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WESTLAND, Mich. (AP) — A steady downpour made this one of the muddiest Mud Days yet.
Rain before and during the 27th annual event Tuesday in suburban Detroit that is open to kids 12 and younger created conditions that were conducive for maximum filthiness.
Aidan Ruggiero, who quickly got covered from head to toe in muck, wasn't complaining. Asked how it felt, the 8-year-old from nearby Livonia, said: "I'm going to say 'fantastic.' I want to be coming back every year."
Workers spent a week creating the 75-by-150-foot mud pit, which consisted of 200 tons of topsoil and 20,000 gallons of water.
"Today, we had a little extra help with Mother Nature showing up," said Lawrence Hemingway, director of Wayne County Parks, which hosts Mud Day each year at the Hines Park-Nankin Mills Area in Westland.
The fun also included wheelbarrow races, limbo and the crowning of the 2015 King and Queen of Mud. The honor is bestowed upon the boy and girl judged to have best "piled the most mud possible" on themselves, Hemingway said.
When it was over, firefighters and other members of the local hazardous materials response team were on hand to hose off the kids — so they could head home relatively clean.
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