Mark your calendar: Mud run

The San Bernardino sheriffs have a peculiar idea of fun. They want you to join their mud run, a 5K or 10K (1K for the young ones) trek through adverse conditions on a hot, Saturday morning. Their flier promises explosions and twisted obstacles. On the same breath, they ask you to bring family and friends. When I got this press release, I thought it was a prank. So I checked out their Web site.

"Caution," wrote some scary Web master. "You will be running through the sounds of machine gun fire, explosions, and our Tactical Officer Mud Pits, GET THROUGH THAT MUD, YOU..!!!!!"

Yikes. Two periods and five exclamation marks. I was scared.

But if this is your thing, head to the sheriff's training academy at 18000 W. Institution Road in San Bernardino. The run starts at 9 a.m. on Sept. 6. The flier claims it is open to the public but I'm not sure if it's open to criminals. For more info, call Rob McCoy at (909) 387-3621.