It was a Saturday morning at the end of July and I had mud in the most unnatural areas of my body.

My shoes weighed 4 pounds and I had just expertly charged over a giant bundle of hay only to trip over my own two feet and face plant in front of all my friends.

I was a participant in Mud Wars, a 5K obstacle race in Chicago in which I was challenged physically and mentally in a journey through mud, hurdles, hay, monkey bars and various other obstacles.

I first heard of obstacle races in 2009 when my older brothers participated in the first Warrior Dash in Joliet, Ill., (shoutout to my hometown). Since then, the mud race phenomenon has exploded with obstacle races taking place all over the world. Now the Warrior Dash hosts over 30 races a year in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

These races challenge people physically because they need to be fit enough to make it through various obstacles and mentally because they need the push to keep going. They are better than marathons because they are fun and exciting, can be a team competition and challenge different parts of your body.

I took to Google and found a site called “Mudrun411.com”:http://www.mudrun411.com/, which tells you everything you need to know and features a calendar with mud runs across the nation. There are approximately 10 different races across the U.S. during weekends in September. Each race advertises itself as more intense than others with lots of capitals and exclamation points, which clearly makes something way more intimidating.

“It’s guaranteed that you will be a filthy, MUDDY mess by the time you reach the finish line.” — “Kalamazoo Mud Run”:http://kalamazoomudrun.com/Home.aspx. I’m pretty sure that applies to all races because if you’re not brown from head to toe, you’re obviously not macho enough.

“For anyone that is brave enough to challenge The Goliath.” — “Goliath Challenge”:http://www.goliathchallenge.com/race-description/. OK, what type of Goliath are we talking about here? That would affect how worried I should be.

“Hell Run is a mud crawling, obstacle conquering, beer drinking run to hell and back.” — “Hell Run”:http://www.hellrun.com/seattle/. You get to say you’ve made it to hell and back in this one, so I’m sold.

“The Raging Bull course is a down-and-dirty, thrill-packed, mind-blowing, muscle-bulging, heart-pumping adventure course.” — “Toro Loco Challenge”:http://torolocochallenge.com/. I’m equally scared of the race and the amount of adjectives that fit into the description.

“Please only consider this adventure style race if you have lived a full life to date.” — “Spartan Death Race”:http://www.spartanrace.com/spartan-death-race-vermont.html. That’s not morbid- or nightmare-producing or anything.

Most of the races help fund some different charity and beer is typically served at the finish line. Because anyone who just got electrocuted needs a beer, badly. These races are varying distances, starting at the 5K mark, with the Death Race taking two days. They all provide a variety of different obstacles with mud being the most consistent. Some offer easier versions based on an individual’s difficulty level. And you can always skip an obstacle, but that just makes you a wimp.

The “Tough Mudder”:http://toughmudder.com/ is what I call the Ironman of mud races. It seems to be one of the most universally known and well-respected races out there.

It’s a 10-12 mile course with obstacles like sprinting up a quarter pipe — coated with mud and grease called Everest — sliding on frigid ice with live wires above you and hauling a log half a mile. I’ve heard that if you complete the Tough Mudder, you are capable of any challenge the world has to offer, physically or mentally.

My brother did one recently, and he said he felt accomplished, but it was going to take some time to recover. He said maybe it would be a once a year type of thing. Then there’s my friend Danny, who did his Tough Mudder and will never do it again.

The Tough Mudder pledge sums up mud races: “I understand that a Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time. I do not whine — kids whine. I help my fellow runners complete the course. I overcome all fears.”

It’s as if once you complete a mud race you join some sort of secret society. You are among the few survivors who made it through these obstacles. If someone asks you what a Tough Mudder is, you can respond, “Oh I did that, no big deal, brah,” when everybody knows it’s a big deal.

It’s better than completing an intense physical race like a marathon, Ironman or climbing a mountain. You are tested in physical strength, power of survival and teamwork skills.

The race I competed in was a disorganized mess — it was advertised as a 5K, but we don’t even think it was a mile long; the obstacles broke mid-challenge; the line was almost two hours long. You didn’t even have to wait in it and the charities it was supporting didn’t even know what this event was — but that didn’t matter.

What mattered to us was the fact that we survived, that we were physically and capable and that we did it together.

We ultimately received all of our money back because it was such a disaster.

My favorite moment of my experience was at the end when all of the participants washed themselves off in Lake Michigan and the water turned completely brown. Legitimate swimmers looked on with a mixture of confusion and distaste.

Obviously, they were not survivors.

_Emily is a graduate student in Library Science. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyBayci._