Hot and Dirty Mud Run

I am a high school PE teacher and after training a group of students for 6 weeks, we were all pretty excited for the May 21^st Mud Run. I’ve done a variety of endurance events over the past 15 years, and this was easily the least organized and most disappointing experience. Hard to know where to begin…
1. Parking is a shameless money grab. When turning off the main highway, you’ll notice a small fenced section of what appears to be several acres of open dirt. The only apparent reason for this designated parking is to fatten the race organizer’s wallet. There is ample free parking for hundreds, maybe thousands of cars in the open field. Or you could park in the baseball lot. I didn’t see a single «No Parking» sign anywhere, so it is legit, and it’s what my group did. There is no shortage of parking and therefore no need to create an artificial sense that it carries a premium value.
2. Registration/​Check In was unorganized and inefficient. Lack of volunteers and unclear processes where frustrating.
3. The RACE: We signed up for the 10K version. Calculating the ratio of obstacles to distance, we expected a fairly consistent and engaging run. Not so. We ran large sections of terrain with nary an obstacle in sight. I didn’t count, but there is no way we encountered 50 obstacles. Several of the obstacles seemed hastily constructed and in disrepair. I understand the implications of a participant waiver, but offering a waiver shouldn’t exempt the organizers from their due diligence to prepare a soundly built and mapped course.
4. The COURSE: Lacked directional signs at key junctions. Caused confusion for many runners. Required running to many dead ends and searching for assistance from volunteers who were untrained and unhelpful. In the end, despite the many extra meters run, the total distance was only 8K! So, we didn’t get what we paid for and trained for — a 10K.
5. The ORGANIZERS: Ted G. is the race director. He was elusive after the race when we tried to voice our complaints and seek restitution. The site director was conciliatory, almost as if he expected our complaints. He negotiated our full refund over the phone with Ted, prior to our departure. After following up with Ted G. on the Monday morning after the race, he again agreed to refund our race fees. After several days he changed his mind and offered a voucher to participate in another race this season… which I refused for obvious reasons. Ted claims that the
registration procedures wouldn’t allow him to refund through the site. He could simply cut a check out of the race account, but that seemed too complicated, and/​or he lacks the integrity and responsibility to truly make things right. Our team didn’t get what we paid for and we simply wanted a refund, not offers for a future race. The ironic thing is, right before we left the venue, the site manager pleaded, «go easy on us with those Unilocal reviews,» to which I responded, «sure thing, so long as you refund us.» Well, here you go…
My advice: Don’t give this race any more business until they clean up their act! With a bit more effort and integrity, it could be a great event for the soCal active and adventuring community, but HotanDirty Mud Run is not there yet!

Third year we’ve done the mud run and it’s slowly getting better. Still lacking organisation and trail marking. Signed up to just do the 5k but because of poor directions ended up doing the 10k which required a long, steep climb up a hill and then razor-​backing down the incline. At the top, water stand was already out of water (10:30 am). Some of the obstacles where already falling apart. Guy running around in an ATV was trying to fix things but was yelling more at the volunteers than actually helping. All and all a great event just needs some tightening up in places.

First mud run and now a fan! My dad signed me and JL up and we were really worried about the bacteria and possible infections from the mud. JL had a friend that got an infection from some other mud run (not affiliated with this event). Happy to say we ended up freeeeee from infections (Coming to America reference) but with a ton of sore muscles. Good pain, of course.
The obstacles were a lot more difficult than we expected, so be warned. Every time we thought the course was close to being finished, we saw another canyon or obstacle that needed to be tackled. You’ll end up helping others through getting over obstacles, as some of them were pretty challenging. Of course, there were also the fun kind, like the big water slides and the really surprising false-​bottom ditch at the end. That was really fun to watch people walk all tough and then be humbled by the drop.
Of course, there were downsides. The mud had kind of a funky/​rural smell, but we got over it pretty fast. Just keep your mouth shut and try not ingest it. The wood climbing walls were tricky, in that some of the step boards were missing and I was worried about splinters. Ouch! My elbows, knees, and shins got all banged up due to the obstacles, but it was my own fault for not wearing arm and leg covers. Finally, parking was $ 10 cash and the nearest ATM was at one of the gas stations by the freeway exit about 15 minutes away. Come prepared and bring cash.
Overall, we had a great time and tested our limits, Would love to do another one in the future.

