On August 12th I got the chance to take part in my very first Mudnificent 7 event over in Coventry. I was particularly looking forward to this event because I knew it had snippets of multiple obstacle racing events from the UK OCR scene and this was a great chance to preview some of these in a single 10-12km course (I think that this course ended up being slightly longer then everyone expected). Along with the race itself, was an OCR expo allowing people to sign up to the events that helped create the Mud7 course and various food stands for all to try. Seeing as the event was put together by The Obstacle Race Magazine, I had high hopes for the race that I was about to attack.
The sign up procedure was quick and without hassle. No long queue and well organised. Only thing that was quite annoying was the lack of a bag drop area which, if you are a nomad like myself who travels up via public transport, isn’t helpful at all. I managed to make friends with one of the race organisers and he kindly put my bag in his truck. If it wasn’t for this, I would have spent the race worrying about my belongings being left somewhere random. After solving this problem I checked out the event village, which was relatively busy and buzzing when the race waves started going. As always I was early, so I prepared myself with the Chia Charge bar samples and plenty of water to avoid dehydrating on what was turning out to be a hot sunny day. After prep, I was ready to take on Mud7!
The Race
So this was literally a race of 7 (well with a hidden extra thrown in, 8) parts. The first section was down to The Suffering Race. I have looked at this event leading up to Mud7, so for me this was a great sample. They definitely lived up to their name. Before anyone even reached the first wall, race volunteers known as ‘Reapers’ had us doing 25 burpees! This was the reason it is named the way it is. Wall jump after wall jump, with intermittent press-ups, squats or anything they could make you do with your body weight was the basis of this section. It was a great start and really made the challenge real. A quite easy sandbag carry, a cargo net and a huge wall that was slick and pretty hard to climb were thrown in the mix. All the while there was no rest from the ‘Reapers’ throughout the course. Tough, but extremely enjoyable.
This was followed by obstacles from Extreme Events UK. The Reapers were thankfully gone by this point but now the real grip and upper body strength came in. More wall jumps and then the first rig of the event. I love ring hold obstacles so jumped straight in and did the obstacle proud. This was followed by a quite dizzying bar hold that you had to hang underneath as you moved forward (pretty hard to understand by what I just said so the image below will fill you in). This was also the first part where the mud came into play. Straight into a ditch and into the forest to get dirty and say goodbye to what you looked like when you started the race. I love trail and forest running so this part was right up my street. Balance beams, more walls and a spider web were some of the other challenges to finish off the Extreme Events section.
This section led perfectly into the next which was The Big Foot Challenge. Starting with a nice hanging rope which was intentionally low so your back was drenched by the muddy water. Fun. Plenty of tire climbs and tire flips to test your balance and endurance and some pretty tight squeeze tubes to crawl through made this a adult kids dream! More forest running and getting muddy and then the most fun part of this section. We needed to carry a jug of water through a dirty lake of water, to then either balance your way over another lake or use your upper body strength to hang across. I did the latter to show off and kept going to try and warm up from the bottle necking that held the runners up here.
Zone 4 was down to the Ram Run team. More trail running followed but then we came to a table of yellow bands that we were warned earlier to put on our waist bands in clear sight. Almost like we were about to play tag rugby. This was a small intro onto a secret section to the event which was the Zombie Evacuation Run! The setting was brilliant and the actors dressed as Zombies were scary enough to make me absolutely bomb it through the course. This was until getting into a small building which I knew would contain someone to jump out and scare the hell out of me! I was right, as a younger zombie tried to get my tag but i was too nimble and escaped the building. This part was extremely fun and the idea of being chased completely changed the dynamic of the run and also how tiered I thought I was. Sprinting from zombies isn’t easy.
Placed my tag in the survivors bucket and back into the Ram Run. This was basically a massive multi-rig which was full of challenges. Monkey bars, monkey swings, balance beams, cargo nets, you name it. It was impressive that they placed so many obstacles in such a small area but this was definitely a great section for any obstacle nut. Navigating the rig was a challenge as it was, but then completing each part as well; great fun. A few wall jumps and a tire carry through the forest led to the end of this section.
Next was the Rocket Race section. A few more walls, a giant cargo net to climb and then the first part of the race that I actually needed to focus on getting right. A climb onto a platform, a gap and then a flat cargo net were my challenge. I needed to make a leap of faith and land on my back to avoid getting tangled in the netting. I jump, I make it, I flip off the other end, I feel cool as hell. A few more technical climbs and some running led to a cool but really easy series of grab the bar, swing and jump obstacles. No challenge but fun nonetheless.
The next part of the race was made by the Urban Attack team. This was one of my fun sections as I have always loved the ninja warrior type obstacles and that is what this brought. Firstly some monkey bars and some monkey leaps which I hadn’t done before but wanted to nail. I swung back and fourth building my momentum to leap from the bar….and miss. I fail too, but I’ll get it next time. A few more wall climbs to completely tire us out was followed by a great challenge which you had to run up, kick off and grab the ledge to pull yourself up. I watched a few people try and fail, but I was determined to make it. I ran up to the wall, kicked of and boom, grabbed the ledge to pull myself up. My personal biggest achievement of the day. Quickly followed by a Ninja wall which I cleared no problem. Onto the final section of the race.
The last section was down to The Reaper OCR team. Who doesn’t love a bunch of water based obstacles? This started with a tricky and slippery block we had to climb over. Then a load of planks which we had to dive under, which completely cleaned away any mud I collected earlier (my launderette should thank me right?). More wading through the river led to a giant climbing wall which was soaked. I managed to clamber over this pretty happily to run to the top of a hill which was the way to the water slide. Listened to the safety briefing from the volunteers and I was gone…with a splash of course. A few more wooden planks to climb, a rope swing into the river and then a final climb led to the final water slide to mark the end of the event.
My Thoughts
Mudnificent 7 is the perfect OCR event for those looking for a great fun race where you get all of the challenges from multiple well known events in the OCR scene. Its also a great chance to almost test out the events via their sections and see how much you enjoyed them. I enjoyed the entire run and if there was a fault then it would be the bottlenecking at some obstacles. It’s not the biggest thing and it gives you a chance to catch a breather. My personal favourite sections were: 1-The Suffering Obstacle Race – The Reapers beasted you, the obstacles were intense, and that had my adrenaline going, which is what I love. 2-Urban Attack – The whole ninja warrior style obstacle are right up my street and I wouldn’t have a problem trying each of the obstacles until I nailed them! 3- The Reaper OCR – I’m not the most confident swimmer but water slides are amazing. 4- Zombie Evacuation – The idea of running for your life is surprisingly invigorating and a whole lot of fun.
All in all the entire event was brilliant and I will definitely return. I would recommend this race to anyone who wants to try an OCR for a first time to get an all around feel of the sport and to anyone who takes part in a lot of races. A whole lot of fun and a great time for all to be had. Thumbs up Mudnificent 7.
Did you take part in the Mudnificent 7? What were your thoughts? What were your favourite sections? Which races will you be doing in the future off the back of this? Let me know what you think in the comments below, like, share and follow. Thanks guys and girls.
The Urban Challenger 