Expect to get dirty at Indian Mud Run
COSHOCTON – The third annual Indian Mud Run promises to be a muddy and fun time.
“Every year we asked people what they think we can do better and we go by those reviews to improve the race,” said Hubie Cushman, event coordinator. “The big thing people asked for was more mud so this year our goal is to have four different mud pits. People are going to get muddy early and often.”
The Indian Mud Run will be held Saturday, June 21, at Lake Park.
“It’s an obstacle course race that takes you through mud,” Cushman said. “The whole idea is to get out, get dirty and have fun. We are still working on a couple of obstacles, but we are going to have over 30. A couple of them are part of the trail but we consider them obstacle.”
One of the most popular obstacles is the water slide, but he also has heard great feedback about the monkey bars over the canal and the climbing wall. People also have fun with the water blob pillow and Cushman said this year they also will get to experience zorb balls, which are inflatable beach balls that people climb inside of.
“I think what makes our race standout though is the terrain and our natural obstacles,” Cushman said. “We get a lot of comments about that and the views.”
The Indian Mud Run also features a kids’ course.
“We kind of pushed it this year,” Cushman said. “We are getting a lot of feedback from people out of town who want to bring their kids. Chris Spielman (who played football for OSU and professionally) even came last year with his daughters for it.”
He also believes the t-shirts are helping make the Indian Mud Run popular.
“We are getting the word out about our run,” Cushman said. “A guy from Buffalo, N.Y. messaged me and he’s done over 40 mud runs. He was looking for different mud runs and ours came up as a good one to do. He’s driving over eight hours just to do this mud run and that makes me feel good. We set up the shirt so the top placers names are on it and that is starting to pay off. We are getting the diehards like this guy who want their names on the shirt. I think it’s going to get more competitive.”
Last year there was room to basically put the names of everybody who did the race on the shirts, but this year they will only have the top finishers in each age group.
The registration deadline to guarantee receiving a t-shirt has passed, but Cushman said there is still a chance of getting one if you register ASAP. If they run out of t-shirts they will start handing out last year’s to racers. Medals also are handed out to finishers.
“I don’t know for sure how many people we will have because we expect to get a lot of late entries,” Cushman said. “I’m guessing there will be close to 800 and most likely more than that. Last year we had two sold out waves and we have four sold out already. I expect we will end up with six or eight sold out.”
The race has 17 waves with the first one starting at 8 a.m. and the last one heading out at 4 p.m. People can register and look at wave times by visiting www.indianmudrun.com.
Cushman started the Indian Mud Run as a way to help the Coshocton Park District, but now also donates proceeds to any volunteer fire department, REACT and sheriff auxiliary organizations that help on race day.
“Last year we broke even because we expected a better turnout, but there are so many expenses we had last year that we don’t this year so we are expecting to do really well,” he said.
The event also has the help of corporate sponsor Wiley Organics.
“I can’t say enough about how good they’ve been with not only promoting the race, but helping us get it up and running,” Cushman said. “They’ve been great.”
Volunteers are still needed to help put finishing touches on the course and help on race day. Anyone interested in lending a hand is welcome to contact Cushman at 502-5013 or hubie3@roadrunner.com.
“We have people coming from all over the state and five different states,” Cushman said. “I want people to walk away impressed with the race and the community.”
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: People & Places
