EVENT: Volkslauf Mud Run: The Ultimate Challenge

[Isaac N]

Event Name: Volkslauf Mud Run: The Ultimate Challenge

Event URL: http://www.volkslauf.com/

Event Location: Bakersfield, CA

Event Details: Dominic particularly enjoyed the Volkslauf Mud Run, and many of his

friends and family choose to honor his memory through competing in this event annually. As of

8/17/10 there are 5 teams of Team Bring It! and more who are signing up as individuals and

plan to race as teams! Go Team Bring It!

Registration Info: http://www.volkslauf.com/registration.htm

Event History: "Early in 1997 a small group of Marines
got together and decided to design a 10K run which would be, shall we say, out
of the “ordinary”…challenging, motivating and fun for all age groups. It almost
goes without saying that right away the idea of incorporating the traditional
Marine Obstacle Course into the run was a given. From there, almost endless
ideas sprang forth regarding the design and feasibility of truly challenging
obstacles spread throughout the 10K course.

The first Bakersfield VOLKSLAUF was constructed on property south of the town
of Arvin, California in 1997 from materials donated and “scrounged” from
businesses and individuals willing to participate in a truly worthwhile venture
sponsoring Toys for Tots. VOLKSLAUF I came off without a hitch in the fall of
1997 and even the Marines were pleasantly surprised with the turnout: over 200
runners and several hundred very curious onlookers.

During the winter of 1998 the Southern San Joaquin Valley, and most of
California, experienced the deluge of El Nino and the VOLKSLAUF course was
literally covered with three feet of silt which was carried onto the property
by previously long dry creeks which overflowed their banks onto the property.
With Herculean effort the Marines were faced once again with constructing the
course and repairing several damaged obstacles. As a result, VOLKSLAUF II was
even a bigger success than VOLKSLAUF I: over 600 runners enjoyed the challenge.

VOLKSLAUF III in 1999 saw the Course south of Arvin abandoned as the property
owner lost the lease on the land. Unfazed, the Marines, for the third straight
year, were tasked with building the course but had no place to build it until
then Kern County Sheriff, Carl Sparks, volunteered land adjacent to the
Sheriff’s Lerdo Jail Facility on Lerdo Highway north of Bakersfield. Not long
after moving to Lerdo we began the Jr. Volkslauf for our young “Marines” ages 4
yrs to 11 yrs, with obstacles just like the “big” Volkslauf. Many of those
early Jr. Volkslauf runners are now participating in the adult version of the
race…go figure! We remained at the Lerdo location until 2008 when we were asked
to vacate the property to make room for a proposed jail expansion
project.

2009 promised to be a “challenge” in that we had nowhere to go…again. We tried,
really we did, to put on a 2009 Volkslauf but just didn’t have the “logistical
support” we needed in order to remove our obstacles from Lerdo, find another
site and re-build our obstacles and get it all done by race time. Thanks to
Kern County Airport Director Jack Gotcher we obtained our present site. Thanks
also to Terry Lease and Kara Barton from Kern County General Services and Ted
James from Kern County Planning, we were able to successfully navigate
ourselves through the maze of seemingly endless paperwork and permits involved
in obtaining our lease. Were it not for their tireless assistance I’m sure we’d
still be wondering exactly what to do next.

Fourteen years, about 15,000 runners and untold curious spectators later the
Volkslauf Committee can look back to past Volkslauf events where we had an
Abrams M1A1 tank, a CH-46, UH-1, AH-1 and WW II vintage AT-6’s provide static
and fly-by excitement. We even had GySgt. R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket, Lock
And Load) on hand to thrill the crowd with his unforgettable presence. We’ve
had Civil War re-enactors on hand with their cannon to start the race and the
Kern County Fire Dept. to “cool” off the runners with a good dousing from their
hoses during and after the race as well as the “colors” suspended high in the
air beneath a ladder truck.

Today Volkslauf still brags about having truly challenging obstacles with names such
as HAPPY VALLEY, CHU LAI, HUE CITY, STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, PELELIU, DEVIL DOG’S
DITCH, TENARU RIVER CROSSING and everyone’s favorite, THE WALL. Is it any
wonder why, with all that water and mud on the course, it has been suggested
that Volkslauf is the most fun you can have, legally, with your clothes on?"

(Event History Copied from: http://www.volkslauf.com/event_history.htm)

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