Wranglers Run the Gauntlet & Emerge Filthy

By Pfc. Sean McGuireMay 3, 2010

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1 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A Soldier pulls himself up a mud hill as he inched closer to the finish line at the Family Mud Run near Cowhouse Creek on Fort Hood, Texas May 1. The Armed Services YMCA event invited Soldiers and families to run an obstacle course of muddy proportio... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Lt. Col. John Hickey, 4th Brigade Troops Battalion commander, pulls himself up a mud hill as he inched closer to the finish line at the Family Mud Run near Cowhouse Creek on Fort Hood, Texas May 1. The Armed Services YMCA event invited Soldiers and f... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Chad Towle, a truck driver for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Troops Battalion, charges uphill at the Family Mud Run near Cowhouse Creek on Fort Hood, Texas May 1. Soldiers and families competed for prizes and bragging rights... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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FORT HOOD, Texas - Filthy and exhausted is apparently how Fort Hood Soldiers and Families like to spend their Saturday mornings. Or just on the day of the mud run.

The fourth annual Armed Services YMCA Family Mud Run took place May 1, inviting all willing participants to maneuver the notoriously messy obstacle course. The ASYMCA had plenty of food and drinks for those in attendance and the 1st Cavalry Division Dixie Land Band added music to the mix.

The 4th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) helped set up the event by providing water, medic personnel, and constructing the muddy course.

The Wrangler Team also provided countless competitors for the events that included: four-man teams, 25-man teams, individuals, walkers, and kids races. Among them was the 4th Brigade Troops Battalion commander, Lt. Col. John Hickey, and his son Joe. Hickey joked with his son prior to taking to the course that the mud run was "a great excuse to get really dirty and not have mom get mad afterwards."

Participants started at the sound of a trumpet. Within the first few feet of the race, some people found themselves face-first in puddles of mud before they ever crossed Cowhouse Creek and barreled up and under obstacles.

"That course must've been over three miles. By the end I was practically in a coma - I was so tired," said Spc. Chad Towle, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th BTB. To Towle's claim, he didn't even notice his picture being taken or the screams of encouragement near the end.

The final leg of the course featured a 20-foot stretch of water to low crawl through and a steep mound to jump over. It vanquished anyone's hopes of escaping total ruin of their clothes.

"We did this for fun," said Spc. Timothy Hardy who was on a four-man team from the 502nd Human Resource Co, 4th BTB. "Our strategy was to stay together. That's it. I had to go back to get some guys and help them keep moving though."