Yesterday I volunteered at the Northern California Survivor Mud Run. I spent seven hours manning the cargo net with Omar, another volunteer. We managed over 5000 runners as they went up and over a 14-foot high cargo net. Runners wore running shoes and a lot had Vibram Five Fingers. Only one guy was barefoot.
Once they passed us, they went through a water station before making their way through an irrigation ditch filled with muddy clay. I watched some of them coming through the ditch and took a few pictures.

Look at these pictures and see if you can find the shoes! Our area has great soft dirt. Five miles down the road where the race was held, was muddy clay.
The end of the 3.47-mile course was totally mud. The runners were immersed in mud up to their necks as they crawled through mud pits.
So, back to the shoes.

The runners could hose off at the end of the race. And if they wanted, they could toss their shoes in containers where they would be cleaned and donated to a shelter.
So imagine the shoes pictured here were yours.
How many washings would it take to get rid of the mud? Would the washing and mud adversely affect the integrity of the shoe and its stitching? These types of events are becoming more and more popular. People love the challenge of an obstacle course run with friends. They have fun.
My advice if you are going to run one of these – wear old shoes and toss them in the bucket afterwards.