"Probably the toughest event on the planet." It's a 10-12 miles obstacle course with 23-25 challenges along the way dedicated to tear the participants apart. Lured by the tagline, I invited 11 of my closest comrades to partake this hell of an event for self-recognition and proof that we can do anything that we put our hearts into (and with the helps of our friends, of course). Took us more than 5 hours to complete the course.
Looking back, I think I must've signed up for this during an adrenaline rush.
Our heat starts at 1:20PM, but was advised to arrive at least 2 hours prior for prep. Accounted the travel time, we were up at 8:30AM to get our stuff together:
Things to bring:
-Towel and clean cloths for post-tough mudder.
-Sun block—wasn't necessary. They get washed off after the first few challenges on the course. Plus, you'd be cover by mud 90% of the time.
-Gloves—lost them on the course before I got a chance to use it.
-Elbow/Knee pads—can be useful, but we decided not to use them due to excess weight.
-Goggles—lost them on the course before I got a chance to use it. (Can be helpful.)
-Everything proof camera—not necessary for the course, but comes in handy for blog posts.
-Kicks—they will be covered and soaked by mud and dirt. Use the pair that you have no attachments to.
Just getting to the course took us 2 hours.
86 degree in the morning, already seeing lots of brave souls taking on the hills.
"If you have to sign a release form, it's probably worth doing."
We were encouraged to throw on ridiculous outfits.
1. Sign waivers.
2. Get face marked.
Michelle wasn't quite satisfied with the face marked I made for her. I was going for that seaweed look, sorry. Margaret seemed happy with the spartan face paint and Allen just went with something simple. Seaweed was a bad move on me.
...and the award goes to:
Courtesy of Margaret.
Coco, Sam, and Tony joined us shortly.
The result of having markers around.
We're team Cream Puffs. None of us are active in any outdoor activities (except for Lu and Tonys). And none of us really know what we signed ourselves up for. Ignorance is bliss couldn't be more suitable for this picture.
Saw batman.
First challenge came right away. There's a wall that we'd have to climb over just to get to the starting point. Shizz is going down!
Off we go, a half mile run:
Tough Mudder rely mostly on teamwork. These are one of the shortest walls, too.
Arctic Enema's an ice filled tank that we'd have to dive into.
Tip: jump as far as you can, to spend as little time as you can in the freezing water.
Brain freeze.
Crawling on my belly under a wire set just 8 inches from the ground.
Mile 2 came by quickly:
What did I say about using shoes that you don't have an attachement to.
There's always another hill coming up every time I convinced myself that it was the last one.
There's a water station every 2 miles. I don't drink much water normally, but under the 96 degree sun, I never felt happier seeing this man handing out water cups:
...although, I'd still imagine that the cup's filled with shaved ice instead of water.
Mile 3.
The course torn Tony's shoes apart.
A 5 ft gap in the middle of our trail.
Air!
Had to navigate over and under a series of logs.
The dirtiest obstacle out there.
Goggles would come in handy here. The terrains are extremely slippery, so we fell or slide through most of them. And without a proper stand when landing, we could easily sunk into the puddle of mud.
I lost my contacts here.
More walls, more teamwork.
"Don't whine, kids whine."
Mile 6!
Thirsty and tired. The team called in for a quick break.
The hills are, to me, the toughest part of the course. We hiked up more than 8 miles of hills through out the event. Steep hills. I felt like my legs were giving in half of the time while pain spikes through my knee and thighs. Hills are the worst!
I started to reach enlightenment and began to see things differently.
Mile 8!
Then...
Isolated porta potty for quick bathroom breaks.
This would be one hell of an experience for the acrophobics:
A 15 feet platform to leap off of into a 12 feet deep pond.
Still hot, still thirsty, and there's still 3 more miles to go.
This one was fairly simple—just climbing over haystacks.
BAM, done.
Mile TEN.
You'll get shocked, guaranteed.
Tip: dive in and crawl across as fast as you can. There's no avoiding the electrified wires no matter how low you crawled.
*BUZZ.
I got shocked around 6 times and each shock made me crawl even faster. I took in 3 big gulps of mud water. No biggies.
Bob underneath the obstacles and swim across the lake. Nastiest water.
A large and slipper quarter pipe awaits:
First tear.
Last, but not least:
This one we had to run through. The team in neon green wanted to go through this all together:
...but that didn't turn out too well.
So we dashed.
5 hours and 22 minutes of overcoming hurdles and anticipating for the next water station, we finally finished.
As a reward for those that complete the race, Tough Mudder gave out head bands and t-shirts.
...and a cup of ice cold beer. Never worked so hard to earn a cup of beer, ever.
Cheers!
Certified Tough Mudder.
The befores and afters:
It was a terrific experience. Though, my back and legs were sore and in pain for the next 3 days straight. Tony, Michelle, and I got the flu the next morning and we're still in the process of recovering (been 5 days since the race). The challenges were insane, but we pulled through. I suppose you can really accomplish anything that you put your hearts into. Even if everyone else think you're just a cream puff.
'til the next challenge,
-Benson