For the past 11 years on the third weekend of August, the population of the hamlet of Plamondon in Lac La Biche County has increased from 380 to between three and four thousand as mud runners make tracks to the Plamondon Mud Bog.
The annual three-day Canadian Mud Racing Organization sanctioned mud bog event, hosted by the Plamondon District Community Development Society Mud Bog Committee and set to take place on August 16, 17, and 18 this year, has grown to feature four mud pits. According to community liaison Colette Burgon, it’s non-stop mud racing for two whole days.
“We started as just a local mud bog,” said Burgon. “A couple people from the motorsports store started it about 18 years ago. It’s been around for a long time, but it was just a small event with just one pit. Then more and more people wanted to do it, so it became two pits, and this year we’ll have four pits.
“The event got started and it just kept growing and growing and growing,” Burgon said. “Then after the event got sanctioned, the big units started to come in as well, like the stock class and the super stock class and then the modified class.
“You can imagine the mud bog bringing in three or four thousand. It’s huge and it gets bigger and bigger every year. It’s just unbelievable.”
During the intermission of the event’s main draw—the amateur and professional mud bog races—Burgon said that in past years there have been skidoo races in the pits and lawnmower races. The event also features a Saturday night social with a steak dinner and open-air dance, as well as a classic car show-and-shine, a competitive tractor pull, a beer garden and concession booths that run for the duration of the event.
“People can camp here as well,” she said. “We don’t have power stalls or a sewer or anything like that, but we can provide a huge load of wood.”
Mud Bog committee president Leon Shaub said he thinks the ample on-site parking and camping are two factors that keep some of the biggest crowds on the circuit coming back.
“At the park itself, there is lots of parking and camping for the racers,” said Shaub. “They kind of make it a holiday at the same time.”
Burgon encouraged mud runners to run to the event, because, for liability reasons, the mud bog is otherwise fenced off for the season.
“It’s just a whole ton of mud racing, and I don’t know why, but people just love it,” she said. “The dirtier the better; we call it the Plamondon mud bog, Canadian style.”
For registration and admission information on the Plamondon Mud Bog, phone the Plamondon District Community Development Society office at 780-798-3478.