Mac Stone Photography Blog: Savage Race

Well, the boys at Savage Race have done it again. Each event has eclipsed the last and on October 20th at Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, Florida, they proved to 4,000 adrenaline junkies that they're the official peddlers of pain in the mud race community. In a span of only six miles they built 25 brutal obstacles including the three-story "Colossus," a twisted half pipe which leads to a swallow-your-stomach water slide and the innovative "Evil Bars," which is the silverback gorilla to other races' playground jungle gyms.

Starting line stampede - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Again this year, I was assigned to shoot the race and was stoked to know the participants would be slogging through a mini version of my favorite stomping grounds, the Everglades. As always, it was a tough shoot accounting for a large area, harsh light, and of course, high intensity mud-slinging. All throughout the day I was climbing atop obstacles, chest-deep in water, or waist deep in mud. By the end I felt like I had run the race several times over.

Walkers on the "Nutt Smasher" - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

My approach to shooting these events is to make sure I get right in the middle of the action, or sometimes right below it. I've found that if I'm not physically engaged with course, then my photos will feel detached too. This philosophy can be dangerous for equipment, but much like wildlife photography, the safest option usually produces "safe" images and the Savage Race crew wanted edgy. So I tried to give them edgy.

Diving over the fire pit - Photo ©Savage Race/Mac Stone

Here's a handful of some of my favorites from the day as well as a few shots just to show you some of the obstacles. If you're into mud races and a day of fun with your friends, then you need to go and register for one of their upcoming events. Savage Race is creating the new standard for obstacle racing.