Mud U

Check out the national Parks & Recreation magazine that published an article on Mud U this month! We're hoping that Mud U, and its successful model, is something that other locations around the country will be interested in operating and partnering with us. Special thanks goes to Dr. Nikki Wu for her assistance in getting this article written and published.

We need your help! We've got a logo, but now we need a slogan/phrase to accompany it. Mud University's is "Fun in the First Degree" but what about Race the Wild? Comment below with your suggestions!

A reminder that RtW is:

Race the Wild will be:

- completed in teams of two;
- half of the obstacles are mental, half are physical;
- your team will be given a map of the area;
- how you get to the obstacles is up to you;
- what order you do the obstacles is up to you;
- time penalties for not completing obstacles.

Thanks for all the feedback on our proposed logos. It looks like this one is a clear winner! Although it's very "Oklahoma", if we ever expand beyond these borders there's nothing to stop an alteration. And this is going to be an awesome medal!

We hope to have a dedicated RtW page up and running soon so stay tuned!

We need your opinion! Thanks to our great graphic designer, we now have some possible logos for our adult event, Race the Wild. The original plan was to host this event in Spring 16, but we may move it forward to this Fall.

Please "like" your favorite listed in the comments below.

To help you decide, and without giving too much away, Race the Wild will be:

- completed in teams of two;
- half of the obstacles will be mental, half will be physical;
- your team will be given a map of the area;
- how you get to the obstacles is up to you;
- what order you do the obstacles is up to you;
- time penalties for not completing obstacles.

So which logo best fits this description? You choose!

Last night we got an important looking envelope in the mail and unlike many important looking things we get in the mail, this time it was important! We have received trademark registration for Mud University and its logo from the United States Patent and Trademark Office! ® It even comes with a shiny seal. :)

Dear Mud U Fans,

We have some important news which we wanted to share with you as soon as possible and hope that you’ll pass on to others associated with Mud U. This is a long post, but important.

Unfortunately, at this point we are cancelling all planned Mud U events. We had hoped to offer a Mud U for younger children at Lake McMurtry this spring called Little Muddies, but we were unable to find a way to balance the budget based on the revenue from prospective participants versus the costs associated with setting up the course, paying for use of the site, insurance, medals, and so on. Therefore, we decided to cancel that event with the intention of perhaps rolling it into a fall Mud U event for the 6-13 year olds.

As we have already announced, we had planned to offer a Mud U event in the fall at a new location in Stillwater and had reached a verbal agreement with this site. However, we have since been informed that they are developing plans to host multiple mud/adventure events of their own each year. Similarly, we have been informed that Lake McMurtry Inc. are planning their own mud event this spring. Therefore, without a viable location we do not intend to host any Mud University events for the foreseeable future.

Although the lack of viable venue is disappointing for us, we are mindful that our goal has always been to increase physical activity of our youth. In an unexpected way, this is occurring, as others are now pursuing these kinds of events.

We have no plans to offer a Mud University event, but we will continue to consider new locations where we can continue our vision, whether in Stillwater or beyond. To that end, please note that unless the event includes our logo, which is under trademark process, or mentioned on our website and/or Facebook by us, we are not associated with it.

On behalf of all of our volunteer team working behind the scenes to make Mud U such a success, thank you for a wonderful 2014 during which we had over 1200 participants, almost evenly split between boys and girls. Even those who don't participate regular weekly physical activity made up a third of the participants and had a great time, showing that physical activity can be fun for all. Above all, we were injury free beyond a band aid or two and got the pleasure of seeing many, many happy faces.

Thank you once again to all of you who were willing to try something new and to all of our partners willing to support our goals!

Our Mud U fall event is going to be held in a new location! We’re still working out the specifics with the new site and hope to provide more specifics soon, but it will remain in the Stillwater area.

We've got some exciting news about our fall event to share with you. We'll make the announcement tomorrow at around 5pm. Stay tuned! :)

We had our first team meeting of the year this morning and have two important announcements!

1. We will not be hosting a Mud U event in the spring, but we will have one in the fall (date TBD).

2. After many requests, we have begun developing a one-of-a-kind, adventure-based adult event unlike any other, which we anticipate will be held Spring 16! It's a wait, but it'll be worth it. Think Hunger Games, Survivor, and the Amazing Race all rolled into one. More will be posted about that in the coming months, but it's about time that adults got a piece of the action too!

