On Nov. 2, I took the Tough Mudder challenge in Central Florida. For the uninitiated, Tough Mudder is a grueling 10-to-12-mile endurance challenge consisting of 25 military-style obstacles designed by British Special Forces. The obstacles are made to test not only the runner’s physical grit, but also his or her mental toughness. Since launching in 2010, the challenge has quickly skyrocketed in popularity, increasing to 35 events in 2012 and spreading to four different countries.
The Tough Mudder pledge sets the tone:
• I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
• I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
• I do not whine — kids whine.
• I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.
• I overcome all fears.
The pledge embodies the spirit of the event. When I was running my heat, I kept stopping during the obstacles to help complete strangers and cheer them on. Sometimes five minutes would pass before I realized that many of my group had passed me by.
At least six signature obstacles can be found in every Tough Mudder challenge.
• Funky Monkey: A set of incline and decline monkey bars. Some of the bars are greased or will roll when grabbed, and if you fall you land in a three-foot-deep pit of water. I enjoyed this one the most because it reminded me of playing on a jungle gym as a kid.
• Everest: A slanted ramp, or quarter-pipe, that you must run up. Out of all the obstacles this is the one that shows the most Mudder spirit because many who make it to the top on their own will stay there and help those who can’t scale it alone.
• Electric Eel: Crawling through a small enclosure of water while trying to avoid contact with the dangling wires above your head. I managed to maneuver through this challenge without touching the wires, but others were not so lucky.
• Berlin Wall: Two 12-foot walls. I personally scaled them without help to see if I could do it, but would readily help those that asked for it.
• Arctic Enema: By far the most demanding obstacle of all. You have to jump into a large dumpster filled with water and ice cubes and dive under a barrel in order to get out the other side. The effect was like being stabbed with thousands of tiny needles. Even if you’re a huge muscular person, it won’t make any difference; you’re still going to scream like a little girl. When I climbed out of the pit I didn’t walk down the ramp, I rolled down because my limbs were still in shock.
• Electroshock Therapy: The final challenge of the Tough Mudder course. It’s essentially a dash through a mud field bedecked with hanging live wires, some of which have 10,000 volts coursing through them. When my group reached this part of the course we all stopped, looked at each other and charged through. At first I didn’t feel anything but then I connected with some of the live wires and it felt like three of my nerves had popped. I managed to stay on my feet and reach the finish line, where I was greeted with a hard-earned orange headband and, since I’m over 21, a nice cold Dos Equis. When my friends and I drank our Dos Equises, we all agreed that it was the best beer we’d ever had.
Tough Mudder is more than just a challenge; it brings complete strangers together to achieve one goal, to join the Hall of Mudders. If you take part, you will see some incredible things — like the guy who stopped halfway through Electroshock Therapy, cracked open a beer, and chugged it to deafening applause. People dress up in hilarious costumes, like one group painted from head to toe to look like a streak of tigers. Several contestants wore kilts or tutus and one of my teammates wore nothing more than a pair of Superman underwear. He got every type of reaction possible.
To learn more, go to toughmudder.com. The next Florida challenge takes place Saturday and Sunday April 12 and 13 at the Devil’s Garden Mud Club in Clewiston, about a three-hour drive from Tampa. (The earlier you sign up the cheaper the entrance fee will be.)
This is an event that you will always remember. It will be hard, it will be tiring, but every bit of blood, sweat, and tears will be worth it when you cross that finish line.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2014.