Steve Cackley founded the Mud Grand Prix and has run just about every one of them since. First season was 1978, with 7 runs.  The first year we had 7 runs.  Steve would run them solo and not post his time, then the series winner was
the runner who had a cumulative time closest to Steve's.  The runs were on the solstices and equinoxes, like now, plus the hottest, coldest and wettest (based on official weather dates from the previous year).  That would put a lot of runs close together in the winter -- coldest, wettest. The next year they went to the current format of 4 runs per year.

They had a potluck at the end of the first season at Charla and Joel Kay's place in Carver.  Interesting that Charla and Del were two of the very few runners to do all 7 runs in 1978, a dozen years before they got together.

One of the early winners and long time course record holder was Gordon Haller.  Gordon was the winner of the original Ironman Triathlon in 1978, the very first winner of the very first Ironman!  Del went over there two years later and was pleased to pass Gordie on the bike leg, but he then blew by Del on the run to finish 6th in the 3rd annual Ironman.  (Del think's he was 13th or 14th at the end).

There have been many volunteers to run the MGP. Steve Cackley ran it for a long time. Del and Charla were race "dictators" for a long time, perhaps 10 years.  Others who have done it are Sid and Gail Snyder, E David Granum, and the recent bunch of Tom, Todd, Cynthia and John.    
 

Thanks to Del Scharffenberg for providing this race history.