and we wanted to try something new.”
Lafferty and her team, “The Neon Ninjas,” discovered the event after seeing a passing truck on Main Street that advertised it. They searched the Web site, registered and promptly raised a little over $300. Although they had fun and said they plan on doing it again next year, Lafferty said the course took its toll.
“I think we underestimated how exhausting the running would be,” she said. “And the obstacles were tougher, sloppier and messier than I thought.”
Preparation leading up to the Mud Run consumed the lives of the Ferraras for weeks. They organized volunteers and donors, met with their committees once every week and added the final touches in the days leading up to the event, Denni said.
“My husband and I basically slept and breathed the Mud Run—constantly talking about how we were going to do it and our expectations,” she said. “It was a lot of work but it didn’t feel like it because this is our life.”
Denni credited her team of volunteers and crew members with the success of the event. She instilled the team concept into the race, not allowing any group to start or finish the run without all members together. Her view stemmed from personal experiences with her daughter when she battled cancer.
“You can’t do it yourself; it takes a team to start together and finish together,” Denni said. “From your diagnosis to the time you’re in remission it takes caregivers, doctors and nurses.”
As she watched each team leap into the final mud pit and cross the finish line, something caught Denni’s attention, prompting her to rejoice and break into loud cheer.
The tears she promised to reveal at the beginning of the day began to surface two hours into the event, when Natalia was about to finish the race.
“It’s amazing what she’s done after all she’s been through,” Denni said. “I’m so proud of her.”
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