Sports management students at the University of Southern Maine hosted their annual scholarship fundraising event, the 2.5-mile Into the Mud Challenge endurance race in the woods behind Gorham Middle School on Sunday. In all, about 1,000 competitors of all ages took to the muddy course clad in costumes and, of course, mud.

A group of competitors fight their way to the end of the final big waterhole on the course.Nearing the end of the tough, 2.5-mile course, a competitor still finds amusement in a cold dip in the final waterhole.Evidently, a funny thing happened on the way to the reception, as two competitors in wedding garb fight their way together through the final water hole.Competitors wear the rigors of the tough 2.5-mile course on their faces.Competitors wear the rigors of the tough 2.5-mile course on their faces.A young competitor nears the end of the adult 2.5-mile race with a bold leap into the biggest waterhole on the course.Competitors dressed as superheroes suffer a momentary loss of their special powers as they hit the water in the final mud hole.A competitor gets a nearly full immersion in the final waterhole.Nicole Breton ran the course with a team of fellow dental hygienists from the Augusta area.