Dirty Dash!

A few weeks ago Dave, Josh and most of my siblings and my mom had a unique Saturday morning.  They participated in the Dirty Dash.  The Dirty Dash is a 10K race.  Now it is not your typical race because this race is all about the dirt.  Wet dirt to be exact.  MUD.   

The course is mud, slides, water, marshes, snow, and other obstacles all wrapped into 6.2 miles of fun!  The race took place in beautiful Soldier Hollow where some of the Olympic events took place 9 years ago. 

  

Mitch and Haley were voted most creative for their costumes.  Of course I was the only one voting.  

 Here is Mitch as Superman!  Notice the cute curl!

Here is the clean crew at the beginning of the race.   The t-shirts say We're Great but No One Knows It.  It was our family theme about 30 years ago.  It came from a Girl's Camp song.   Please notice Jacob's short shorts.  Very 1980's Jacob. 

 You start the race by hiking up a huge mud hill which was very slippery.  Apparently Josh was tackled in the first few minutes by Andrew.  At the top of the hill they sprayed all the racers with a fire hose.  So you were cold from the very beginning.  

Not too dirty yet.  The middle kids.  B. Rad, Alli and Andrew.  (Tricia doesn't count as a middle because she thought she was my twin from the very beginning)

 Tricia is doing some kind of Dirty Dash strut here.  They were hiking through one of the muddy rivers.  

 A big mud hole in the road.  Part of the fun was you never knew how deep the puddle was at any given point.  You could be walking next to someone and they disappear up to their neck.  See how muddy Andrew is compared to Brandon.   

 Alli with some stylin glasses.  She was the brave one who took a camera in several ziploc baggies so we could have some pictures of the actual race.  Thanks Alli.  

 Here is one of the least favorite obstacles.  You had to climb through the mud filled tube.  That wasn't the bad part.  

The bad part was that on the other end they were spraying out snow from their snow maker machine. They were freezing cold at this point.  

 They look happy here.  You will see that in the background there is a woman running.  Some people took this race very seriously.

 Here you had to either climb over or under these walls.  This is Alli going under but trying to keep as clean as possible. 

 Here are the boys.  You can see that even when it is not an obstacle it is still a big mud slop of a road. 

 This was their least favorite part of the course.  These are sewer pipes that they are crawling over.  Thye determined this by the horrible smell all around them!  Of course this is the place that Alli slipped into a hole and went in over her head!   NAAAASSSTTTYY!

 Here is the snack station.  Yum!  Muddy jello.  

One of the last obstacles is the giant slide.  Only Dave flew down this thing.  Everyone else had to inch their way down.  (This isn't actually Dave flying.  People can't fly.)

 The kids waited at the big mud pond at the finish line. 

 They collected water balloons to throw at their parents.  They were so excited! 

The racers all waited for each other at the slide so they could finish together.  The first ones in were Josh and Jacob.  (Of course)

 Jenn, B. Rad, Tricia, Andrew, Brandon and Dave were next.  I love how Tricia seems to be trying to be careful going in.  She didn't want to get dirty I suppose...

 The last ones in were Haley, Alli, Mom and Mitch.  

 Wow.  Mom.  You really do not fit in with this crowd!  They are all smiles though except Dave.  

 You see Dave couldn't see.  He was completely blind.  He didn't even know which way to go to get out.  

 B. Rad, Brandon (Who lost a contact)

 Jenn, Mitch,

 Josh,  my baby,

 Mom and Tricia

 Dave still blind.  Mom.

Mitch, Alli, Tricia

 Jenn, Andrew.

 Mitch and Haley

Here is the after photo.

What a fun day for us all!  Thanks Sara and B.Rad!   

Now I am going to post the full video (3 minutes) on youtube for the family to see how lovely they look.  It is too big for blogger.  But I need to preface by telling you that I was holding 2 cameras.  One took all of the pictures that you see above.  The other was my attempt to film but it was really more of a chest cam.  The video camera just rested on my chest and whatever it captures is what you get.  I edited out my running because it would have just made you motion sick.

Just for Fun!

For Alli's birthday the Rencher family went on a hike to Mt. Timpanogas Cave. We started the morning by kidnapping Alli for a birthday breakfast. At least that was the plan. I mean really who gets up early on a Saturday to go to the gym before they go on a big hike! Alli does. Or so we discovered as we sat outside her home at 7:30 with nobody to kidnap. We also discovered that I am not the best liar in the family. Mitch is. We did eventually find her and "kidnap" her and take her to breakfast. The rest of the day was also great! The weather was perfect. The mountain scenery gorgeous. The kids not too bad. The company delightful and the cave was amazing!

One of the highlights for me included Sara screaming almost hysterically when a lizard scampered out from a rock. She thought it was a snake! Another highlight... Because we are so numerous we had to split into 2 tours of the cave. Apparently we got a tour guide who actually knew a lot about the cave. The other group got group therapy and learned nothing about the cave. I am sure in the long run they will be better off because they will have learned to face their fears. I also enjoyed how our tour guide played to Dave's claustrophobia fears by saying things like... This room is more wet because right above us they believe is another cave with a giant lake that is slowly leaking down on us.... or.... If you feel light headed it is because in this spot there is actually less oxygen than in other areas.... or ... You may feel that this wall is closing in on you and that is because it is the fastest growing wall in the cave! If you stood here long enough you would be encapsulated in these walls... Of course you would have to stand here for 3000 years but still....I am really glad I told her that Dave was claustrophobic, This is the "heart of Mt. Timp" This is a cool pond! Isn't it beautiful. Here is a stalactite and stalagmite which grow together at a rate of 1/4" every hundred years. I am glad Alli got a picture so we could compare in 100 years!

PS Thanks to Alli and Jonathan for helping with the photography. Jonathan's include 1 extreme close up, 1 animal and 1 partial removal of a cousin from her family. Alli's include all the really good ones especially the ones inside the cave! Neato Alli!

B. Rad the Part-Time Model

My family gets together every so often for birthdays and celebrations and what not. When we do Alli with her fancy new camera is the designated family photographer. I downloaded some of her fabulous pictures and noticed a trend. It involves B. Rad. It involves B. Rad and the camera.

Let me just show you.

January birthday party for Alex and Ethan.

Adults are sitting and discussing the schedule for the this year.

Kids (and Mitch) are sliding down the stairs.

B. Rad: Hey Alli get a picture of this muscle.

Haley delivers Baby Ben.

We rush to the hospital to meet this little guy...and admire this...and be happy for them...

B. Rad: Hey Alli get me on super fast shutter! We get together to celebrate March Birthdays!

We hold babies.The kids play and hang with their cousins.

We eat dinner and have cake!We celebrate Adam's birthday.

Some of the old people nap.

Joe comes to grips with the fact he is not Tricia's favorite anymore. Looks like he is handling things ok.B. Rad: Hey Alli! I am a part-time model!

Don't quit your day job B. Rad!