Sanford gets down and dirty at Marine Corps event

The Associated Press

EASTOVER - Gov. Mark Sanford may deal with a lot of mudslinging in politics, but bright and early Saturday morning he showed a knack for wading into the stuff and coming out with little of it sticking as he navigated the Marine Corps Reserve Ultimate Challenge Mud Run obstacle course.

The event covers a 4.2-mile course of dirt roads, trails, mud holes, walls, trenches and logs.

Sanford and his team of four finished in just under an hour and seven minutes - fast enough to put the team in the top fifth of the nearly 500 teams, organizers said.

Most of the time, Sanford's 14-year-old son, Marshall, led the team up hills, through water and under obstacles. Sanford, who ran cross country in college, is an avid runner.

Sanford and Marshall finished that race and started a race of a different kind. Later they campaigned for the Republican governor's re-election in Branchville's Raylrode Daze Festival parade.

Tommy Moore, Sanford's Democratic challenger in the Nov. 7 election, took things a little easier Saturday. The Clearwater state senator spent much of the afternoon at Clemson University watching the Tigers defeat North Carolina's Tar Heels 52-7 before heading to a fundraiser in Anderson.