Above: Participants crawl through some cool, refreshing slop during a test run of the Rock Solid Mud Run course. The event will be held Aug. 6 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park on a course designed by active-duty U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chris Roe. Below: The Rock Solid Mud Run challenges athletes to “unleash their alter egos,” and that includes splashing in one of the lakes at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. The water barrels are among the military-style obstacles that dot the 5- and 10-mile courses.OLD BRIDGE — Grant Wiley, a New York-based actor and former Minnesota Vikings linebacker, has no real inhibitions and easily embraced the challenge.
Adrienne Smith and Beth Trigani come from wildly different backgrounds, but they, too, have tested the 5- and 10-mile courses for the Aug. 6 Rock Solid Mud Run at Old Bridge Township’s Raceway Park.
Smith owns and operates Harlem Hip- Hop Tours and plays for the Boston Militia professional women’s football team. Colts Neck resident Trigani tutors privately and at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, helping students with learning disabilities, all while nurturing four children and leading a Girl Scout troop of 10-year-olds.
The idea of running, swimming, crawling, climbing and jumping while covering four motocross tracks, hundreds of acres of woods, three lakes and two asphalt racetracks appealed to them for different reasons.
During a recent test run, Wiley attacked the course with the same gusto as when he was a gung-ho NFL rookie, crashing through an offensive line like a wrecking ball through an urban-renewal project.
“It’s like running around in the woods. You’re just free with nature,” he said. “You’re able to challenge yourself and jump over stuff. It’s like being a kid. It really brings out that little boy — when I was growing up outside of Philadelphia, I used to play war in the woods and build forts. It’s that kind of fun.”
For Smith, the draw of such an intensely physical test is pushing herself to the limit, yet helping others who are struggling, “falling and tripping but still working hard.” It’s what she called “the triumph of the human spirit that’s so moving and so rewarding.”
Trigani’s motivation is simple.
“I want to be a good example to my kids,” the 41-year-old said.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chris Roe designed the courses, and Raceway Park President Michael Napp made a few additions. The routes feature obstacles, lake crossings, walls, a tunnel crawl and a slippery hill climb.
Both Roe and Napp said no one should be ashamed if they do not perform every obstacle with ease.
“It’s for all levels of fitness,” Napp said, adding, “If you’re ‘rock solid’ and you can do 20miles running no problem, then maybe this 10 miles will be just enough for you. If you’re a little bit of a beginner at it and this is something you want to try to do, there’s a short version of the course.”
Roe, who has served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, agreed.
“Everybody has different abilities. I expect a lot of people won’t be able to do all the obstacles, to be honest. I made them tougher than most people will find in a mud run. I expect people to try them and if they can’t get it, then … they gave their shot, then they go, they move on. When they finish the race, they can say, ‘Wow, I did that.’
“I want to stress that it’s not a race. It’s a challenge,” Roe said. “The obstacle course is set up so that everything on the right side is harder than everything on the left side.”
The Rock Solid Mud Run is open to individuals and teams categorized as friends, military, firefighter/EMS, police, corporate, and sports organization.
Registration is online only at www.Rock- SolidMudRun.com.
The entry fee is $99 for the long course and $65 for the short course. Spectator tickets are $15. Volunteers are admitted for free.
Rock Solid Sports will donate a portion of its profits to the Semper Fi Fund. The charity was established to provide injured service members and their families with immediate financial aid and quality-of-life solutions.