16 Kilometers Through Mud
30 September, 2025
Shoes filled with mud, eyes covered with sand, injured knee ligaments, breathlessness, intense calf cramps, what if I told you that this is considered a form of recreation? Let’s say that someone offers you this delightful experience; surely you would decline, right? Well, together with two friends; Soufian and Eric, we decided to do the 16 km Mudmasters obstacle run.
Brainstorming fun activities often results in a muscle memory choice like bowling or going to the cinema. However, when Eric and I were discussing to do something new, something we haven’t done before, he came up with a genius idea. Why not join the 2025 Mud Masters edition in Biddinghuizen. With slight hesitation, I agreed to join and we ordered the tickets. Well supposedly, but we all delayed the purchase until the last moment, due to the high likelihood of the plan falling through. However, finally, we were all in, and on September 27, 2025, we were on our way.
On the day of the event, we drove for one hour and arrived at the venue. The weather was pleasant, slightly cold but bearable. We placed our bags in the wardrobe and discussed our preparation; apparently, nobody trained for this run. we rushed to the collective warm-up located at the starting line, where the announcer was keeping the crowd busy with some energetic chants. I tightened my sneakers and joined in with the group of people. The atmosphere was positive, and the group was optimistic. I could not avoid it, a thought kept entering my mind, will this 5-minute workout be enough to compensate my lack of preparation? The announcer fired his gun to signal the start. A moment of silence fell over me, followed by the sound of a rushing crowd.
The first few obstacles required a lot of muscle power, and as soon as I entered the forest, the muddy roads made my running shoes heavier, jogging became more tiresome. Fortunatly, the fresh cold air kept me going forward. Around 6 kilometers, Soufian started to slow down, and he decided, after a 10 meter dive in a cold lake, that this race was over for him, meanwhile, Eric and I continued forward; there were still 10 kilometers left to go.
After many painful obstacles and a long run in the forest, we made it to 10 kilometers. I felt my knees slowly giving in, a creeping feeling in my left knee cavity made me reminiscence about my last run in a forest few month before, where I got an knee injury. It had recovered but managed to find its way back during this race. As Eric was pushing on with ease, I was forced to walk. There were just 6 kilometers to go, and I was not willing to quit. However, these last kilometers were going to be painful, and the farther we got, the harder it became. At the 15 kilometer mark, the organizers had set up an ice bath obstacle. Once we got through it, the next obstacle, a large wall, wasn’t too far away. Eric stood at the base; I placed my feet in his hands, and he launched me up to the top. I intended to pull him up afterward, but just as I climbed the wall, my calves seized, hitting me with the worst cramp imaginable. My calf muscle literally caved in, looking like a dented soda can. Eric saw me disappear from view but managed to climb the wall with the help of a nearby racer. I waited out the cramp and finally managed to move forward, though you could hardly call it walking anymore. The final hundred meters were in sight, with just a little bit left to go
My jaws were shaking and my skin felt numb due to the cold. We ran the last hundered meters and finally managed to cross the finish line, where Soufian was waiting to take a photo. We felt proud, and were gifted a Mud Masters t-shirt as a memory for this terrible experience. Despite the pain, the cold, and the cramps, as we held those t-shirts, I realized why people do this. It’s the only way to feel this specific type of alive. The next morning, trying to get out of bed, I realized that my knees hadn’t forgiven me. Walking down stairs was a challenge, but looking at the muddy shoes drying in the backgarden, I knew it was worth it.