When Grand Mananer Susan Benson posted a tentative inquiry on an island Facebook page in April, she had no idea what kind of response she would get. The query as to whether anyone would be interested in doing a mud run if one was organized generated surprising enthusiasm, and on Friday, July 29, the inaugural Rotary Mud Run was held, drawing 130 participants, including some from the mainland, and quite a few spectators.
     For those unfamiliar with the concept, a mud run is an obstacle course through mud or boggy terrain, and Grand Manan has the perfect location for one at the Thoroughfare, the passage between Grand Manan and Ross Island, which is exposed at low tide.
     To create the obstacles, Benson recruited her husband Morton and workers from the family's fishery business. In short order, they created a 4‑kilometre course with tightropes, a rope maze, a web crawl, piles of salmon cage compensator buoys, a slip‑and‑slide, and an up‑and‑over, which had participants climbing over a tractor trailer with ropes and ladders. Other volunteers helped with registration and organizing, with about 25 helpers altogether. "I couldn't have done it without them," Benson says. Much of the course was unique to Grand Manan, with the compensators and the natural mud in the nearby lobster pound.
     Benson is a runner herself and was delighted to have The Running Room in Saint John sponsor the event. They brought the start/finish gate, a clock and a sound system, as well as donating gift certificates for a prize draw. "We're just a little island, but they made our race feel really professional," she says. "They treated us like it was a big mainland event."
     All ages participated. One mother carried her two‑year‑old on her back. The next youngest runner was five, and there was also a family of 13, including grandparents and grandchildren. The first runners crossed the line in about 20 minutes, the last in two and a half hours, but Benson says, "Everyone did it and no one gave up or went back." There were no major injuries, although quite a few sneakers were lost in Leap‑Frog Bog, leaving their owners to finish the course in their socks. The first three finishers were Alex Murray, Tyler Ralph and Zoe Ingalls. All the participants received a medal. "I only ordered 100," Benson says, so she has had to order more. "I never dreamed" so many people would show up. "People enjoyed it. Looking at the pictures, every single face shows people having fun. It was a huge success, above and beyond what I expected."
     After expenses, about $2,000 was raised for the island Rotary club. She would like to do it again, and the Grand Manan mud run may well become another Rotary Festival tradition.