People always think I must have done a Tough Mudder because I like rolling in mud, climbing walls, all that stuff. When I say I have yet to do one, an element of surprise shows on their faces and I think to myself ‘damn, I should really do one of the worlds most popular obstacle course races right?’ When I was approached to run with a team for For Goodness Shakes and take part in my first Tough Mudder, I absolutely jumped at the the chance!
Race Day
The event was being held in Crawley which is a nice and easy journey for me coming from London. Even better, the event village was a short cab or bus ride away from the station, this made arriving at the site was very easy. The event village was bustling and very atomospheric! Music playing, mini challenges for people to do whilst waiting for their wave (monkey bar challenge) and plenty of food and drink stalls. The sign in process was very quick and easy and ques were well managed and didn’t have you waiting for agaes. I pinned my race number to my for goodness shakes top and was ready to go!
Before the event I knew that the distance was going to be around 10.2 miles. Quite a long run without obstacles but very managable. The whole camaraderie idea of Tough Mudder starts right from the warm up; using the person next to you for balance and joint squats etc. They really do ring into you that there will be parts where you will need to help and be helped along the course.
After reading out the Tough Mudder oath, we are off! Mile one is pretty easy, nothing but a good old trail run, which I love and a stack of hay (Bale Bonds) to clamber over. Love a bit of plyometrics to show off that I have been doing my box jumps! Further on was the first real challenge where team mates came in handy. A slanted 10ft wall (Skidmarked) which I was able to pull myself up with no drama and reach down to give some friendly assistance to those who needed it.
Up until the next obstacle I was relatively clean. That changed pretty quickly with the barbed wire crawl (Kiss Of Mud) that followed. This is the first moment you get down and damn right dirty with muddy and wet ground that forces you to stay low to avoid getting caught in the wire above. After doing just that (insert tshirt rip here) and hitting mile 2 the tallest climb of the race (Hero Walls). After getting pretty wet on the last obstacle these walls were very slick. A real team effort was needed here, even by the taller guys who thought they had it in the bag (aka myself).
3 miles in and your pretty muddy and warm from the trail running. How about have a dunk in a giant ice bath (Artic Enema). This is one of the obstacles I was dreading as I know what it’s like dipping into freezing water…well at least I thought I did. Sliding through a tube into this baptism of ice, resurfacing and then needing to go under once more to get out was freezing to say the least! It was at that point you know that you need to run to warm up again! Cliffhanger and Devils Beard were next (a big muddy hill to climb and a cargo net covering a stack of hay that you needed to clamber over). Pretty easy stuff.
Coming into mile 4 and one of the most fun sections of the run. Hold Your Wood is a very short carry obstacle (lifterally 400 meters) with a wooden log as your companion. Then onto Mud Mile (which I’m sure isn’t a mile) which was great. About 5 muddy hills to climb up and over whilst dunking into muddy water in between. This section even has its own DJ! People were dancing in the muddiest section of the event. Fantastic.
After getting as dirty as physically possible, one thing everyone wants is a nice cooling bath…or in the case of Tough Mudder, Block Ness Monster. Probably one of my favourite obstacles in the event. Your job is to climb over 3 giant roatating blocks; but your job isn’t done there. You need to push it to flip it over and pull it when your on the other side to help other Mudders over the obstacle. This is another section where team work is inperitive and actually amazingly fun! Plus your pretty clean after that, wet, but clean.
Further on was Everest which is a giant slip wall that I expected to need to run up as fast as possible. Seemed like they had a different idea as there may have been one to many accidents on this obstacle. They blocked any chance of a run up and lined up ropes to help your ascent. The adrenaline junkie in me would have loved a go at it.
Another mile down was the Hero Carry,which required me to get pretty close to one of my team mates and put them on my back along a muddy trail then switch half way. After that we had to wheel barrow walk each other also. So pretty muddy again after getting dropped repeatedly. Following on from that was Birth Canal. This one was pretty tough as you had to crawl through the smallest gap while being pushed down by a water filled tarpaulin layer above you. Quite a squeeze!
