Team Trifecta has run many races together.
“We’ve competed together in many sprint triathlons, the Syracuse Half Ironman and the Marine Corp Marathon,” said Lisa Hoover, Skaneateles resident and Team Trifecta member.
But this race was different. This race was in memory of a friend.
“We wanted to do something as a team and compete in memory of our dear friend, Eva Donahue. And the Finger Lakes Mud Run raises money for a great cause, ‘House of Hope.’”
Team Trifecta started training together in 2008.
“We’ve been addicted ever since,” Hoover said. “Our team has become a family and losing our team member, Eva, was like losing a family member. Now we compete in her honor and her spirits drives us to keep going.”
And, for the first time, Team Trifecta had a sponsor.
“For this race Victory Sports Medicine sponsored us,” Hoover said. “We wore camouflage shirts with our team name and logo on our front, ‘VSM’ on our back and, on our sleeves, a logo, ‘Eva Just Smile.’”
It was the first mud run for Hoover and her husband, Michael, although some of their other teammates had done mud runs before, and what struck Hoover was the team-oriented feel of the run.
“There were many obstacles that required team support, like the eight- and ten-foot walls,” she said. Other obstacles included the rope climb, climbing over hay bales, taking a mud slide down hill into a mud bath, facing log rolls under barbed wire, running through hanging spraying water tires and, of course, a huge mudpit at the end.
“The walls were the most difficult,” Hoover said. “Teamwork was definitely needed to get each member over the walls. The support and strength of each member made the purpose more exciting. We chanted as a team as we ran to each obstacle.”
Hoover said the best part of the run was “getting dirty and tackling and throwing down in the last obstacle, the ‘mudpit’”
The team is gearing up for the next Finger Lakes Mud Run.
What advice would Hoover give someone planning to participate?
“Train hard and have fun!”
For more information visit fingerlakesmudrun.com.