I would give this event three stars for the obstacles, or four stars for its potential but it only deserves two stars to better reflect the problem issues.
Despite the very poor management of the entire event, I had a great time completing the course. The runners were there to have a good time, so the overall feel was very friendly. The obstacles were a lot of fun but there were many problems.
The short of it — POSITIVE — friendly people (staff and runners), fun DJ, fun obstacles, free water and Rockstar; NEGATIVE — many backups at obstacles, misplaced obstacles, complete lack of staff, non-​working showers, no toilet paper, lack of vendors, as advertised.
Further explanation — (1) There were too many people per wave — the choice for runners was to be rude and cut in front of others or to wait (sometimes a long time) for struggling people to get over the obstacles. The problem was really more of the large groups of friends that were sticking together and blocking the entire obstacle. It would have been nice if the event had designations for «express» runners to clear each obstacle quickly. For example, the left side is express, the right side is for beginners, and the center is for somewhere in between. Also, allow less people out per wave. (2) Placement and choice of obstacles — slippery obstacles directly following wet ones, for example, very smooth 2×6 board incline and decline or chain link fence climb after the mud slide caused many people to slip and twist knees and/​or ankles. They also placed metal monkey bars directly after climbing through a mud pit. (3) The showers were a disaster — the line of showers did not work, so everyone had to wait for one hose. The line was long and there was no staff to help the equipment failure. The hose that was connected to the pump inside the water tank was taped with non-​water-​resistant tape, so it kept coming off. Runners were forced to climb on the top of the tank and hang inside it to hold the hoses together at the declining water level inside the tank. There were no staff anywhere to fix the issue; when they were alerted, they completely disregarded the problem. (4) We were in the 10:00 run and there was already no toilet paper in the very limited portable toilets. (5) I heard there was a beer truck and food truck but we didn’t see them. There was certainly no «after party food and Beer Garden,» as advertised.
This really could be a great event/​location with better management. Next time, I will choose a different mud run unless I heard that this one has resolved its issues.

Went to Acton for the Hot and Dirty Zombie Mud Run with my sons ages 13 – 22. We had a GREAT time. The obstacles were challenging; the water slides were a blast; you really launched and splashed down! It was my children’s first time and they loved it. We will definitely do it again next time. Parking was nearby. Very organized run; well marked. :-)

My first mud run ever! The drive was a tad bit far for me but the scenery on the way is awesome. I dragged two friends with me and we all didn’t know what to expect but the obstacle course was amazing, especially the slides. The people that I encountered were all nice and it’s all about having fun and challenging yourself
For us beginners this course is good for, my friend that is a bit more advanced still thirsted for more.

Meh… been to several mud runs. It was just alright. The registration folks were pleasant but had no info about the various wave start times including the kids event. God knows why the kids event isn’t the first event but at end 1:30pm when temperatures is at peak 95+ degrees. There was no energy among and seemed like a low turnout. The first two starting waves (10 k) started late. No announcements or not flood of people at the starting point. Barely any water stations and poorly marked signs separating 10k and 5k race routes. Saw some groups run in circles several times and we had to stop and ask several times. Not too many mud areas. It was more like hot and dusty. The only good parts were the slides, the one cool vendor Rockstar energy drink and the DJ. Maybe the zombie one will be better. One more thing… the name is not grammatically correct. Hot an Dirty… should be «hot & dirty» or «hot ‘n dirty» or «hotanddirty»

You get what you pay for. Good thing I had a Groupon. I feel sorry for those that paid full price.
Obstacles were mostly cheap. A couple milk crates laid across the path to jump over? The water slides were fun however.
Poorly marked paths. Our entire group apparently missed the markers for the 10k. And at some point half of us ended up way ahead because they missed a turn.
Didn’t bother with the vendors.
$ 10 for parking was a little steep. At least the group of guys directing traffic were well organized.

Awesome event! I went with my teenage daughters and it was challenging and fun. One of the «water» slides wasn’t working when we got there but the others worked just fine. The staff did a great job of encouraging us throughout the event. It was super hot today so the slides were a welcome treat. They kept the flow of people under control so we didn’t have to wait a long time at the obstacles. I can’t wait to see the pictures! We didn’t go for the food so I wasn’t disappointed about food choices. They did have a BBQ around one of the turns so the smell of BBQ chicken was tempting!

That was a great event! I bought a Groupon for $ 37.50 per person for this mud run. Parking was an additional $ 10 or $ 15 if you wanted to park closer to the start line. Not worth the extra $ 5 in my opinion.
They had live music with a DJ spinning all sorts of music. A booth to check in and get your bib, a food truck, beer vendor, Rockstar energy drinks vendor, free t-​shirts and drinks, and picnic tables. The food truck was too expensive! Standard burgers cost about $ 9. I brought my gym protein and drank that after the run instead.
The event had 30 obstacle courses! It was challenging, but a lot of fun too. The trail was set up with great instructions to guide the runners without getting lost or confused. Great job to the team for putting this event together.
One thing really bothered me! There were two young kids giving away Rockstar energy drinks at the finish line and at the same time puffing on cigarettes! They were blowing smoke in the direction of the runners coming out of the last obstacle course and that really ticked me off. I care about my health, as do most of the people at the event so having smoke blown into our face at the finish line was a slap in the face. Taking a star away from the event for not paying closer attention to this.
Other than the two clueless smokers, this was a very enjoyable event.