West Valley City man wins competition for his mom

When 21-year-old Cody Butler found out about the Utah chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Mud Run fundraiser he told his mom he was going to win it for her.

Cody Butler’s mom Barbara Butler has been battling multiple sclerosis for about six years. Multiple sclerosis is a condition that affects the nervous system of the body. The symptoms and severity vary from person to person.

Family members can often feel helpless as they watch their loved ones deal with this relatively unknown illness. For Cody Butler, this was his way to help.

“We were kind of joking at first about him winning,” Cody Butler’s dad Jesse Butler said. “Then once we got to the race and saw the course we were thinking it would be awesome if he could just finish it. But when Cody puts his mind to something he can do it.”

Designed by former Marines, the MS Mud Run Utah was a 10k (6.2 miles) “boot camp” style obstacle course. This particular event held on Aug. 13 had more than 20 obstacles that included swinging across mud pits, crawling on elbows through wet dirt and gliding down a 30-foot-tall slip and slide into the mud.

“I knew I had to work hard,” Cody Butler said. “When I entered, the flier said something like ‘Only enter if you are a professional athlete, in the military or a super hero.’ Dad says I must be a super hero.”

After work, Cody Butler would train for at least three hours every day. He would run 6 to 7 miles each day, combined with intensified gym workouts four times a week. He used some of the mud run workouts for guidance, but he has been an athlete all his life.

After lettering in all of his sports during his years at Cyprus High School, Cody Butler was granted a baseball scholarship to Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas where he played for two years.

“I knew I was going to win about halfway through the race because I had distanced myself quite a bit from the other competitors,” he said. “It was an awesome feeling to do the obstacles in front of my family.”

Cody Butler finished the race with a time of 0:57:37, two minutes ahead of the next runner to finish the race. His time is competitive with some of the top scores in the nation on the same course.

“I give all the glory to God for allowing me to train the way I did,” he said. “He also gave me the right motivation with the desire to do something for my mom.”

The family would run to different parts of the course to see him complete different obstacles. Then they had to run to make it to the end of the course to see him finish.

“I am proud of the young man my son has become,” Barbara Butler, said. “I knew that he wanted to support his mom and he wanted to stretch himself in order to compete. He is a good brother, compassionate, caring, and hard working. He doesn’t give up on anything.”

Across the nation, MS Mud Run competitions have raised thousands of research dollars. This money is priceless to the families and researchers desperately trying to find a cure to the illness. There were 350 participants in the Utah Chapter’s run. Registration is available now for next year’s Utah MS Mud Run scheduled for July 28. To register go to: http://eventutu.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=GEN_UTU_mud_homepage.