Mud slide: Racers wallow at high speed through Dirty Dash 2017

People sloshed, stumbled and slid through the mud Saturday as they got down and dirty in the annual Dirty Dash in Riverside State Park.

“The whole thing is like pigs in the mud,” said organizer Meaghan Hughes of Sack Lunch Productions. The Spokane Dirty Dash is one of several offered in the western United States every year.

Water was trucked in to make mud patches and pits in Riverside’s ORV park, where people climbed over obstacles, crawled through tubes and slid down slides as they made their way through a five mile course. Some teams braved the swampy terrain in elaborate matching costumes, while others got their mud on in tutus.

One team of young men dressed as grandmas caused quite a stir as everyone came over to take their pictures. “It’s like a costume mud party,” said Hughes. “There’s a girl here with a wedding dress on.”

Groups of participants started every 20 minutes Saturday morning. Most walked between obstacles, but the more adventurous, like Heidi Plough, ran. “There’s a lot more running through it than I thought,” she said. “It was fun. Lots of mud.”

It was Plough’s first time at the event and she said she’d probably do it again. “I’d probably like it in the spring, when it’s not hot,” she said.

Organizers did place water stations every mile so people wouldn’t get dehydrated in the heat. Paramedics were also on hand to deal with any injuries.

“Usually it’s ankles, broken and twisted ankles,” said Hughes.

At times you had to wait for the crowds to clear at obstacles, said participant Kelsey Simonson. People got different levels of filthy and the soapy water at one of the features near the end of the course did nothing for cleanliness. “The closest you get to clean is running through more dirty water,” Simonson said.

There were, however, showers at the end of the race for those who wanted to hose off the worst of the grime.