Hillbilly Hike raises money for troops, Waynesborough, Habitat
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 22, 2013 1:50 AM
Tim Smith of Mount Olive wasn't worried about crawling on his belly through the thick, sucking muck of a Neuse River mud pit, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the smell reminded him of something.
And as he hosed himself down after completing Saturday's Hillbilly Hike, it occurred to him what the smell reminded him of -- the muddy pig pens on the family farm of his youth.
Proceeds from the Hillbilly Hike 5K mud run held at Old Waynesborough Park will benefit Homes for Our Troops, Habitat for Humanity and Old Waynesborough Park. It was sponsored by Goldsboro Parks and Recreation and was the third one held since last September.
The event attracted 150 participants competing for the gold belt. Actually, the winner received a gold-painted hubcap attached to a belt.
Among the 20 obstacles was a mud pit where participants had the option of sliding down the bank or using a rope to climb to the top of a giant slide and then slide down and drop about 10 feet into the mud.
Jeremy Bonds, who manages several Hwy. 55 restaurants, chose the slide only to faceplant in the muck, ending up buried almost up to his neck.
"I didn't think I was ever going to get out," he said. "It was unreal being buried up to your neck in mud. I spent 10 minutes trying to dig myself out at least, one foot at a time.
"There was a guy that was right in front of me and he fell to the left which was the line I was going down so I was going to try and land on my stomach so I would stay above the mud. When he went, I had to sling to the side and ended up going feet first and my momentum slung me on down into the mud."
The secret to getting out was to move slowly, he said.
"If you moved too hard it just pulled you back in further."
Even with being stuck in the mud, Bonds managed a time of just over 43 minutes. He said he could have done better had he had not gotten stuck.
"We had fun," he said. "I wasn't going to do it this time, but one of my managers and one of his assistant managers at one of my restaurants made a bet that I couldn't beat him. I have been finished for 15 minutes now and I have not seen him make the turn yet. So he is going to be at least 30 minutes behind me or maybe further.
"I am not in shape at all. I don't run at all. All I do is cook burgers and I beat him by at least 30 minutes. He's going to have to do some backtracking. He has quite a few openings and closings coming up. That was the bet. Whoever could do it in the fastest time got some time off, the other had to work the openings and closings."