Race Review: Mudderella Whistler 2015

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This was a relatively last minute decision. Some family members signed up last winter, but after just having a baby, I wasn't ready to commit. I finally decided to do this less than 2 weeks before the event. Spoiler alert: I'm so glad I did!

On Friday, I did my typical pre-race routine of laying everything out and making the always-difficult decision of what to wear (perhaps a bit more complicated for a mud run). Cody saw my pile and immediately said "why do you need all that warm gear? It's supposed to be sunny." Regrettably, I put away my arm warmers and long sleeve shirt.

We decided to go up Saturday morning instead of stay overnight in Whistler so we had to get up fairly early in the morning. I barely slept. It had been so long since I'd done a race, there were definitely a few butterflies.

I had access to the premium parking which was $30. Personally, I would pay for it especially if there are more than one participant/spectator in the car. Between what you would have to pay for gondola tickets and parking somewhere in the village, it's totally worth it. We got out and were literally right next to the check-in area, and then it was a short walk up the hill into Mudderella village.

This was our first glimpse of the start line... little did we know (I sort of knew) that hill kept going... and going...

There were "preferred" wave times, mainly I think, to prevent all 6500 participants from showing up at the same time, but they were basically letting people start every 15 minutes or so no matter your pre-selected wave time, which was great because when we were up there, it was COLD. I didn't find it crowded at all. In a matter of minutes, the clouds turned to rain, torrential pouring rain! Cindy (my teammate and mother-in-law) and I were fairly early (8:45am) and had to wait around a bit for the rest of our team. You bet I wished I had brought that long sleeve or those arm warmers. There was a heated tent, but of course we didn't tell the rest of the team that's where we'd meet them, and we didn't have our phones to tell them because we left them in the truck. Here's where taking advantage of the bag check would have been useful, it was $10.

We got our obligatory "before" picture before my hubby left to go stay warm until it was time to meet us at the finish.

The team arrived shortly before 10:00 and we headed up to get started. I knew we were starting on a killer of a hill and there's no way I'd be able to run the whole thing but I started out in a run just to get warm, my toes were frozen. Thankfully the rain eased off and the skies were starting to clear.

Excuse the image quality.

So I knew from the course map, half of the course was literally straight uphill, so the best we could do for this part was power through it. The first obstacle (Surprise Party) was maybe 5 minutes in. It was basically a pit of a mud that you had to wade through, a little chilly, but not difficult. The hill got pretty tough from here, it was nice though to turn around every once and a while and check out the view. Once we made it to the first water station, part of the team went on ahead and we decided to wait for the rest of the team to see how everyone was doing. Once they arrived and we made sure everyone was doing alright, Cindy and I decided to proceed on our own. In a group of 12 women, we knew that there was no way we'd all be able to stay together. It wasn't quite as steep, but there was still more incline to get to the second obstacle, Balancing Act. This was basically just balancing on wooden beams. The trickiest part of this is that the beams were going uphill. Next up was New Heights, which was a wall we had to climb over, again not very tricky and we knew that we were now at the TOP of the course and it was all downhill from here, well mostly. I really wish I had had my phone or camera because the sun had just come out and it was just the most beautiful view. For anybody who knows Whistler, we were at the top of the Excalibur gondola.

Next up was some dodging through trails, which was nice and refreshing since they were mostly downhill. We hit a few bottlenecks, but were definitely still picking up speed. Then we came upon the "muddiest" obstacle, Down to the Wire:

Despite my interesting facial expressions, it was fun! We took the "road less traveled" and braved the deeper, wetter side that nobody else wanted to go through.

But I'm glad we did because there wasn't really anyone in front of us, so we got lots of photos!

Mud!!!

Yes I tossed my gloves after this, lol.

We had to run after this to keep warm and shake the water and mud out of our shoes! It wasn't long before we hit the next obstacle, Skinny Jeans. If you're claustrophobic, this may have been an issue for you (if this was the case, you can skip any obstacle that makes you uncomfortable). I didn't find it physically difficult, other than that I did not give myself enough of a shove and I got stuck and had to shimmy my way through the tunnel, after which you, of course, land in muddy water.

There was some serious downhill next. I got going too quickly a few times. I found myself thinking it would be awesome if we had a sled. Dirty Downward Dog was pretty simple but I'm at a loss for how to explain it.

When we hit I've Got Your Back, I knew we were close to the finish because you could hear it. We also saw some team spectators here.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough might have been the grossest obstacle but we were already so muddy at that point, I could have cared less.

You definitely needed help to complete Break the Glass Ceiling because someone else had to hold the netting up for you to climb under. It was also easier to get out if teammates held it up on the other side.

Tough Ta Tas was another wall with a robe climb on one side. Not very difficult but my heart was definitely racing climbing over the other side, trying my best not to look down!

Wheels in Motion was tougher than it looked. I really struggled with it. My hardest obstacle by far, I'm just not that balanced and it's been a long time since I touched a tire swing!

There was one more hill to the finish, the top is where we finally saw OUR spectators.

And finally it was time for the grand finale. This obstacle was called Hat Trick:

Don't I look thrilled? Lol, it was kind of scary. The lady was trying to tell me I had to cross my hands in front of my chest and I was still grappling with the fact that I had to go down the giant slide.

But I did!

It was cold!!!

I love this lady! I'm so happy we owned our strong together.

I was actually (relatively) pretty clean after that final dunk in the water, but there were some outdoor showers and tented change rooms if you needed them. We went and got our complimentary Shock Top beers and then headed to the truck to warm up!

I'm super happy that Mudderella gave me the opportunity to take part in this awesome event and I would sign up for next year in a heartbeat.

Race Review Summary 

Package Pickup/Expo:
You picked up your package right before the start and I had no issues.

Price/Value: $60-140 (depending on when you register)
It's a pretty elaborate course that required a lot of support/setup. You also get free photos, a tshirt, and a sweet Mudderella headband.
 
Aid Stations: 
There were 4, which I found to be plenty considering the length of the course. I also saw medical patrolling the course with 4x4s a few times.

Course Difficulty: 
Moderate. It wasn't so much the obstacles that were hard but the course. The hill was pretty serious, but you could definitely walk it. It's totally doable, but it's no easy walk in the park.

Medals:
No medals but awesome swag! A sweet headband, a t-shirt, and free photos.

Please note: Mudderella offered me registration in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.