The Dirty Dash 5k & 10k run will be held Sept. 17 and 24 in Salt lake City.
The worlds muddiest race will benefit the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The race consists of an obstacle course that integrates terms from the pig pen such as “Slop and Slide” and “Hog Hollow.” Thousands of participants came last year and this has become a Utah tradition for residents and students alike since September 2010. The Dirty Dash 5k &10k race was started in Utah and Idaho and three out of the four founders are BYU graduates.
Public Relations manager Scott Crandal, said he and his partners wanted to do something that would benefit the community and be fun for everyone to participate in.
“The idea of the Dirty Dash was to make running the 5k fun, and to kinda make fun of the 5k,” Crandall said. “We’re not giving prizes for the fastest runner, but [we are] for the best costume or the best mustache.”
Crandall said many students and faculty at BYU participated in the Dirty Dash held in June.
BYU graduate Josh Arnold said that he is going to do it with his family who found out about the event last year.
“Yeah it’s a race but we are doing it for the giant mud fight,” Arnold said.
Whitney King, a resident of Salt Lake City, registered for the race on Sept. 24. She said that you can’t go wrong with being able to play in the mud. With her group of friends King has registered as a team that will compete against other teams throughout the state. Other teams that will be competing will be Sprint, SkyWest, Fox 13 and Real Salt Lake.
“We had a great turn out last time but we are always wanting more people to join,” Crandall said. “You don’t have to do the race if you don’t want to … you can buy water balloons and throw them at the runners from the sideline.”
Crandall said the event will also have other activities outside of the race that people will be able participate in.
“We are going to have a DJ hosting the event,” Crandall said. “[He] will be playing all day.”
Crandall said the Dirty Dashers like to keep the world clean, so registration for the races can be done online at thedirtydash.com. Registration is open to the day of the race but must be done online, fees for the race are are $55 per participant. BYU students can use “byucougars” as a promo code for a 20 percent discount when they register.
Both September races will be held at Soldier Hollow 2002 Olympic Drive in Midway with the first wave starting at 11 a.m.
