Over 400 pax converged at the Leatherneck Course in Gaston, SC for the 2015 Fall Edition of the Super Bowl of F3 – THE LEGENDARY ULTIMATE CHALLENGE MUD RUN. This was a year of the “First”. The fact that this was YHC’s first EVER MudRun was completely overshadowed by much more worthy “First” acknowledgements.
Thanks to the LEAP efforts, we have seen new Shovel Flags planted all across our great land. These new guys jumped to the challenge of the Leatherneck and couldn’t wait to see what the buzz was all about. Several regions had their first ever appearance at the MudRun. We saw new regions representation from Shelby NC; Greenville, NC, Sandhills NC, Jacksonville FL, Alpharetta Ga, Atlanta GA, Sumter SC, Winnsboro SC, Bluffton SC, Myrtle Beach SC, Greenwood SC, and North Augusta SC. We even had several FNGs. We had FNG-Roofie from Greenwood, SexWax from Lexington, Michelle and Woody that made their way from Chicago who are anxiously awaiting LEAP to make the hop to the Windy City. There were some other FNGs that I am leaving out, but I totally missed the Name O Rama (while off trying to makes sense of the finish times). I may even be leaving out a few other regions that tackled the Leatherneck for the first time. Maybe the most humbling site was seeing the shuttle pull in with the 4 teams from the Oliver Gospel Mission. These guys rocked! Seriously have you seen the video of team “F3 Columbia-Mission That’s Possible” with Serena, Fountainhead, PapaSmurf and Buzzcut?
Check it out here: Mission Team Puts on the Superman Cape
Robber has done amazing things with this group from the Mission. Posting at the Mission has become my Saturday favorite for a Double Down and sometimes a Triple Down opportunity. If you are ever in the area, you should really consider stopping by to see what it’s all about. The guys from the Mission who came to the Leatherneck will undoubtedly remember this event as one of the best moments of their lives. These guys are in complete disbelief that all of YOU from F3Nation “have their backs” on their comeback trail as they strive to become better men….
There were some impressive performances from the pax.
- F3 Nation represented the TOP 2 for the overall event.
- 4 F3 Teams were represented in the top 5 overall.
- 5 F3 Teams completed the course in under 1 hour.
- 6 F3 Teams were represented in the top 10 overall.
- 12 F3 Teams were represented in the top 21 overall.
- 10 different F3 Regions were represented in the top 12 F3 Teams.
- F3 represented 107 of the 372 total teams at the MudRun (almost 30%).
- 420 Pax attended the event and MOST of these were first timers (over 300 runners were not repeat runners from the Spring Event).
The #F3BeerBoat would NOT disappoint and presented a bountiful harvest of hops.
OEW was not physically present on site, but we were still able to make our check presentation thanks to all of your donations.
Conditions: 59 and partly cloudy as the day warmed up. Absolutely perfect weather for a CSAUP event
The Thang:
New formal parking spots for the Shovel Flags
- New State Flag Row lined the front of the F3 Tent (12 F3 States)!
- There were all new formal parking spots for all of the Shovel Flags in the “Shovel Flag Village”. What the hell is a Shovel Flag Village? Just trust me and plant them on the white spots!
- UFO sightings turned out be false. It was Napalm piloting a drone to catch never before seen footage of F3 Nation and the Shovel Flags standing tall in proper formation.
Check Presentation for Operation Enduring Warrior-Fountainhead and Napalm presented our check for $2800.00.
Overall MudRun Prayer- Chaser “One day our bodies will be void of strength and energy… but TODAY is NOT that DAY!”. This was folded in gracefully with encouraging words about the flood in and around Columbia from a few weeks prior. Another unforgettable and moving prayer that only Chaser could deliver.
BOM-Dredd – Wow we got to hear Chaser and Dredd knock it out of the park in one day. Everybody except our nephews and Tiny Tim got a shout out here. I think I saw somebody’s leg trembling, but not sure if they were scared or just excited. I think I may have overheard one of the Mission guys say, “dang he’s gonna run with us?”.
