Waking up early in the morning to run through mud pits dotted with obstacle courses may not sound like the ideal weekend, but the thought seemed to be catching on at Auburn April 2.
The Naval ROTC program hosted its second annual Amphibious Warrior Mud Run April 2 to support Auburn's Naval ROTC program, the U.S. Marines and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Almost 500 people preregistered online for the event, said Major Jeffrey Dyal, Marine Officer Instructor of the Naval ROTC.
The Mud Run will donate $2231.38 to the Wounded Warrior Project from the money they raised Saturday.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization that provides help and financial support for injured soldiers returning from combat.
The event consisted of three different races. The first, called the W.E. Winter Recon Challenge, was a 10-mile run including the ROTC obstacle course. For a section of this race, participants were required to wear a 30-pound pack.
Participants were allowed to sign up in groups or as individuals, but teams had to cross the finish line together.
"I'm pretty nervous about pulling my team back," said Ben Steever, senior in exercise science, just before the race began. Steever jokingly said he was coaxed into running the Mud Run by a couple of his friends who wanted him to join their team.
Many groups got creative, dressing up as tigers, Easter bunnies and even The Beatles. The Beatles team sang songs such as "All You Need in Mud" and "Here Comes the Mud."
The main event included the 4.2-mile mud run, complete with multiple mud pits, climbing walls and other obstacles the Marines engineered.
"It was great and a lot of fun," said Andy McErlean, junior in graphic design. "I feel like I did well, and I can't wait for next year."
Many students were present to participate in the Mud Run and support the cause, complete with pinned on race numbers and duct tape on their tennis shoes to keep shoes secure in deep bogs of mud.
"I'm just excited to get to run in some mud," McErlean said before the race.
Staff Sgt. Jason Roberts, who was severely injured in 2009, ran the Mud Run with a prosthetic leg.
"The main focus of this event is to promote community awareness of the ROTC program at Auburn as well as benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project," Dyal said.
Dyal said showing the students in ROTC the importance of supporting the Wounded Warrior Project, since all Marines will see combat, is important.
This year a new race was added to make the event more family friendly.
The Mini Mud Run for children under 12 was a one-mile run that included some of the mud pits of the course.
Dyal said they tried to make this event more fun for the family through the Mini Mud Run and inclusion of inflatable jumpers, which children enjoyed throughout the morning.
"Family is so important, especially in the military where family is such a great support system," Dyal said. "This year we wanted to include more of the community by making it an event the entire family could enjoy."
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