September 15th, 2018 the morning was crisp and light, perfect for a mud run. New England Dragway would hold the Raymond Area Rotary Club’s 5th Annual Thunder Run, which is a 5k charity obstacle mud run that raises money from scholarships to disaster relief. About 300 people would fight through the course all for a wonderful cause. This was TFMoran’s first year participating and was organized by team captain Jenn Clark. Team shirts were designed featuring the new TFMud Slides logo on the front and “50” on the back, signifying TFMoran’s 50th Anniversary year.
10 seconds until the start time, team TFMud Slides were getting in their last stretches and warmups eagerly anticipating what muddy obstacles awaited them. The ten TFMoran employees began their mud battle through a hilly motorcross track. They hit their first stop at a stone carry followed by tire flipping. They proceeded to crawl through mud and take a dip in muddy waters which would have them climbing over logs . Following that, they balanced on a series of slippery trunks of fallen trees across a river and even crawled in an underground tunnel filled with water. The race continued into the woods where they glided, or more or less stumbled, through chest deep water with some parts of the water almost going over their heads. Trudging through thick muddy trails, the team worked together to get through and luckily no one lost their shoes in the sludge! At each obstacle, the team waited for each other and helped one another making sure no one was left behind. After each obstacle was completed, everyone high fived and encouraged each other to push on. Climbing ropes, scaling walls, walking a tight rope and sprinting up and down hills, the run was nothing short of intense and action packed. Finally, reaching the finish line, everyone took a turn sliding down a muddy watered slip and slide each cheering everyone on. Together they ran through the finish line and completed the Thunder Run 5k with mud everywhere and a smile on everyone’s face. Starving from the race, the team went to The Holy Grail to celebrate, eat and cheers to the team’s success and to contributing to a good cause.
Will there be another mud run in the future for this team? Absolutely.