Beginning at 8:45, the pax embarked on the 6 mile course featuring 36 obstacles (well one was closed down and marked as too scary I suppose)… It goes without saying that Lewis and Clark may have even drifted off course on this day. “Go left, no right, wait, your going the wrong way, follow the arrow, NO that’s the arrow from LAST year when they ran in reverse, TURN AROUND, let’s just keep moving forward and see if it works out… It was unfortunate that the course markings failed to send us all down the correct path; and that there were not sufficient course guides suggesting the correct direction to take in that creek.
There isn’t really much we can do about this. At the end of the day, this would not overshadow all of the good that came out of this day in the grand scheme of things.
Congratulations to Team F3 Columbia-Hammer for winning the Busted paw AND winning the overall MudRun with the final official time of 50:11:320
Congratulations to Team F3 The Fort-Filthy Animals for placing second (for both F3 Nation AND the overall MudRun with the final official time of 51:22:297
Congratulations to Team F3 Charlotte Metro-Team Biscuit for placing third for F3 and 4th place for the overall MudRun with the final official time of 54:15:070.
The FULL Official Mud Run results can be found in the link below:
***UPDATE: Numerous individuals reached out to me between Monday and Wednesday following the race. The inquiry was about some teams receiving time reductions on their finish times (related to getting lost on the course due to poor course markings). The concern was that some teams received time reductions while others did not. Many teams went the wrong way in the creek. THAT FLAT OUT SUCKS, WE ALL GET IT. This was beyond our control. Today (Wednesday 10-28-2015), I met with the MudRun officials to gather all FACTS about teams that got time reductions. The investigation determined that the first 6 teams to cross the finish line received a 5 minute time reduction (no other teams did). This time reduction was authorized/facilitated by the company responsible tor tracking finishing times via the bib chips. The updated results within both attachments below reflect the official results published by the MudRun; AND what the adjusted results would be if ALL “Time Credits” were removed from these 6 teams. The investigation revealed that there was absolutely no change with the top 4 teams. The only change in finishing times was a swap between the 5th and 6th placed F3 Teams. Bottom line is that nobody cheated, the top 5 F3 teams were still “Bad Ass Fast” and the result are the same no matter how you slice it, peal it or dissect it.
There is a legend at the bottom of each spreadsheet is defined as:
(Red Font=Time was edit)
Black Bold Italics= Rank Increased)
Red Bold Italics= Rank Decreased)
The F3 only Results can be found in the link below(this includes Overall Rank, F3 Nation Rank, F3 State Rank and F3 Region Rank):
Updated-F3 Nation Only Results
Drone Pics from overhead can be viewed in link below:
All Other Pictures from Ranger and the other course photographers can be found in the link below:
***UPDATE all course photos are now available via this drop box link below (Thanks Ranger!)
Moleskin:
HUGE THANKS TO ALL THAT MADE THIS EVENT SUCCESSFUL:
- Sway for the opportunity to Q this event. I think it was a text for Sway that said, “Hey Heist are you ready to give back a little bit?”. I think I said, “sure, do you need me to Q for you or something?” . HA, the rest is history.
- Crash, Robber, Sway and Quisenberry for handing a successful plan and a well oiled machine over to me to manage. Great advice, direction and support was provided along the way. I still remember the lunch at Salsaritas where they unloaded the plethora of details over to me in a matter of 30 minutes and said, “you’ll be fine”. It’s truly a testament to F3Nation and the Qs before me that this event can almost run itself. I sort of feel like I got to fly one of those huge 787 Dreamliners. When I sat in the Pilot’s seat, I realized that the jet was already on autopilot.
- Crash and Sway one mention was not enough. Thanks for all of the daily support via tweets, texts, emails and calls. You really helped to keep me on track and prevented the train from derailing!
