By Wandoo Makurdi Colonel Charles Dallachie, the base commander, fires the gun to signal the start of the Marine Corps Marathon’s ‘Run Amuck’, Saturday. More than 700 runners signed up for the race, in its first year as part of the MCM series. The course for the 5K run, which started and ended at Butler Stadium, included a mud pit, barb wire crawl and multiple hill climbs.

More than 700 participants signed up for the obstacle course race, which was held for the first time in the MCM series this year. According to Beth Johnson, MCM’s public relations coordinator, the last official number of entries was 703, which far exceeded their original goal of 600. However, several runners were still turned down even after the increased number of spots, she said.

Base Commander Col. Charles Dallachie fired the gun, which kicked off the race at 8:00 a.m., setting the first set of runners on their way. There were about 70 runners in each group, with each group’s start time separated by a period of two to three minutes, Johnson said. That first group of runners proved to run the fastest race, as seven of the top 10 finishers emerged from the group.

William Mikolajczak, a 22-year-old from Triangle, led the race from start to finish, winning in 22:03 seconds.

‘‘[My goal was] pretty much going out and just making sure I stayed in front,” Mikolajczak said of his strategy. ‘‘It was one of the best races I’ve run in a very long time.”

Mikolajczak, who competed under Team Velocity, a team he said was started two years ago, and who also had several runners in the race, said he and his teammates also planned to try to run together as far as they could to motivate each other. That strategy also seemed to work as teammate Ryan Shea placed third and several others placed among the top finishers. Jonathan Mbwiri, who along with teammate Jesse Johnson placed third at the Butler 10K Relay, finished second in 23:58. Shea followed behind in 24:22.

Lauren Digennare, a 28-year-old from Wilmington, Del., was the top female finisher with a time of 28:26. Angel Stone, a 30-year-old from Arlington was second in 29:28, and Jennifer Davis, 26, also of Arlington, was third in 29:47.

Rick Nealis, the MCM race director, who also ran with the first group of racers, and received the award for the fastest male time in the 50 to 54 age group, said that he expected the race to live up to the expectations of the people.

‘‘If you’re coming here for a flat cross country run, then you’re going to be surprised because there’s plenty of hills ... and the mud pit is really muddy because of the rain from last night,” Nealis, who was interviewed immediately following his race, said of the surprise other runners had waiting for them.

Nealis said he ran the race because he thought it was a good opportunity for staff members to participate in some of the races they organize. Nealis and Amanda White, MCM’s marketing director, were the only members of the marathon staff who ran in the event.

Nealis said he expected most people to find the hills the most difficult part of the race, as he did. He said the fifth hill, also known as the race director hill, was perhaps the most difficult of all because of its steepness, for which racers needed a rope to get to the bottom.

‘‘The hardest part was definitely ... getting up over the hills,” Mikolajczak said, agreeing with Nealis. ‘‘It was just exhausting when you get to the top, to (try to) get that push to go down them, and get to the next one.”

Runners also had to navigate their way through hay bales, a balance beam, barbwire crawl, tire dash, natural logs, and the muddy pit during the course of the race.While some took advantage of the breaks in runs to cruise through the obstacle course, others took a different approach.

‘‘With the obstacle, some people were trying to go over them fast ..., I just tried to save my energy as much as I could, and tried to finish [the run] as hard as I could,” Digennare said.

Nealis said he could not have been any more pleased with the overall presentation and turnout of the race, especially for a first-time event.

‘‘Anytime we can get over a thousand people aboard the base ... it’s a good thing,” he said. ‘‘The weather’s great; it’s not too hot ... so I think we hit a home run today.”

For a complete list of the results, visit the Marine Corps Marathon Web site at http:⁄⁄www.marinemarathon.com⁄Marine_Corps_Marathon.htm.