PANTEGO — For 34 years, Pantego Volunteer Fire Department has been dishing the dirt on the Fourth of July. This year is no exception as the squad prepares for its annual Mud Run, where contestants from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia will rev their engines and make a bid to get the other side of 200 feet of eastern North Carolina mud — and do it quickly.

It may be a record, but the fastest time ever recorded on the deep mud was 3.2 seconds, according to Pantego Fire Chief Derrick Myers.

“We have the vehicles that are called rails. They’re very high-powered vehicles and they’re real fast,” Myers said. “When he left the track, his two front wheels lifted up and never touched the track again.”

That’s the kind of excitement that brings people back year after year for this Fourth of July institution.

“We get everyone from little kids right on up to the older folks,” Myers said. “What they like is just watching somebody go all the way through to the end. That usually gets the crowd all excited.”

Four classes of vehicles compete: Pure Stock, Naturally Aspirated, Supercharger Blower and SuperPro Unlimited, but it’s the last two that make the biggest impression, Myers said.

“These are really high-powered rails, really suped-up vehicles. They might run on racing fuel or nitrous. They have a lot of horsepower. Class D and C are vehicles that wouldn’t normally be allowed to be driven on the highway,” Myers said.

Prizes for first through fifth place for all four categories range from $25 for fifth place in Class A to $400 for first place in Class D.

While the prize money may pull drivers in, it’s the excitement and opportunity to support the local fire department that brings in the audience. Volunteer firefighter Bonner Allen, a veteran of the force since 1969, came up with the idea for the Mud Run as a way to raise money for maintenance and equipment county tax dollars don’t stretch to pay for, Myers said.

“It was something different and unique, and they were willing to give it a shot,” Myers said.

It’s continued to be a success year after year—some years bringing in $5,000, others as much as $17,000.

In the days leading up to the Mud Run, volunteers work hard to build the mud pit.

“It takes a lot of work,” Myers said. “We bring topsoil in, guys from the department till it up with a tractor, and if it doesn’t rain, we have to add water.”

There’s also plenty of sand provided at the end of the run to stop vehicles once they’ve made it through the mire.

It’s a good time, but the event is really about raising money to provide a service to eastern Beaufort County, according to Myers. And Pantego VFD is sharing the fundraising opportunity with Ponzer Volunteer Fire Department, which will be providing the concession food.

The Mud Run takes place at 28270 U.S. Highway 264 East, between Belhaven and Pantego. Tickets are $10, and there’s no admission fee for children under the age of 7. Class D vehicles are first on the lineup at 1:30 p.m., but gates open at 9 a.m.