- Region MudRun Qs:
- Florida
- Jacksonville- BigBird
- Georgia
- Atlanta-FogHorn
- North Carolina
- Asheville-GoodLuck
- Charlotte MECA-ChickenStrip and Chowder
- Charotte Metro-Razorback
- Charlotte-North/Isotope-Mortimer
- Charlotte South-Mermaid
- Foothills-Abraham
- Gastonia-Bandit
- Greenville NC-CousinIt
- Shelby-GoGreeneGo
- South Carolina
- Bluffton SC-Gambit
- Charleston-Duggar
- Columbia-Myrtle
- Florence-Foxy
- Fort Mill-OldBay
- Greenwood-Juggernaut
- Hartsville-ChuckyCheese
- Lake Murray-FireDaddy
- Lexington-ShadesOfGrey
- Myrtle Beach-OneCall
- Summerville-Picasso
- Sumter-Waco
- Winnesboro-Doobie
- Thanks to all of the Regional Nantan’s as well for help with kick-starting the event and a bit of help along the way. I feel like I left somebody, but I’m truly thankful for all of the help and support each you provided along the way!
- Florida
- Refreshment Q and Beverage Warehousing: LoveSeat.
- BeerBoat Provider: LowDot
- Uhaul Trailer (Refreshment Wagon), Bullhorn, Cooler and Ice Delivery): Smokey.
- Friday Night Prep/ Set up: TuffGuy, LoveSeat and Sway.
- Drone Pilot: Napalm (that was just bad-ass)! Thanks for carving out the time to join us and capture this special event with all that you had going on in your life!!!
- Saturday Set-up/Break Down Before, During, and After the Event: TuffGuy, Smokey, BigTime, TwinkleToes, LoveSeat, OnRamp, LowDot
- Photographer Q: Ranger
- Additional Photographers: Turnbuckle, Dunphy, Amanda Smith, Jennifer Gibbons (wife of SayWhat?!)
- Refreshment Donations: All teams from F3Columbia, F3LakeMurray, and F3Lexington that donated drinks for the BeerBoat (This was the host region).
- The Big Check (Creation and Presentation): Fountainhead, Napalm and Costanza.
- The Powerful Prayer to kick off the overall MudRun Event: Chaser
- Delivering the Classic BOM: Dredd
- All of F3 Nation Pax in attendance For our Superbowl (especially those from out of Town)!
And with THAT we bring another awesome F3 Event to a close. In some ways, this brings back childhood memories. Remember back when you packed up for summer camp? You were excited to get to camp with some of you friends, catch up with old friends, and even meet some entirely new friends. The sad part about those days is that summer camp came to an end. You had to pack up your chest and say goodbye. You knew that you would never see some of these guys again as you went your separate ways. You may have even left with a knot in your gut.
The difference here is that we are F3, and we are not going anywhere. We are all connected in a way that is often difficult to explain to others. Each of us at F3 know exactly what I am talking about. Tomorrow we will wake up (rain, snow, hot or cold) and post with our brothers. We’ll also travel to other areas, whether for work or pleasure, and post to any one of hundreds of other AOs and be welcomed in. There will be several other CSAUP events right around the corner that will also draw us in to take the challenge with other F3 Brothers from across the nation.
YHC was truly honored to be the Q at this MudRun event. Hope all in attendance enjoyed themselves.
See you in the gloom!
AYE!
Heist
Well said brother. I was one of the many who got lost in the creek. It still was fun and has been a great story. Look forward to the next time.
The frustration of getting lost in the creek was soon gone, once I crossed that finish line and realized what I had just accomplished – and with whom. Great job brother. AYE!
Don’t forget it was the first event for F3 Greenwood and we had the first FNG who got named Saturday. Thanks, Tater Salad, for making that happen and welcome FNG Roofie!
Updated with Greenwood as first time attendees and FNG notes! Does anybody know how many FNGs actually got named at the MudRun? (I totally missed the Name o Rama while at the scoring table.
