An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Article Display

2012 Mud Run: JB MDL continues ‘beastly’ tradition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. David Carbajal
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The 2012 "Beast of the East" Mud Run is set to take on as many as 5,000 runners here Sept. 8.

Participants will have to low crawl, ascend, rope climb and balance through 23 wet and muddy obstacles in this year's 10K Mud Run.

"This year's 'Beast' is set to be the best one yet," said Julie Yuhas, co-organizer of the annual event. "We've made a few additions to challenge participants even more."

Course designers added six new obstacles to the course.

"We've listened to the runners' feedback and we're excited to give them something new," Yuhas said.

Previous mud runners provided their thoughts on ways to improve the upcoming races.

"Overall, runners wanted more of a military experience," Yuhas said. "There's no better place to get that experience than right here."

Event planners wanted participation from all of JB MDL's military branches, in an effort to have joint base representation.

"The other services helped us come up with some unique and challenging obstacles for the competitors," she added. "Most of these new obstacles have ties to the respective service, such as the Marines' Lejeune low crawl."

Course designers also updated previous year's obstacles.

"We're going to have a few surprises throughout the course," said Yuhas. "You'll definitely notice a strong military presence and environment."

That won't be the only thing runners will have to watch out for.

"We're encouraging all of the services to send out volunteers to act as drill sergeants to help 'motivate' runners through the course," she said.

Participants' guests can watch their favorite runner overcome stages of the course via six TV feeds streaming live to the viewing area at Doughboy parade grounds, where the race will start and end.

Organizers encourage runners to wear costumes as they tackle the "beast."

"We've seen some crazy costumes over the past few years," said Yuhas. "One team ran in three-piece suits last year ... and there was actually an Elvis sighting."

Judges will award prizes to the best military and civilian costume and the best military and civilian team costumes.

"I ran in it last year and it was a lot of fun," said Senior Airman Reggie Jackson, 87th Comptroller Squadron financial services technician.

More than 3,000 runners signed up for last year's 10K.

Jackson said he was pleasantly surprised what he noticed after finishing the 2011 race.
"There was a strong sense of camaraderie amongst the runners," he said. "They were all very encouraging and supportive."

He said he had many reasons to run the race again this year, but one reason really solidified his choice.

"After hearing about all the new obstacles, I really wanted to do it again this year," he said.
Jackson signed up a five-man team of friends and family to attempt to tame this year's course.

"Now we're trying to decide what costumes to wear," he added.

Planners invite participants to get in on the Mud Run discussions at www.facebook.com/events/341525972594271/. Seasoned mud runners provided tips the event page to prepare for the run and organizers are disseminating the most-current information leading up to the event.

Runners will receive a 2012 Mud Run T-shirt and a commemorative coin for participating.

All civilian participants must bring their valid state-issued identification along with their race packet to enter the base. Participants' guests must travel in the same vehicle to attend the race.

Military and civilian runners and teams can still sign up at www.active.com/running/joint-base--mcguire-dix-lakehurst-nj/the-beast-of-the-east-joint-base-mcguire-dix-lakehurst-10k-mud-run-2012.

Heats are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. with 20-minute-increment starts thereafter.