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It's more fun when it's muddy

MudWars: It's what it sounds like. Hundreds of teens get just a bit dirty in the annual competition in St. Petersburg.

By ANDREA CHANG
Published July 14, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Take nine dump trucks full of dirt and eight mud events. Now toss in - literally - about 400 screaming teens.

That was the chaotic scene at this year's MudWars challenge, otherwise known as a parent's worst nightmare.

"MudWars is awesome," said a mud-drenched Lydia Harvey, 13, after her team sloshed and slid its way to victory in the Tortuga Pull, a tug of war. "I've never gotten so dirty in my life. When you're competing and it's all dirty, it's just so much more fun."

MudWars, sponsored by the Old Salt Fishing Club of Madeira Beach, is now in its ninth year. The event was held Thursday at Spa Beach Park near the Pier.

Teens from 12 St. Petersburg recreation centers competed in teams for a grand prize of $500 and, more important, the title of MudWars champion.

This year's MudWars events were aptly named in the spirit of the summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, with teens competing in eight challenges, including Captain Jack's Obstacle Course, the Flying Dutchman Boat Race and Davy Jones' Maze.

Over at Walk-the-Plank, a jousting challenge, teens armed with enormous padded sticks whacked each other while standing on a pipe. First one to be knocked off the pipe into the pit of mud loses.

Such was the fate for Blake Smallwood, 13, who lost after being hit in the head.

"It was, like, totally rad," Smallwood said. "You don't have to worry about staying clean or anything."

At Barbosa's Belly Bumpers, where teens hoisted inflatable doughnut-shaped contraptions onto their waists and tried to belly-bump their opponent into the mud, Ryan Christian, 13, outlined the reasons he would win.

First, he said, because he was strong.

Second, he said, because he had large calves.

Third, he said, because he is taking karate.

He lost.

He got a shoulder cramp, he said, and his feet kept slipping in the mud.

But winning isn't the only thing, said teammate Michael Dolan, 14, who had mud smeared across his chest.

"We're here to have fun," Dolan said after also losing at belly bumpers. "And," he quickly added, "getting dirty so our parents get all mad at us."

MudWars continues today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., when the event will open up to the public for free. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Entrants must be in their teens.

[Last modified July 14, 2006, 00:54:50]