The most difficult obstacle of the day came pretty soon after. Only known as The Liberator; a giant peg board which you have to clamber up. This had quite a queue as it was extremely slippery which made it even more difficult. This took a real team effort as people literally helped push and pull you up the treacherous wall. The pegs didn’t seem to fit so it was mostly lodging your feet into the edges of the wall to reach the top.
It was a shame that they placed the most grip tasking obstacle after; Funky Monkey. A set of Monkey bars followed by a horizontal spinning wheel and then 2 vertical spinning wheels. This was above neck hight water so I was determined to make it across. The bars were wet and person after person dropped off. One of my team members took the reigns only to fall pretty fast on top of someone (who didn’t resurface for what seemed like forever). I shook off his failure and went for it. The monkey bars I managed, but the reach for the spinning wheel went wrong and there you have it, I was swimming with the fishes.
After my pride recovered from becoming a wet soggy mess and reaching around mile 7 next was the Lumberjacked obstacle. A quite easy high log that you had to jump over. Didn’t cause me to much bother so I continued to The Reacharound obstacle. A diagonal climb followed by a platform that you literally needed to ‘reach around’ to get on top of. Luckily a lovely lady pulled my leg onto the platform, so I ran on to what was aptly named Swamp Stomp. This was the type of mud you know you wont be able to clean from your shoes for awhile. Luckily the next obstacle was another water one, Augustus Gloop. How clear is it that I look forward to the water sections so that I don’t need to spend as much time cleaning my clothing and shoes post race?
Augustus Gloop was pretty cool. It requires you to dive under water to emerge in a tube which has more water continuously flowing on top of you. Climbing up was still quite easy but that was a cool obstacle. Further on from this was another challenge that required teamwork and that I was really looking forward too, Pyramid Scheme. I saw people running straight up with speed and getting sent back down for being spoil sports. I started by being a pedestal for a few people; my legs, shoulders and head all got used as steps, all until it was my turn to get to the top. It’s brilliant how everyone really rallies together to make sure that everyone else reaches the top of the pyramid.
This led us the final 2 obstacles of the day. Kong is a giant monkey ring structure which I was confident about. There hadn’t been water on course for awhile so I was dry and I usually ace this kind of obstacle. Started well, movement was good, until I missed one of the central rings. I managed to compose myself (luckily) before swinging on to finish the challenge like I thought I would. From here the only thing left to do was to run through Electroshock Therapy! I will be honest with you, I was not looking forward to this part. Funny enough I was with a group who are apparently undercover sadists and wanted to crack this final obstacle topless. I thought I couldn’t chicken out at the last hurdle. Shirt off and I went for it! I got 3/4 of the way through without feeling anything to then get shocked on my calf! I damn nearly fell but leaped to safety to collect my first ever Tough Mudder headband!
My Thoughts
I have been wanting to do a Tough Mudder for ages and it was one of my goals for the year. After completing the event, I know exactly why so many people love it so much. The key to this event isn’t speed and being the fastest on the course, but getting together with a group of people who have a likeminded goal and huddling together to complete the tasks at hand. It is probably the most fun you will have at an OCR event. The course is lined up really well when it comes to spacing of obstacles and there are plenty of drink stations along the way. The sponsors keep you both hydrated and give out snacks all the way through. The course is balanced and thats the thing that makes this event accessible to anyone who wants to try it. You wont be left on your own at any point. There is always a helping hand which is great for newbies and hardened OCR enthusiasts. I can’t recommend the event enough and I will definitely be returning in the new season to get a few more of those headbands for my collection. Tough Mudder, I salute you!
Have you completed a Tough Mudder? What were your thoughts? Have you wanted to do a Tough Mudder for awhile? What’s stopping you? Let me know in the comments below.
The Urban Challenger 