LATHROP - There are mud baths and then there is the Survivor Mud Run

Some 10,000 competitors in waves of 300 that paid $57 apiece for the opportunity sloshed through, slid into, walked over and crawled through mud, mud, and more mud Saturday and Sunday at Dell’Osso Farms as part of the Northern California Survivor Mud Run.

“I ended up with mud caked in my ears,” said Manteca’s Teri Farrell. “I ended up getting a little bit messier than I thought. But you can do a normal run anytime – getting to run through a mud course like this is something unique.”

The 3.47-mile event billed as a “hellish run” included 16 grueling obstacle challenges, up-and-down hill elevations and tons upon tons of mud.

“I talked to a lot of people that said that they loved the experience and they’d do it again and others that said they crossed it off the bucket list,” Farrell said. “After we were done we went back to the house and told war stories and talked about doing it again next year… My favorite part was the slide. You went down and ended up landing in this big mud puddle and it came after this long period without much water. The walls and the net obstacles were fun too. The monkey bars weren’t my favorite.”

The 20-acre Dell ‘Osso Farms was filled with tents and trailers, featuring food booths, beer vendors and other fun events and games the accompany a festival atmosphere

“We are very pleased,” event coordinator Kevin Sartin said. “The turnout has been well; we could not have asked for better weather and everyone is having a great time. It has definitely been a muddy blast, for sure.”

Contestants were caked with signs of the mud run, completing the event covered from head-to-toe in mud. Some event participants attacked the lengthy obstacle course with a goal in mind and others simply enjoyed an afternoon of exercise in the mud.

“It was a lot more than I expected,” Michelle Dalisay from Tracy said. “It was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun. People were really encouraging and it was cool because it was so muddy. I didn’t what to expect. I went online and thought I’d be pretty clean; I definitely didn’t think I’d be getting this muddy.”

Contestants showed up from as far south as San Diego and as far north as Chico. The bulk of the competitors were out of the Bay Area and Sacramento with some coming as far as Nevada.

“If I had it my way, which is not often the case, we would be here every year,” Sartin said