The Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series enters its ninth season as the largest event series of its kind in the nation. The event returns to Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando for the third year in a row on Saturday May 10. In 2006 there were about 500 teams and 1,000 participants. In 2007 the Muddy Buddy sold out with 900 teams and 1,800 participants. This year Disney will be the host of the largest Muddy Buddy in the history of the series. The event sold out on March 17th with 1,400 teams and 2,800 participants.
Not to be confused with a marathon or a triathlon, Muddy Buddy is all about having a great time with your husband, wife, son, daughter or best buddy. The ingredients are two runners, one mountain bike, six off-road miles, four awesome obstacles, one glorious mud pit and a hunger for having a ton of fun. One teammate starts out on the mountain bike and the other starts off running. They take turns riding and running and "leapfrog' their way through the approximately six mile course. They change from bike to run and run to bike at the obstacles and one of the favorites is a 25 foot infl atable with a cargo net up the front and a slide down the back. Since each teammate ends up riding three miles one mile at a time and running three miles one mile at a time, anyone and everyone can do Muddy Buddy. The fi rst person to arrive at the fi nal obstacle, the mud pit, waits for their partner and then the two slither through the slop together before jogging across the fi nish line.
The largest division at Muddy Buddy is co-ed with about 41% of the participants. The other divisions are male, female and, our personal favorites, The Beasts. To be in The Beast Division, the teammates need to weigh at least 400 pounds combined. The Muddy Buddy attracts lots of families, lots of costumes and lots of mud lovers all hoping to become PARTNERS IN GRIME.
There is also the Paul Mitchell Mini Muddy Buddy for kids 12 and under and that will sell out as well with 400 kids.
The Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series is sponsored by Land Rover Certifi ed Pre-Owned, Merrell Footwear, Cytomax, Paul Mitchell, REI, National Geographic Adventure, Competitor Southeast Magazine and the official charity is The Challenged Athletes Foundation.
After Orlando, the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series travels to Austin (May 18), San Jose (June 8), Atlanta (June 21), Richmond (July 13), Chicago (August 3), Boulder (August 17), Dallas (October 26) and Los Angeles (November 2). In 2007 every Muddy Buddy event sold out early.
