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Adventure time

August may be here, but there’s still time for good, clean fun before hitting the books. Next Sat., Aug. 9, Durango Mountain Resort hosts the third annual Muck & Mire Mud Adventure Race, promising more mud than ever and “new and improved” obstacles.

Race participants can get down and dirty as they test their pain thresholds on a hilly course strewn with various obstacles, from mud pits, moose ponds and a giant slip-n-slide, to cargo nets, culverts and wall climbs. From start to finish, the 10k course will offer more than 20 obstacles.

For those not quite up to 6.2 miles of G.I. Joe training, the race also offers a family friendly “recreational” 5k as well as a 1-mile “Mini Muck and Mire” for the kids. The 5k and 1-miler (open to kids 12 and younger) will feature log jams, hay bales, rock gardens, walls, and the requisite mud pit.

A post-race party follows, complete with a Steamworks beer garden, drinks from Durango Coca-Cola, awards and prizes. 

But beer isn’t the only reward. Proceeds from this year’s Mini Muck and Mire will go to Food for La Plata Kids, which provides backpacks of nutritious food to local kids throughout the year. During August, the program is accepting new or gently used backpacks, nonperishable food and/or monetary donations at any First National Bank of Durango, or at DMR ticket offices in town or at the mountain.

To register, go to www.skipurg.com/M3.

If going downhill is more your speed, don’t miss out on Ultrasteam’s “Thirsty Thirteener,” coming to (or close to) a closed-off reservoir near you on Aug. 23.

The newest race on the local running circuit, the route follows a mostly downhill course that winds from the Hesperus Church, through Wildcat Canyon, past Lake Nighthorse and down to Durango. And if gravity isn’t enough to get you to the finish line, perhaps the lure of beer and free food will. The race ends at Ska Brewing, with food from Nini’s Taqueria. But the carbo-loading doesn’t end there. Race entry also includes entry to the San Juan Brewfest, which will await racers at Buckley Park for the post-post-party. 

“The basic formula is ‘beautiful course + lots of downhill + an amazing brewfest = awesome race,” said race founder Matthew Krichman. He said the course, which covers terrain that will be new and different for most runners, as well as the 1,400-foot elevation drop and awaiting brewfest all make the event unique.

Lest you think it seems like too much of a kegwalk, Krichman assures, “We included just enough uphill to make sure you feel like you earned your beer.”

 But don’t delay. As of Tuesday, Krichman said there were only 17 spots left. To sign up, go to www.thirsty13durango.com