GUEST POST: A Tough Mudder

When ever I need a spoonful of motivation, I look to one person:  my little brother.

I may call him “little brother” but he’s anything but.  At 6′ 4″, Erik towers 5 inches above me.   [What happened to days he had to look up to me and I could beat him at arm wresting?] Despite his intimating height and physique, he’s a down-to-earth guy who has a passion for health and fitness [especially the fitness].   He is a varsity rower for the Alabama crew team, a marine to-be (he will be graduating from Marine Officer Candidate School this July 2), and a full-time student at the University of Alabama.  Oh yeah, in his spare time he lives in the gym (men…what can I say!).

He’s my best friend, my confidant, my bouncing wall for idea, my punching bag when I need to vent my frustrations (he’s tough, so he can handle it!), and someone I look to when I need a good laugh.  It would be easy for me to babble on and on about my brother, but I will cut it short and let him tell his own story.  This is the story of  a guy motivated to push himself to the limit.  This is the story of a Tough Mudder!

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I, Erik Glynn, have earned the title of Tough Mudder.  On 17 March 2011, I ran the race that proclaims itself to be ‘probably the toughest event on the planet’- the Tough Mudder.

My team and I showed up to the venue around 9AM.  They parked us in a pasture filled with cow-patty’s and we walked to the temporary registration area where we signed a death waiver (literally), pinned on our bibs, flexed for photos, and had our numbers scribbled all over our extremities.  Then we made our way to our starting corral where they would release us at 10AM (with other corrals released every 30 minutes for the next 3 hours).  While in our corral, they had us all recite the Tough Mudder Creed and with 1 min to the start, they began playing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ (the anticipation was building).  The Tough Mudder staff made it a point that this was not a race, it was a team event. A concept that I liked.

As soon as we started the race, we had to jump into ice and mud filled water about 8 feet deep (my feet never felt the bottom and I’m 6′ 4″).  This set the mood for the rest of race: Mud. Every obstacle we encountered involved mud, water, or more mud.  If we weren’t crawling though under barb wire through mud, then we were trudging through it in a shin deep swamp.  There were 20 obstacles spread out over the entire 14 mile course. About 10 of them were within 2 miles of each other.  After those back-to-back obstacles, it was a trail run for 5 miles.  We were WAY out in the woods running up and down hills and doing hair-pin turns.  Occasionally there was a flat stretch.  But that was quickly followed by yet another hill.  Some stretches were so steep we had to cling to trees to avoid sliding back down the hill.  It was ridiculous and justified the signing of the ‘Death Waiver’.
Teamwork is a must during the event. I ran it 4 of my buddies and there’s no way I could’ve completed it without them.  Not only are some of the obstacles impossible to scale without the help of a few people, but the idea of trudging through those 14 miles alone sounds miserable.  Few events out there require THIS much teamwork and it’s a concept that’s rare in this modern day.
In the end, it was a blast.  The entire time I was running, all I thought about was how crazy this was.  Dangerously steep inclines, getting bombarded by fire-hoses, crawling under barbwire, 30-foot free falls into ice water, monkey bars, swamp stomps, 12-foot walls, and, to top it all off, you run through a field of live electrical wires (some containing 10,000 volts) as you pass through the finish line.
I can talk all day about how fun this was, but it would be best if you just went and DID it. You don’t have to be a super athlete to make it though, you just have to have teamwork.  If you try to do this event alone, you will fail.  This event was not designed to run for time, but instead to give people the opportunity to prove how well they can work together.  Only 60% of competitors finish, and being one of those few will earn you the title of TOUGH MUDDER.
“WARNING: Tough Mudder is 3-4 times longer and MUCH TOUGHER than a typical mud run such as Warrior Dash. Only 78% of participants at Tri-State 2010 finished. Only those in strong physical condition should enter.”

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Well, that does it for me.  I have already told Erik to sign me up for the next Tough Mudder he does!  It looks fun, challenging, and downright exhilarating.

Have you ever run a Tough Mudder?  What’s the most extreme race/competition/event you have participated in?
I had to run through a creek during a Cross Country race.  Yes, I know that is lame compared to a Tough Mudder, but it’s all I have…that is until I become a Tough Mudder!

Tagged as: Fitness