Big shout out to F3Lake Murray’s own Ron Neuberg (Stirrups). Who at 63 years of age broke a rib on one of the first obstacles and yet continued on to finish every other obstacle in the race. Proud to have been able to witness the grit of Speedtrap’s #Wardaddy.
Great backblast!
This was F3 Greenville NC’s first Leatherneck. One of our team members had to drop out earlier in the week due to a last minute emergency. We EH’d PONG who has only been with us for a few months. I think it was the first time he’d ever gotten muddy! He hung in like a champ! We loved the Brotherhood and comraderie and will definitely be back in the Spring. We had a blast! T-Claps to all who executed and participated! Proud to be F3!
Added Greenville into the First Timers list in the BackBlast!
I actually ran into an old friend at the MudRun (Caterpillar) who was running on team “f3 Summerville-Brudders from other Mudders”. Haven’t seen this guy in about 25 years and we finally bump into each other at an F3 event! Last time we saw each other was at a Hurricane Party in Charleston for Hurricane Hugo.
Heist, wanted to let you know team buscuit, bib 48, actual finish time was 54:15 (we have gps). We never received a 5 min deduction that the race officials are telling you or our time would’ve been 49:15. With that being said, i’m not sure others in the top 6 got reductuons either.
Sorry about posting this here but couldnt figure out how to let you know directly.
All I can do is show times with credits authorize by the contracted time-keeps; and show times with this stripped away. Another very logical way to look at this is the fact the Bib 43 (Team Hammer) was the absolute 2nd team to cross the finish line. (ahead of the 41 teams that all started in front of them. The only team that physically finished ahead of team Hammer was a team that started 10 minutes ahead of them (but only finished a few minutes ahead of them). This confirms that our documented first place team was our absolute first place team.
It sucks that we had to rely on a defective 3rd Party software tracking company. We definitely had a lot of competitive teams. Maybe we (F3) need to take over this entire event and manage it end to end. We have some tremendous teams that deserve to go head to head on the battle field next go around.
Same here. Against our advice, Bushwood wore his GPS, which had finish time of 54:59, within two seconds of our official finish time. No adjustment for 44.
Teams 42, 43, 44, and 48 crossed the finish line within seconds of each other.
Tough one here guys. Our team worked too hard for our 56:04 to have time added post-race. Our time was true, simple as that. No adjustment for 42. I have no energy to argue about time adjustments for other teams or finish order. Strongbridge trained hard and pushed through a tough race day that involved wrong turns and confusion. When you race off road you may get lost. Right the ship and move forward.
We haven’t spoken up on this at all. But I have to be honest. I’m on Team Biscuit (#48), and we did not get a time reduction. We have a GPS watch to prove it. Our chip and watch time was 54:15. We started behind the teams 43 and 46, got lost like everyone else but passed them and finished in front of them or right with them. I don’t think 3rd through 6th had their times reduced. All of these teams (42-48) were crossing the line at the exact same time, so there’s no way 2 teams could have finished 4 minutes in front of us, especially when they were behind us. Not trying to be a pain, but I know the officials information is wrong. I was, along with many others, at the finish line to experience it. Just want to make sure the facts are the actual facts.
Heist has done far more than most of us would taking time out of his workday to meet with race organizers today and make sure it is right and fair for everyone. Bottom line is team 43 (Hammer) was the 2nd team to cross the line. The only team to finish ahead was a non F3 team who started over 8 minutes in front of Hammer. That’s the bottom line. Anyone in any race can say their GPS said whatever and I highly doubt any watch will be accurate being run through the woods and over and under obstacles. Chip time is far more accurate in every race anywhere. BUT, it’s a damn shame we’re even having this conversation. Heist has done a hell of a job and Hammer started second in F3 and finished first. Period. Let’s drop the whining and conspiracy theories and congratulate the winner and move on. Show up at the next race and run faster. We’re bigger than this display.
