By Ashley Anderson
People from around Utah can get down and dirty Saturday at the Dirty Dash, which will be held at Soldier Hollow in Midway.
Last Saturday, the first day of the Dirty Dash was held. Since organizers knew the event would be popular, they planned a second day for the event.
Approximately 4,000 people participated in the Dirty Dash last weekend. Organizers said they are anticipating another 4,000 participants to race in Saturday’s Dirty Dash.
The Dirty Dash is a 10K race that is not a normal race. It also has obstacles where participants can play in the mud and not worry about the fact they are dirty but enjoy it.
Megan Call, a local participant, loved how the event was a chance to race in mud and do something out of the ordinary.
“It’s not every day you run through mud,” Call said. “Everybody is out of their element and you don’t really care that you are dirty.”
Abraham Kim, a sophomore from Sandy, majoring in biology, also participated in the race and expressed his favorite part was getting dirty.
“I love getting dirty in a non-dirty way,” Kim said.
The race consists of several obstacles including an inflatable slide, rope swings and walls and ends with two giant pools of mud for the participants to jump in.
For many of the runners, the obstacles with the mud are what make the race fun; however, every participant has their own different favorite obstacle.
Kim said his favorite obstacles were the ones with the most mud.
“I really liked the walls,” Kim said. “They had a lot of mud and were physically exerting.”
Kim also liked the obstacles where he could have fun.
“I also really liked going through Deer Creek because you could just mess around,” Kim said.
On the other hand Call had a different, cleaner favorite part of the race.
“I loved the slip ‘n slide,” Call said. “Even though it wasn’t really muddy, it was really fun.”
Participants of all ages can run in the race. A fun feature of the race is runners can participate in teams. There were many large groups of college students in the race last weekend.
Many people dressed in costumes. Popular costumes included ballerinas, pigs and superheroes.
The Dirty Dash was founded by John Malfatto. He created this race to add a fun element to running.
“I don’t like running,” Malfatto said. “I thought it would be something to make running more fun, and it has caught on.”
Malfatto said his favorite part of the Dirty Dash is getting people to be active and seeing the participants have a fun time.
“I like to get people off the couch,” Malfatto said. “The Dirty Dash is about having a good time and not being looked down upon by people who are fast.”
Call agrees the Dirty Dash is a way to run a race but enjoy it while participating.
“It is different from any other race,” Call said. “It’s not just running, it’s more fun.”
The Dirty Dash will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. Sign up by visiting thedirtydash.com.
