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Do you love adventure, obstacles and lots and lots of mud. If you are eight then the answer is probably a resounding YES! Fruitshoot Mini Mudder is definitely for you. A fun obstacle course designed to put children through their paces. We took part in the course at the picturesque Belvoir Castle in May and had an amazing time.
Mini Mudder is held at the same time as the Tough Mudder event for adults. That is an extreme fitness course full of obstacles, electric shocks and yes you’ve guess it – lots and lots of mud. It is a brilliant idea to have something for children at the same event. They were really interested and inspired by the adults taking part, although they were a bit worried about the electric shocks. It would be amazing to cheer on your child in the Mini Mudder before going on to compete yourself.
Before the Mini Mudder begins there is a really fun warm up. This is great for warming up your body but also for team building. The whole Mud Run philosophy is that you are one big team and you support and help each other. The warm up really begins that process as the children are encourage to high five and pat each other on the back. They also took the Mini Mudder pledge:
Mini Mudders…
…like getting muddy.
…are tough and strong.
…always work together.
…do not whine. Babies whine.
…are up for adventure.
…can do anything.
The course itself looks great fun, with tunnels and slides and monkey bars. It offers a good range of obstacles to tackle. The Mini Mudder is a mile course with four laps. There are ten obstacles per lap. Some are easier than others and there are lots of helpers on each obstacle cheering the children on and helping them if they get stuck.
The hardest obstacle on the course is the Mini Everest. You have to run as fast as you can and jump up a high wall. This took most of the children a few goes especially on the last round when they were tired. I really loved how the children were encouraged to stop and help each other, no matter how much they wanted to finish. It was wonderful to see them collaborating rather than competing.
As well as the obstacles you do have to run to get around the course. Of course the parents have to run too to keep up!
The course is really fun for spectators as well as participants. There are clearly roped off areas where you can watch. We had to keep a close eye on this little piggy who kept wanted to jump in the mud.
There are a couple of areas where you can slow down a bit and catch your breath. You could tell all the children loved weaving in between these brightly coloured ropes.
Each obstacle offers a sense of achievement. The crazy climb was where you had to jump over some large hay bales.
Of course the best part is that moment when you run over the finish line. It doesn’t matter if you are the first person or the last – the main thing in the Mini Mudder is finishing.
I think anyone who completes this course deserves to feel very proud of themselves. The event also supports Right to Play. On the website it says: “In recognition of all our Fruit Shoot Mini Mudders in 2016, we will make a donation to Right To Play, whose aim is to educate and empower children facing adversity through sports and games.”
When you finish you are given a bottle of Fruitshoot Hydro and a race headband. There is also a fruitshoot stop on the course so you can get a drink.
You also get a big pile of muddy clothes. There are showers for a quick wash after. When I say showers I mean a few hoses set up and the water is cold. You have to be pretty tough just to brave the showers.
My Mini Mudder had one more obstacle to complete before we finished the day. We were a bit late arriving and I wasn’t really paying attention to where we parked. So we had a bit of a search to find our car. Oops. Luckily she had a little bit of energy left to carry her sister, who couldn’t walk anymore. This is a challenge we definitely want to take part in again. Next time I would like to go up the day before and visit the beautiful Belvoir Castle and surrounding countryside. Maybe we can even persuade someone in the family to take part in the Tough Mudder at the same time.
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