Hot Fight

Inside an Underground Women’s Mud Wrestling Ring in Chicago

“A couple times when police were called for noise complaints, the cops would stay and watch.”

Going to a Chicago Mud Queens match is a little like watching the Netflix show G.L.O.W., but with beer, guitars, a much bigger mess, and less sexual harassment. The league, which has been around since 2003, aims to reclaim the raw power of women’s mud wrestling, without the over-sexualized image. What started as a goofy fight among friends evolved into a legit organization that hosts indoor matches from April through October at music venues and bars throughout the city. Since 2004, the team has donated profits from their events to charity.

The provocative, witty, and aggressively skilled women who sling mud (and occasionally slime, lube, or spaghetti) at each other have earned the Mud Queens a cult following in Chicago. The biggest match of the year takes place every Halloween at Reggie’s Rock Club in Chicago’s South Loop. The mud is swapped out for fake blood (though the recipe for the slick stuff stays secret). It’s a combination of punk rock, feminism, contact sports, and activism that embodies the Windy City’s gritty, DIY ethos.

“I’ve been in Mud Queens for eight or nine years.…

5 Reasons Every Woman Should Do a Mud Run

You’re caked with mud, dripping with sweat and surrounded by some of your best girlfriends. No, you’re not at a luxury spa getting a mud facial and sweating out toxins. Instead, you’re part of the growing number of women – which jumped from 33,600 in 2011 to 130,000 in 2012 – who are diving into mud runs.

We lived to tell the tale – and to encourage other women to take on the same adventure. Not sure if a mud run is for you? Here are five reasons every woman should try the experience at least once.

1. IT WILL PUSH YOU OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a hard-core athlete or – as my sister screamed to one of the Mud Run volunteers – you usually only do this in video games. A Mud Run is different than any other race out there. You’re not just running; you’re climbing rope walls, swimming through mud pits and doing plenty of bear crawls under nets … up hill … while being pelted with water from fire hoses.

Mud runs are definitely not for the faint of heart so if you have any pre-existing or past medical problems you should probably talk with your doctor before signing up.