The Maldon Mud Race
24th April 2022
The Maldon Mud Race is an annual event involving a 400 metre dash over the bed of the River Blackwater in Maldon (Essex). The event started in the 1970s as a way to raise money for charities. It moved from the end of December to April to avoid the extremely cold weather, and now attracts many participants and an audience of thousands. It is typical of British charity challenges that participants dress up in fancy costumes, and it seems to give men a chance to dress as women! Hence the Bunny Girl in the photo above.
The participants start at one end of the promenade and rush towards the mudflats. The leaders of the pack have smooth mud ahead and can run quite fast on this. But they leave behind a churned up mess of mud and participants now get down on hands and knees to pull themselves forwards. It's really quite hard work!
The winner was the guy in black (photo above left) and he was pretty quick. The rest took another 30 minutes at least to finish, cheered on by their supporters in the crowd.
The range of costumes was interesting: the guy below left wore nothing but his Go-Pro camera on a stick, and the guy below right wore a smart suit.
The whole event was very well organised. The race officials made sure the conditions were safe to start the race (i.e., the tide was out), and were strategically placed in case anyone got into trouble.
At the end of the race, participants had to rinse their feet in water so officials could remove the race tags from their shoes, but one guy decided on full emersion! What you won't notice in these photos was the increasingly foul smell as more and more participants walked in front of where I was standing. There were tin foil blankets as required, and showers further in the park and participants definitely needed a hose down after this race.
After the race, I spotted the comedian Jo Brand surrounded by some quite officious-looking security guys. But she was happy to pose for selfies.
But today's event was also a spring party! There was a male voice group singing old shanty tunes and food stalls galore, as well as amusements for the children. And, a noticeable number of dog owners! Essex people seem to love their dogs and there were many out today. So here are a few additional photos completing my day out today.
