GORHAM – What can we say? It was a mess.

Not that that wasn’t the intended result.

Hundreds of athletes from across the state turned out in flamboyant costumes with an apparent gluttony for punishment in the University of Southern Maine’s inaugural “Into the Mud Challenge” held in Gorham on Saturday. What they found waiting for them were sloppy spills, chilly puddles and, yes, gobs and gobs of oozing, smelly mud.

The challenge came about when the university’s sports management program began to offer an event management class, and students planned and ran the event from the ground-up. However, most in attendance appeared to care little for any valuable educational intangibles they might pick up, and were instead more interested in getting down and dirty as they competed against each other in a pair of races.

“We wanted the class to have an actual event to plan and manage,” said Dr. Heidi M. Parker, assistant professor of sports management at USM. “The students in this course have been doing all of the work for the event, including selling sponsorship, creating and maintaining the website, marketing, promotions, releasing press releases, registration, as well as developing and building the course and festival area. The hope is the ‘Into the Mud Challenge’ will become an annual event owned and operated by the sport management students at USM.”

The primary event at the challenge was also the first one; a nasty, off-road 2.5-mile run full of obstacles. As the race progressed, it was very obvious that there were two types of runners participating: those looking to win, and those hoping to drag reluctant friends and family into as much fun and filth as possible.

“My mom was the one who had us all go,” said Chris McDonald, 20, of South Portland. “It was just a ton of fun. It was a new experience, and it was just really interesting to do.”

There was actually a good deal of consensus as to what pitfalls along the route were the most difficult to navigate or the most enjoyable to traverse. At one point in the race, runners had to slide down a set of tarps that – according to some racers – were dry (before mud-soaked bodies slicked them up for later racers).

“The tarps that you slid down were tough,” said Danielle Laverriere, a UMaine-Orono student from Saco. “They were dry, so you didn’t really slide down well, and then you fell into a puddle at the bottom.”

Another commonly cited obstacle that caused consternation amongst competitors was the sand-hills.

“The soft sand was (the worst),” said Brittain Dabrieo, 17, of Sanford. “It was really hard to pick up your feet. It was like beach sand, and you couldn’t move your feet fast. We were covered in mud then, so it was sticking to us, too. I really liked the mud slide, though. You just went right down on your butt. It wasn’t dry when we went down it, though – by the time we got there it was all wet.”

The highlight of the trek was undoubtedly the mud pit, a 10-by-20-foot pool that was filled with two feet of brown water, bordered on both ends by steep dirt inclines. Many runners approached this hazard with caution, then – seeing there was no way around it – hurled themselves bodily into the muck, splashing onlookers with waves of ooze.

“That was the most fun part,” said Ali Pelccar, 15, of Scarborough. “Your shoes kind of got sucked into the bottom. But you were getting wet, so you didn’t care. I would definitely do it again next year.”

The other event featured at the challenge was a one-mile muddy dash for younger participants. Once they had had their fill, attendees could mercifully wash themselves in a hosing-down area.

According to Parker, the event was an unqualified success that they hope to repeat next year.

“The experience of planning and managing this event from its infancy stages to now having over 300 participants has been an incredible journey for our students,” she said. “They have worked tirelessly to make this event a success and along the way gained valuable skills, knowledge, and experience.”

And the guinea pi er, participants? Well, they had a good time, too.

“I would definitely do it again next year,” Dabrieo said. “It was fun, even though you might not think you’d want to spend your Saturday playing in the mud.”

Slimy racers grapple with one another as they slosh through the icy, dirty waters of the “pit,” a sloppy 10-by-20-foot hole in the ground at Gorham Middle School that tired competitors taking part in Saturday’s inaugural “Into the Mud Challenge” had to cross. There were a lot of toe-dippers who took their time, but some people treated this leg of the run like a diving board. (Staff photo by Emory Rounds)