Marine Corps Mud Run 10k+ Challenge Course

Race - Jun 6, 2020

Dogs No Dogs

Features Lake

How HARD CORPS are you?

Get ready to run through the terrain of Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton where our U.S. Marines train. There will be over 300 Marines "motivating" participants along the course, as well as Military vehicle displays.

The 10K is a challenging course with 24 obstacles, including running through a real training combat town, a cargo net climb, six mud pits and other hard corps obstacles. Finally, a crawl through the Marine Corps Mud Pit before the finish.

Your participation helps support quality-of-life programs for Marines aboard Camp Pendleton.

This race is run over several days in late May/early June. Registration fills up early.

This race is named appropriately. Shoes have been lost in the mud pits.

This race gets a little more elaborate each year and it has been running for over 20 years. The course is a long 10k that takes you through some of the rarely seen Camp Pendleton training areas. There are 15 Obstacles including several mud pits.

This course starts at the Lake ONeill day use area amid a variety of race day vendors. Right at the start there is a bit of a choke point as the course funnels through a very short section of jeep trail before turning onto the asphalt Lake ONeill road. There will usually be some fire hoses set up along this section to make sure that you dont get spoiled by running in dry clothing. Follow the road for less than a mile and cross Santa Margarita Road. The trail shifts back to hard pack jeep track until around the 1.5 mile mark where you cross the dry river bed of the Santa Margarita River. The footing in the riverbed changes to ankle deep sand for a few hundred yards. At the 2 mile mark the climb begins for about 2 miles up a grade that hits 8% for short stretches. Along this portion, there is a Combat Town, Cargo Nets and other obstacles to keep it interesting. The descent is much quicker covering the elevation drop in under a mile. At the bottom of the hill, the course takes a hard right into what looks like drained rice fields. You'll get introduced to the first of three mud pits here. Make sure your shoes are tied or you'll lose them in the muck. There is a 6-foot wall in the middle of the pit that you have to climb over. Good luck on sticking the landing. The course takes a loop through the fields with a long portion crawling under camouflage netting, before doubling back to the turn and continuing along the original path. You'll cross Santa Margarita Rd again near the Wounded Warrior Battalion. The second mud pit is in this area. The course then follows a section of the Lake O'Neill Loop before turning up a very steep section that is watered down to keep it slippery. There are some over-under logs at the bottom of the hill. From there its a short leg to the finish where you'll cross a 100 foot Mud Pit.

Showers are usually set up at the finish line and you can donate your soggy shoes if you feel inclined. This description does not cover all of the obstacles as they change a little from year to year, but it should be enough to let you know what to expect.

This race started in 1993 and has grown every year.