Tough Mudder: A Race Like No Other

There was excitement in the air early Sunday morning at Bear Creek Resort in Macungie, PA. Nobody knew what to expect, all we knew about Tough Mudder was what we’ve read on their website or Facebook page. The energy was palpable, athletes were ready for the day’s events. At least they thought they were. I heard reports of a variety of training methods. One man and his friends had recently completed a 9 mile trail run carrying logs. I came across three men from outside Washington, D.C. who had taken up running only two months ago, one of them had never even run outside on the roads or trails, but on a cardio trainer at the gym instead – this was their very first “running” event. I wondered how they would survive this adventure, surely they would need to rely on each other to make it through this day in one piece. I kept thinking to myself, “These people are insane,” and chuckling the entire time.

Outfits ranged from your more normal shorts and tech shirts to the outrageous which incuded bikinis, thongs, kilts, a Spiderman outfit, characters straight out of the film Avatar and various other costumes of certain amusement. License plates indicated that people had traveled from New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia, Connecticut and elsewhere. Today was history in the making.

There would be 9 waves of runners, each taking off in 15 minute intervals, who would complete the course. Oh! The gruelling course! Each wave started off with a Tough Mudder Pledge and fireworks as they bolted down the mountain in true Braveheart fashion for the first Tough Mudder Challenge, the Braveheart Charge. Down the mountain and literally back up for Challenge #2, the Death March. Coming off a 16 mile run myself that morning, all I could do was watch in awe, happy that it was not me forging the mountain. That did not last long.

Armed with a Press Pass I had no idea I would trek this Macungie mountain alongside the contestants, instead I figured I’d stick to the trails, leaving the harder parts of the course to the athletes. Caught up in the moment, I found myself hiking up Sasquatch, a black diamond trail which was so steep that people were literally crawling up the mountain and taking rest breaks half-way up. This was Challenge #6, Cliff Hanger. A First Aid station at the summit was a welcome call to some. Others continued on to the Boa Constrictor (Challenge #7), underground tunnels through which they must crawl before resuming a run through the woods. (Apparently, I skipped Challenges #3 & 4, Sweaty Yeti and Devil’s Beard, a crawl through the snow and another crawl, only this time through cargo net webbing.)

At this point I worked my way down the mountain and thoroughly enjoyed watching Challenge #8, Swamp Stomp. Right about now I was pretty happy with myself for not having signed up for this event. Something about running through waist deep muddy water for 50 yards is not very appealing to me but I had to hand it to these guys and gals, they were not only having a great time and helping each other complete each challenge but really proving their athleticism. These challenges were extremely difficult and they continually forged onward. Several were able to run through the mud bog without much difficulty, others fell and actually went under. Yikes!

Just a run through the woods and then down the mountain, soon Tough Mudders were greeted with Challenge #9, Kiss of Mud. They crawled under wires in true boot camp fashion, did I mention the mud? Hilarious! There was a lot of humor surrounding this race. A volunteer stood at the end of this challenge with a bottle of water, readily rinsing out participant’s muddy eyes. It was a muddy mess up there!

At this point I realized I had skipped over Challenge #5 and headed over to the Hold Your Wood obstacle where participants had to grab a log and walk up and down the ski slope, one log per person. Better you than me is what I was thinking.

Participants continued their run on the wooded trails and I headed further down the mountain to the main pond on the resort. Several challenges took place on the water where athletes had to cross back and forth either by traversing the water while holding onto ropes on the Ball Shrinker (#10), swimming under pylons at the Underwater Tunnels (#11) or jumping off a plank and swimming around a large red ball and back for the Walk the Plank (#12) challenge. Next runners were met with a series of four 12 foot walls (Berlin Walls, #13), two of which had to be completed although many lined up for all four walls.

Only a few more challenges to go: #14 was the Killa Gorilla, a rather cruel obstacle which entailed marching up and down a very steep and long embankment, ten times. The funnest obstacle from my vantage point was the Greased Lightening (#15) Challenge. The entire hill was lined with plastic and water was siphened from the pond below to make a long, slick water slide sending athletes whizzing by to the water below. Who doesn’t love a water slide?

The final obstacles which stood in each athlete’s way were on the hot side, literally. A trail to the finish was lined with burning bails of hay (Firewalker, #16), the heat was pretty intense as was the smoke. At times you couldn’t even see runners on the other side of the obstacle, they would suddenly emerge through the smoke holding their breath, covering their eyes, some with arms raised.

The finish line itself was a huge arch of fire which each athlete must run underneath before officially and successfully completing the Tough Mudder. Camaraderie and the badge of honor of finishing this event was all that participants needed on this day.

I am in awe of every single finisher of Tough Mudder. I saw first hand just how hard this course was. After seeing it, I would choose for a second time not to participate in this competition other than from the sidelines. I’m pretty sure that many who ran competed feel the same way. Others probably cannot wait until the next local race in November. It was hard. Damn hard. And every single person who finished deserves a huge pat on the back. Not just that. They deserve a lot of respect. And each finisher has a story to tell about the day.

Congratulations to each and every finisher of this inaugural Tough Mudder competition. Be proud of your accomplishment!

I will have more photos uploaded later in the week. If you see yourself in any of the following photos and would like the original (larger) copy, please contact me: jill@lvrunningscene.com. Videos of Tough Mudder can be viewed on the Lehigh Valley Running Scene YouTube channel.

There will be another Tough Mudder event in New Jersey on November 20 and November 21 (two days, two events) for those of you interested in participating in this one of a kind event. The race at Bear Creek was 7 miles long, the event in New Jersey will be 12 miles long with even more obstacles. Are you up for the challenge?