More to come soon.

Happy New Year! A new year brings opportunity to reflect and refocus. In 2014 we saw 1300 kids get muddy from all over Oklahoma and beyond, and we look forward to seeing what 2015 will bring.

Check out this awesome feature about Mud U courtesy of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions!

http://coehp.uark.edu/colleague/12879.php

The Colleague: Mud U Highlight of Year for Young Participants More than 1,300 Oklahoma and Arkansas children can look back on 2014 and remember a unique physical experience they enjoyed thanks to a University of Arkansas alumnus who created a mud run for kids.

Check out the little piece on page 31 about Mud U courtesy of the Oklahoma State University College of Education.

http://issuu.com/osu-coe/docs/osu_education_mag_issuu

Oklahoma State University, 2014 College of Education magazine 2014 The 2014 volume of Education magazine features Ellen DeGeneres' favorite librarian, the college's new TECH Playground and an alumnus who is a military hero.

It's freezing cold outside, but only six weeks ago this happened! Our thanks to Greg Cimino and OStateTV for this great piece!

http://www.ostate.tv/?play=1E6F2E08-005C-0ED8-4C07-E6E2A6DE4A65

"Mud U" Mud University allows area youth to have a one of a kind adventure....

Just a reminder that if you haven't yet completed our survey then please do! We'll be shutting it off this weekend.

https://okstatecoe.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8lgeAJAI9DtYerP

We've had only 37 responses to our survey accounting for 58 participants. In other words, only 7% of you have responded. Your input is vital to our future plans so please fill out the brief survey if you haven't already. Thanks!

https://okstatecoe.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8lgeAJAI9DtYerP

Check out the group from Morrison Elementary who all took part in Mud U! Thanks to Adam Pope for sharing.

We're sending out an email this evening which includes a link to a survey which we're asking grownups/participants to complete (who took part in Mud U). It only takes a few minutes, but it's vital to get your input on Mud U. Feel free to fill it out now, if you prefer not to wait for the email, but note that participants' input are needed for a small portion of the survey.

Unlike many sequels, we want ours to be better than the one before so we need feedback!

https://okstatecoe.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8lgeAJAI9DtYerP

The Zone Twisters Gymnasts had a great time on the run!

Team building!

Stillwater sting 12u

Check out this awesome video of "The Tulsans" put together by Chris McNeil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3xQ4S1HClE

Carrera Visits OSU and Mud U This video is about Union-Carrera's field trip to Stillwater, OK for a campus tour of Oklahoma State University and our completion of Mud University. We do n...

Thanks to Oklahoma State University College of Education for this nice little Mud U write up!

http://education.okstate.edu/node/597

800+ Youth Complete Mud Run | College of Education Stillwater, Okla.— On September 26 and 27, more than 800 participants between the ages of 6 and 16, both in teams and as individuals, climbed, hopped, crawled, and slithered their way through a 15-obstacle mud run at Lake McMurtry. Mud University (Mud U) with the slogan “Fun in the First Degree” was…

Volunteers we need your input! Please take literally just a few minutes to fill out our volunteer survey. If you're not a volunteer, please don't fill it out. We'll be sending out a participant/grownup survey soon. :)

https://okstatecoe.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bBevQmxWLZD9AyN

Great news! We were able to operate Mud U in the black! Therefore, we would like to give back to the communities in which participants live. We have some ideas, but would like your suggestions too. Our only requirement is that the donation in some way goes toward promoting physical activity and exercise in children.

We just sent out a survey to our Partners, and we'll be sending one out to our volunteers and grownups/participants soon. We value all your input so that if we do run another event, we can make it even better! In the meantime, here's another sneak peek photo!

Our friend Chris McNeil deserves a like for selflessly raising the funds to personally pay for and bus 50 kids from his school in Tulsa!

Thanks Mud U! From Tulsa

Cute!

We've had some inquiries about accessing the photography that was taken during the event. The photographers have approximately 5000, yes 5000, photos to sort and upload online. As you can imagine this will take a little time and so it should be ready some time next week at the latest. In the meantime, we'll post one or two sneak peek shots over the next few days that they sent us in advance. They are AMAZING!

A whole family affair!

We had a blast at Mud U! Thanks for the opportunity.

Not sure about the dance he's doing but it's Mud U Monday! He can't wait to do it again.

Mud U Monday! Malaury at the dentist ... getting the last of the mud cleaned off!