The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
5-mile, mud-filled race makes return to CNY
The Daniel Barden Mudfest will challenge racers with mud, obstacles and more at the end of the month.
DEANSBORO>> Are you ready to get muddy?
Runners, spectators and volunteers are preparing for the time of their life at the fifth annual Daniel Barden Mudfest. The event, which has been coined “the Boilermaker’s Dirty Little Brother,” is happening Saturday, April 29 at MKJ Farm. The event features a 5-mile race, 5K run and a kids’ half-mile obstacle course.
Each course features both natural and manmade obstacles including mud-filled pits, water logged terrain, hills, monkey bars and ropes courses. The 5-mile race is a timed event at 9 a.m., targeting competitive athletes. The 5K run is for people of all abilities with heats starting at 10 a.m., with the last heat at 11:30 a.m. The kids obstacle heats start at 11 a.m.
Spectators and athletes will be treated to music including along the course including Gary Robertson Jr., and outside the big barn including Irish band Simple Props, Grit n’ Grace, Alternate Universe, Crushing June and Third Stone Blues featuring a special guest. DJs from WOUR and K-Rock, along with Rockin’ Ron, will entertain runners along the course. Local fare including Ray Brothers BBQ and local fare from the Celtic Harp will satisfy everyone’s post-event appetites.
The Mudfest proceeds will benefit the Daniel Barden Adventure Scholarship. Winners will participate in a 78-mile canoe leadership experience through the Adirondacks in July. As part of the application process, teens name a charity that affects them in some way. The Mudfest will donate equally to the charities named.
Last year, 15 eighth-graders from Central New York and Connecticut pushed themselves to unimagined lengths as they paddled, camped and meditated in the Adirondack wilderness.
Daniel Barden was one of the first-graders killed in the Sandy Hook, Conn. tragedy in December 2012. Aniece of the organizers of the event was inside Sandy Hook Elementary School that day. She escaped physically unharmed; her dear friend and next-door neighbor Daniel did not. Daniel was a kind and gentle child who touched the hearts of everyone he met. Athletes may register for the Daniel Barden Mudfest at www. bardenmudfest.org until midnight on Thursday, April 28 or the morning of the event at MKJ Farm.