Friday 14 December 2012

MudRun2012


First of its Kind - Mud Run at Shivampet

The Greater Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC) organized Mud Run 2012, the first one of its kind to be held in India at Shivampet, Hyderabad. Held on the 9th December 2012, Mud Run 2012 had participants, gathered from all across the country, combine with a team of around 30 including the Founder, Organizers, and Volunteers, making this event one of a kind.

On the day of the event, the air was filled with palpable excitement as the participants greeted and got introduced to each other. Proceeding towards Shivampet, the air was buoyant with a sense of perseverance and zeal required to overcome all the hurdles and complete the run.

At Shivampet, the participants had their breakfast while the organizers, volunteers, and photographers set about doing all that was required to make the event a huge success.

Unlike any other marathon, Mud Run 2012 was more of a recreational break. The USP of the event was that the run was designed as an individual task with obstacles that had to be to be overcome by the participant. Since this was not a competition, there were no rules, regulations, or strategies to be adopted to come first.


The course for the run was 3 laps of a 1.5 km circuit. The obstacles that made this run challenging included Pitfalls, Slides, Facing the Dark, Belly Crawl, Art of Balance, Jumping in the Pond, Bridge Crossing, Mud Pits, Slithering, and Fire Path amongst others.

“It was awesome. Initially when we landed at the location, I thought it would not live up to my expectations, but as the run commenced every moment was a surprise with lot of adventurous tasks. Me and my five other friends had a blast at the event. Looking forward for more such events”, commented Amulya Reddy, a participant.

The photographers were doing their best to be present everywhere and capture the action on the ground and this lead to them being as coated in mud as the participants.

“The term Mud Run in itself sounds unique and grabs the attention of any individual. I entered the field with excitement. I was enchanted to see the directions and obstacles created for the participants. As a photographer it was fascinating for me to capture the expressions, enjoyment, gestures and mud splash among others”, commented Rama Raju, Founder, Hyderabad Photogs.


Volunteers also acted as part time cheer leaders on the field as they directed and exhorted the participants to complete their tasks. Towards the end even the volunteers and organizers gave a shot at the run.

“I had sufficient experience with Marathon and wanted to experience new avenues. This Mud Run was challenging for me as it had obstacles. Though I was a volunteer, I gave it a shot in the end and could begin to understand the  level of excitement that prevailed amongst the participants”, stated Tejasvini, Volunteer, GHAC.

The credit for this recreational venture goes to all the contestants for participating in the first ever Mud Run to be held in the Twin Cities. The volume of participation and the sustained enthusiasm levels came as a pleasant surprise to the organizers.

“The plan was initiated by Aleem Quadri, Organizer, GHAC. Around 30 people volunteered in making arrangements. 3 Months of constant effort culminated in this event. The expectations were about gathering about 50 participants, but the event turned out to be much bigger than was expected. The best part was participants liked it and are expecting something bigger next time. We promise to come back with a much bigger event”, stated Faisal Ahmed, Organizer, GHAC.

Kudos to the organizers and volunteers for conducting such an event that bettered the expectations of all those who participated and also served to act as a great stress buster.

May Hyderabad witness adventure activities of this kind more often.