More than 200 racers participated in the first Minooka Mudder 5K at Minooka Park in Jemison on Saturday.

Minooka Park manager Gerald Arrington said he was pleased with the turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy participating or watching the race.

“The weather was beautiful and we had a tremendous turnout for our first mud run,” Arrington said. “I tried talking to as many people as I could to get feedback and everyone told me they really enjoyed the event.”

Arrington said it was hard to pinpoint which of the 18 man-made obstacles racers enjoyed the most, but one thing is for sure—everyone got muddy.

“There was a mud pit right at the beginning so everyone that participated in the race got mud on them,” Arrington said. “Some people even lost their shoes in the mud.”

Arrington said planning for the race started in November 2012 when race organizers started coming up with different ideas for obstacles throughout the park.

Two weeks leading up to the race volunteers showed up to work on constructing the obstacles so they would be ready in time for Saturday.

“We had a tight rope where people had to walk across it that spanned about 60 feet,” Arrington said. “We had to spend time putting that up but everyone commented they really enjoyed that part.”

Arrington said some of the other popular obstacles included a wall with several trenches for racers to go through, fences to climb over, a 20-person life raft and a hay climb.

Anyone participating had the option to opt out of any of the obstacles but those that did not participate had to do exercises next to the obstacles.