Hey, somebody send me the contact info for the Chicago guy! We need to connect up here.
Heist,,
Ask Team Hammer. We finished with them and started at the 48th spot. We just didnt get any reductions.
I actually joked with their team afterwards and said i felt bad for Hammer (i thought Hammer was a pax) because jreynolds was getting on them to finish strong.
Heist – I echo what others have said, thanks for taking the time to do all you’ve done here. Major chaos/confusion trying to sort through all this, I’m sure. We all appreciate it.
Chaser — let’s face it…we are all competitive, and all busting our butts to do our best. For anyone who did show up to run faster, you can imagine why they might be frustrated to see other teams jump ahead of them because of a subjective time reduction, and then find out that in the newly adjusted final results from the race directors that we had time ADDED even though we never asked for (and never got) a reduction in the first place. I agree with you that GPS isn’t usually accurate for distance tracking while running through the woods, but that wouldn’t impact the stopwatch feature on the GPS watch which was within seconds of our unadjusted chip time. Given all the efforts taken to set the facts straight, Team Biscuit merely offered that up as a way to try to get the facts right on our finish time, since we did, in fact, show up and run faster.
Hammer had a watch at just over 51. Between that and the race director’s decision I’d hope that all others can say congrats, ship the trophy and move on. This post race stuff hasn’t been fun for anyone and threatens to taint the overall experience. Let’s move on.
This entire conversation – aside form the T-Claps for Heist – is not an accurate reflection of what F3 is all about. Or at least what I have gathered F3 is about. Arguing over your race time and race finish is about you, not your brother. I’m as competitive as anyone, often to a fault, but really guys? If this about finishing first, then, please sign up on your own and race away. Signing up under the F3 banner means you have a higher purpose than just “running faster.” We have discarded “I am Third” and replaced it with “We Were First.”
I would suggest picking up a copy of Gayle Sayer’s autobiography and embracing the principles on which this great organization was founded.
Aye Juggernaut. Well said. Sooner this goes away the better.
There were 4 FNG’s
Greenwood Roofie
Lexington Sex Wax
Chicago Michelle
Chicago Woody
Well done Heist.
They added 5 minutes to my time because I was so damn slow.
They just doubled Hammer’s time for me. Waste of effort to time me!
Is it anybody having problems with the pics I couldn’t download any of them
Great Job Heist. The Q from the North Augusta region was Lego. This was my first Leatherneck Mud Run and it was a GREAT experience. Thanks to everyone for putting on a great event. The beer boat was awesome.
Heist-excellent job on the Q. I’m sure you are putting up with a lot of additional work that previous events didn’t require.
I can’t speak for other teams times. I can only speak for ours. I was on team Filthy Animals that finished 2nd “officially”; however, our time was estimated by the race officials and we feel it is a little too generous. We believe our time is more or less identical to Team Strongbridge, which gives us somewhere around a 4th or 5th place finish.
I truly feel bad for team hammer if they are the rightful winners, because this win is so polluted now.
I also feel bad for the metro teams and strongbridge, because I know they did not receive a “5 minute reduction at the finish”. I’m not sure why the timing company would say something like that.
Gosh, what an awful mess. Hopefully it will all be sorted out in April.
I knew things were gonna go south when I saw the course officials using a sundial as the official race clock…
If they had only marked the course better at the creek more times would have been accurate. If I had known we were going to need orienteering skills I would have brought a compass.
You used to be able to view pictures of the race in the order in which they were taken. Had the race directors did this it would have been easy to determine who finished at what time and with what other teams around them. This would have eliminated a lot of this back and forth as to who finished first. Take it to the replay booth. Instead they now just post random pictures to dropbox like my daughter’s day care class most likely to save a few bucks. T-claps!
