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Muddy runners slog through Muckfest in Grayslake to fight MS

"Why the muck not?"

That's not a typo.

That's the name of this dirty team of friends who voluntarily sludged through a muddy obstacle course at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake Saturday.

They made no apologies for their appearance.

"Just nerdy stuff," said Jenny Helfer of her Star Wars-themed wardrobe, with "a lot of mud in your nose."

Because when you're going to be caked in mud, why not "muck it" and wear plaid with polka dot?

"We're just having fun," said teammate Mary Foydl, who topped off that ensemble with pigtails.

The Crystal Lake woman was one of hundreds who stepped into goofy outfits and muddy waters - the thick, gooey kind that left their shoes like dead weights - during "MuckFest MS," a 5K mud run pitting teams that raised funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Some lost their glasses, their wigs and their vanity plunging into the "deep water" obstacles.

"No dignity whatsoever, all fun and for a good cause," said Alex Mendez of Chicago, who maneuvered the course in support of his girlfriend's sister-in-law, who has multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system.

Runners got down and dirty from the onset, with one of the first of more than a dozen obstacles requiring teams to wiggle underneath a web of string.

"You have to army-crawl underneath," said Sydney Weine, a 16-year-old from Long Grove, of her technique.

Tara Gregurich didn't hesitate atop a man-made hill over yet another muddy pool. In a tutu and rainbow-colored socks, she and her husband, John, dove in feet first, holding hands.

"She's fabulous," said one friend in their cheering section.

The couple from Chesterton, Indiana, and their friends raised about $1,800. Gregurich was diagnosed with MS - women are two to three times more likely than men to develop the disease, the society says - in 2008 after her right side, from her hip down, went numb.

Gregurich calls MS a "hidden disease" with symptoms that aren't always obvious to her family.

"It's panic and fear," she said. "That doesn't go away."

But Gregurich has a motto, one that she proved Saturday.

"Make the best of every day," she said.

So far, MuckFest MS has raised more than $20 million in donations for the National MS Society and its local chapters.

  Dana Micek of Schaumburg and Mary Murphy, right, of Grayslake jump into a muddy pit Saturday at MuckFest, a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Katlyn Smith/ksmith@dailyherald.com
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