Run to Win

Have you participated in the Mud Hog Trail Race yet? This year’s event is scheduled for August 9^th, and I’m planning on heading over with Erin to help out and to do some camping (there’s a Rib Fest the day before, can’t miss out on that!)

Here’s some info from Matt Hartman, the race director:

The Mud Hog Trail Race enters its third year this year at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, NH. The race takes place on August 9th, the same weekend as last year when more than 100 muddy competitors took to the hills of NH. This year race organizer Matt Hartman expects the race to be nearly double in size. In the race, teams of 2 begin together, one racer on foot the other on a mt. bike.

The biker reaches an obstacle ahead of the runner drops the bike and continues on foot. When the runner reaches the obstacle, they traverse the obstacle and pick up the team’s shared bike. Teams will leapfrog each other threw 4 obstacles until the final leg. Competitors finish the race together by crawling threw a near 60-foot mud pit on their hands and knees!

After the race all competitors and volunteers enjoy a free BBQ picnic with live music while watching over the remaining racers finishing through the mud. Proceeds from the race benefit Breathe NH, New Hampshire’s oldest non-profit voluntary health agency.

For more information, you can check out the race website by going to:
http://www.mudhograce.com/

Matt did a radio interview a few years when he first created the race.
Click here if you’d like to listen to it.

As I was at an out of state wedding last weekend I never rounded up last year’s topics for the week, and it was a busy week.

• I discussed why breakfast is important, and anybody trying to attain or maintain a healthy weight would be well served to eat a good breakfast every day.
• I offered 7 tips for running in the heat, which is a good reminder for those of us up here in the Northern hemisphere that are just getting into Summer.
• I asked how often you used running as a means of transportation. The reason that we have legs isn’t so that we can just go out and pound out miles without actually producing anything; we have them so that we can get from place to place. Now and again it is nice to get something useful out of our hobby.
• I featured a radio interview of Matt Hartman, who started up a team run/bike race in New Hampshire last year. The race was very popular and will be held in August this year.
• I presented a case study for how a body builder could run sub-7 in the mile. I should send Chris an email and find out if he ever completed the program; his last update was a week before the time trial.
• Last week two years ago, a 7 year old swam to shore from Alcatraz. Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. The Nike+ system was announced and Bud Gibson described how to do a bridge with a knee tuck.

The Mud Hog Trail Race is debuting this year at the Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire. The race is on June 16^th and will be a team effort between two people. One person will run the course while the other bikes it, and after completing an obstacle they will switch off. At the end of the race there will be a 60 foot mud pit that both members of the team will need to crawl through in order to get to the finish line. There will be a BBQ complete with beer at the finish line for all participants.
(Click here to continue reading…)

This week last year was very focused on a limited number of topics. The weekend series about the New Rules of Lifting continued, but everything else dealt with the Coast to Coast relay and the new book that had just been published, or with weight lifting and swiss balls.

• I continued my animated workout series with how to do a swiss ball bridge, which takes the standard exercise and makes it a little more challenging. The discussion about swiss balls continued throughout the week, beginning with why you would use a swiss ball in the first place and then discussing the difference between balance boards and swiss balls.
• Discussion about the Coast to Coast book continued, with a few reminders about the contest to win a free copy as well as a review of Coast to Coast. There was also the first guest article here at Run to Win, written by Matt Hartman. Matt was the photographer on the Coast to Coast relay.
• I continued my thoughts on the New Rules with New Rule #16 (lifting can make you flexible) and New Rule #17 (aerobic fitness is not all its cracked up to be).

This week I am giving away a free copy of Coast to Coast; just leave a comment in the contest thread describing a story about running for a chance to win. Matt Hartman was the official photographer for the Coast to Coast relay. Here is a little bit more about Matt, in his own words:

I got involved with the Coast to Coast during the summer before the run was to take place. I came up with the idea to do the photography for the run, as it would fall directly into the pattern of work I had been producing for the past two years. Most of my photography is sports related, and I have a great interest in the ideas behind athletics. The Coast to Coast run took place the fall after I graduated, and after I had just finished my last spring of RIT Track and Field. My photography through my last years in school had become more and more focused on sports, and the ideas that drive people to push their bodies so hard. It was something that I understood well as an athlete, but something that my fellow photographers who mostly took no part in or even detested athletics of any kind, could not understand. I have tried to bridge that gap with the images I have made.
(Click here to continue reading…)