BOONE GROVE | Morning rains put a damper on plenty of outdoor plans for Saturday.

But for the inaugural Chicagoland Mudathlon, the wet stuff was just what the weatherman ordered.

"It's perfect Mudathlon weather," local race coordinator Reggie Flesvig said. "Believe it or not, we were dry until the Boone Grove (Volunteer) Fire Department came out with the water trucks (Friday)."

More than 20,000 gallons were spewed onto the three-mile course fraught with fiendish challenges. Mother Nature simply added the proverbial icing on the mud cake.

"When I pulled up, it was raining, but they don't cancel a mudathlon because it's raining," Rich Matula, 45, of Homewood, Ill., said.  "It felt like there was an obstacle every 100 yards. It took double the energy of a flat course. My arms are as tired as my legs. I've got nothing left. But it was fun."

Matula was the first finisher in the opening wave of runners, which were sent off in 15-minute intervals between 9 and 11:30, and he wound up the overall champion in a time of 32:08. Hearty souls from 16 states numbering 843 in all took on the sloppy task. Save for a smile, many were indiscernible as they reached the end line, covered in slop from head to toe, some missing shoes, articles of clothing or their timing chips.

"I couldn't even see coming down the straightaway," said Jeremy Dill of Orland Park, Ill., who did a flip into the mud pit.

"I had a shirt but it ripped off on the first slide," Jason Cook of Valparaiso said.

The former state champion wrestler who now coaches at Chesterton was signed up as part of the Don't Tread on Me team. With his head- and arm-bands, he resembled Rambo after a muddy scuffle after completing the course.

"I didn't have a choice, but I'm glad I did it," Cook said. "You were as tired as you are in a wrestling practice. You've just got to sludge your way through it."

Cook wasn't the only ex-prep wrestling star in the messy mix. Eric Keith, a state champ at Portage, joined some friends for the event.

"I thought it was just a regular race," Keith said. "On the way here, they said, 'Oh, by the way, there's mud and obstacles.' It was too late by then. We were already in the car. It's a lot tougher. You catch your breath and then you'd get to the next obstacle. Those were a killer."

Participants came from near and far. The Dirty Rotten Scoudrels, a group of seven from the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area, came in Friday and camped out. Radka Nemynarova made the trip from Indianapolis after doing a 'mudder' in Anderson. Her 14-year-old daughter Sierra joined her for this one.

"The luxury here was you could hit the showers right away," said Nemynarova, a personal trainer/fitness instructor. "The trail was a little harder here because of the weather. You were constantly having to balance yourself. It took more upper-body strength."