I did not run this year (or the previous 2 races). I really enjoy racing but after running this a few times and seeing each year how the non-F3 attendance has dwindled (this race used to have 1200+ teams), competitiveness among elite teams has grown weaker and the overall management of this race has deteriorated my interest in this race is gone. I think I can speak for a lot of Metro teams in this regard. If this race was in our backyard we probably would continue racing in it but for us to put the time and money in to travel back and forth to this race for the quality of the product the race directors put forth it is not worth it. This used to be a very popular race in the region. While other races Spartan, Battlefrog, etc. continue to change up their courses to keep people’s interest these race directors continue to stay status quo and invest next to nothing to improve the race for competitors. “NEW COURSE!!! Run it in reverse!”.
Unfortunately I think this latest incident further strengthens some views within Metro that this is not a race worth going to.
If I am a race director and I strictly look at where the volume of teams in the race come from and who helps generate a lot of buzz around the race that I financially benefit from it would be in my best interest to make sure those individuals remain happy. This really has become a race for South Carolina PAX which is perfectly fine. I just do not think it can be viewed any longer as an F3 Championship type of event.
Shawshank your outlook is very disappointing (and skewed). Lots of “They” references. First off “They” (the race organization) had absolutely nothing to do with the photography of this event that was shared on my BackBlast. 100% of these photos were from F3 volunteers who took time out of their day to capture this event and help make it memorable for those who actually participated. Despite your best efforts to derail that, they succeeded in their good deeds.
You are certainly welcome to choose what events you want to participate in or to skip. But to use MY BACKBLAST as a sounding board for whatever your agenda is, well it’s simply childish and reflective of poor character. This BackBlast is here for everyone of F3 nation to read and to openly comment on. its really sad that I now feel the need to turn off permissions for comments. The majority of F3 Nation stand together and represent something really amazing. You will always we welcome to join us brother.
You misinterpreted my point on the photographs. In years past the Mud Run organizers had photographers on site stationed throughout the course taking pictures that they posted on their website (what I was looking at) for the participants. If in fact the pictures on their website were from F3 volunteers then more shame on them.
I applaud everyone involved at F3 that helps put keep this race going. If it were not for F3 this race would have folded already. My point was this race is poorly organized and run.
All are welcomed to join us at Palmetto Pig (530 Devine Street, Columbia, SC 29291) on Wednesday Nov 4th at 11:45. The F3 mentors are taking the Men of the Oliver Gospel Mission to lunch to celebrate their success in the MudRun. Good Stuff
Gents,
The Mud Run is a game that we play as men. From the days of “Quartapella’s Crusaders” that birthed what we all now know and love as F3, the Mud Run has been a truly special event for us to display what we say and build our fellowship through shared experience. Unlike most competitions, the Mud Run is intentionally designed as a race that requires all strengths of our fellow teams to be successful. Although it favors the fast, no lone wolf can win this race. Servitude, strength, agility, guts, guile, endurance, speed and blessing are necessary to cross the finish line…regardless of time. The unusual application of team, skills, brotherhood and grace are what makes this race great. Competition has a special way of showing us what we really are, versus what we tell ourselves we want to be. The reality revealed through healthy competition is pure and we all have the opportunity to become better men by its lesson.
Mud Run – Fall 2015 is the first Mud Run event that I have not attended since Spring 2011. No one appreciates or enjoys the idea of winning The Busted Paw more than those whom I have had the honor to run with. We love this race and applaud the current leadership displayed to coordinate the gathering of fellowship and fun. You guys rock and deserve respect. The race directors could use your help. As one of those who were a part of concocting the crazy idea personified in, The Busted Paw, I humbly suggest that some may have lost focus on the point of it all. The relationships forged through righteous suffering are the point. The Paw is there to pull the best of our best together to accomplish something greater than any could have done on their own.
The idea that there is bad blood between F3 tribes about the outcome of a game is silly and missing the point. “We,” does not exist without all of you. We’ve all gotten lost in the heat of a game. These decisions do not define us, or our tribe. Learn and play on, as Brothers.
Tango Delta
Well said TD. Well said.