Maricopa Mud Run to bring out superhero in everyone

Oct 10, 2017

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It’s that time of the year again, when Maricopans get dressed up, act goofy and mingle with the community. No, not Halloween. It’s the Maricopa Mud Run.[quote_box_right]IF YOU GO
What: Maricopa Mud Run
When: Oct. 28, 7 a.m.
Where: Copper Sky Regional Park, 44345 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
How Much: $25 to $45
Info: maricopa-az.gov/web/mud-run[/quote_box_right]

This year the run comes with a few changes that should have everyone’s inner-child running wild.

The first, and arguably the most important, change is the theme. This year, all challengers are being asked to “awaken your inner hero” by dressing up as their favorite superhero.

A contest will be hosted prior to the run. The best dressed team or individual will walk away with event swag, and adults and teenagers who finish the race in their costume earn a limited addition Mud Run Cape and T-shirt.

Kids who finish the Mini-Copa Mud Run will get “an awesome bag of treats.”

The course itself is undergoing changes, too, including new obstacles.

Mud Run organizer Matthew Reiter said the course is shorter, but participants will have to complete two filthy, inner-hero-awakening, zip-line gliding, ego-boosting laps. (Kids running the Mini-Copa Mud Run will complete one lap.) Competitors will also be grouped by age and sent off in heats to “help make things a little more evenly matched.”

Reiter also tweaked the Mayor’s Challenge: “This year we decided we want to see more teamwork and community in this event, so we made the Mayor’s Challenge a two-person team challenge.”

Any two-person team that beats the time set by Mayor Christian Price and his “highly motivated” mystery partner will win commemorative coins.

Parks Manager and Mud Run co-organizer Mike Riggs said the 20 or so obstacles will include a few new surprises this year, including obstructions dubbed “Chill-out” and “Plenty of Fish.”

This story appears in the October issue of InMaricopa.