[pimp4cheddar]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

It's not as hard as you guys make it out to be... 3 hours is the avg completion time which means 3.3mph. A fit guy can walk a mile in 12-15min.

Have you done it?

My personal thoughts are: it's much harder than most think.

I did the Warrior Dash with some friends... That was only 3.5 miles and it was hell for me more than anyone else. I rolled my ankle .012 miles into it.

First damn mud pond...I was running and high stepping through it and lost my footing - all I felt was pop pop pop pop.

So after driving an hour with friends to get there only to ruin my ankle...I decided to tighten up the laces and continue the race (worst move ever). I spent months in thearpy rehabing my ankle...



OP: DO IT. Run your ass off as it's all stamina. The problem isn't being able to complete a mile in 12-15 minutes...it's the last 5-6 miles. Not to mention...you're soaking wet with mud all over your balls...not comfy!


Good luck!

[coh4777]

I did the Norcal event up at Bear Valley last year. It was a fun race, but definitely not that much of a challenge to complete, and I don't even consider myself to be a paticularly fit guy. Expect to have fun with your friends, run around in the mud and run through some cool obstacles, but don't expect it to be an event where you really have to dig deep and test your will and strength.

[Gavin@MMW]

Originally Posted by coh4777

I did the Norcal event up at Bear Valley last year. It was a fun race, but definitely not that much of a challenge to complete, and I don't even consider myself to be a paticularly fit guy. Expect to have fun with your friends, run around in the mud and run through some cool obstacles, but don't expect it to be an event where you really have to dig deep and test your will and strength.

Lol I am getting people who says its no big deal, and then people who says its insane

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

That shit looks SO fun! I want to do it!

[Zephyr15]

Originally Posted by Gavin@MMW

Lol I am getting people who says its no big deal, and then people who says its insane

There's a little truth to both sides. Everyone has different fitness levels, expectations for the event and tolerances, so opinions will vary wildly.

One thing to keep in mind is that each event is different depending on the terrain. I did the 2011 PA Mudder and the entire course was at a ski resort. We had to go up and down ski slopes all day, including one or two black diamonds. I'd wager that a location like that is much tougher than, say, the NJ Mudder, which is largely flat or rolling terrain.

How long the event will take also varies. Again, the terrain will be a large factor because large elevation changes will slow you down. It also depends on your start time and how much the TM Staff have learned about crowd control. Some of the obstacles will back up and you will have to stand in line. My group finished in 3 hours and we estimated (with the help of our ladyfriend spectators) that we waited at least a half an hour to complete the three back-to-back-to-back water events alone, and probably an hour total when you combine all delays (the worst is getting stuck behind walkers on the trail runs). If you subtract that delay, I'd say that two hours of running/crawling/climbing over 11 miles of mountainous, snow covered terrain and obstacles isn't that bad for a team finish.

With all that said, I agree with the coh4777. You're going to finish the event unless you injure yourself (people sprain ankles) or you quit. It's a challenging event, but I saw plenty of people make it that appeared to have only an average fitness level. It's difficult to make suggestions for your training without knowing more about your fitness level and what you already do or do not do in terms of exercise, but quitting smoking was a good start.

[KingOfJericho]

We're putting together a team of guys from my office. We're doing the Pennsylvania Tough Mudder in April.

[Anthrax]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

hmmm i just met a guy who's doing it... he wanted to do the bear crawl plank exercise i was doing. apparently you have to do army crawl under shock wires for a distance?

Actually you run through the shock wires

I ran SoCal this last June. We had god awful weather which probably made it much harder than it should have been (check out the Sunday pictures or videos for the event). But the race is only as hard as you make it, we ran the whole race and it was definitely a challenge but if you walk it shouldn't be too bad. It's incredibly fun though and worth trying.

[inabis]

I did the NorCal one a month or two back. It wasn't too bad! My team and I finished in under 3 and a half hours and thats because there were lines at the events sometimes. If you're starting out, do Warrior Dash, it's easier- only 3 miles!

The TM obstacles are fun, I had a great time doing it. Make sure to train, sign up for a half-marathon before just so you get used to running for so long. TM was honestly was kinda disappointing...I thought it would be harder. The hardest thing (for me) was the elevation. It's hard to run up a ski slope.

[Quick6EF]

Come run up and down Mt. Snow and tell me TM is easy

[bmwmike335]

Originally Posted by Gavin@MMW

Mike,
I am in SoCal and am doing it with 2 friends, your welcome to join us.

(but you have to wear a costume to match us...)

ahaha whats your guys costume??

[Gavin@MMW]

Originally Posted by bmwmike335

ahaha whats your guys costume??

Doing the whole thing in Kilts and Braveheart body paint. LOL

[Fredds112]

It was challenging but not extremely hard. Overall it was a lot of fun, though. I do recommend that everybody get a group of friends and at least do one. Im doing my second one in January. Cant wait to walk the plank again. That one slapped a big smile on my face!

[KingOfJericho]

Reviving an old thread because I completed the VT Tough Mudder yesterday. It is one of the proudest moments of my life and easily the most physically demanding thing I've ever done. I have giant bruises and a jammed middle finger to prove it. We started with 11 guys and one chick and 11 finished (the chick beat my time by an hour and 45 minutes...). One guy had to stop when he acquired a massive puncture would on his elbow.

Quick6EF is right - I can see how people who complete the NJ or Florida Mudders might think they are easy but running, walking, and often crawling up Mount Snow in VT was the most demanding challenge of all. On flat ground I may have called it somewhat easy as well but after seeing a girl with her leg bone protruding, some dude with a mangled knee, and another chick with hypothermia, you are reminded very quickly of how serious this thing is. That being said, I finished the course in just under 5 hours. The 3 most fit people on our team (One 50+ yr old dude and the 28yr old girl) took off from the start and finished in 3:15 which is fast as hell for that course, considering the average finish time for all TM events is about 3-3.5hrs. To give you an idea of the shape they are in, she runs 100 miles a week...

While is was brutal and grueling from start to finish, I have never had such a feeling of personal accomplishment in my life. I can't suggest it enough and highly recommend the Vermont event, from what I've heard it's the hardest - and I believe it.

[TimZ]

My cousin was also in the tough mudder event yesterday. He said he never did anything that hard in his life but loved the feeling after. He completed it in 3 hours and 5 minutes.
I'm going to participate in one of these events soon hopefully

[Chrispy650]

Never heard of this event until now. It looks reallly fun and I would be done to do it for the fun factor.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by Chrispy650

Never heard of this event until now. It looks reallly fun and I would be done to do it for the fun factor.

I did it for the fun factor but it's so physically demanding that it becomes an internal stamina battle by the second half. My body aches in every way but I feel amazing having completed it.

[Draven]

A bunch of my coworkers did it yesterday too - I'll ask how they did.

[Draven]

Just talked to them, they had a team of 9 and finished the course in 5 and a half hours or so. They said they weren't doing it for time/speed, just having fun. He also said he had to wait at a lot of the obstacles.

[EvosM3]

I did it in the nude and got a world record time of 55 mins 19 seconds.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by EvosM3

I did it in the nude and got a world record time of 55 mins 19 seconds.

I would surmise that is because you didn't spend any time waiting.

[KingOfJericho]

The World's Toughest Mudder (Mr.Pak) ran the 8am on Sat... then put on a wig and dress and ran it again at 11am. The dude is a MACHINE!!!

[1speedbike]

Two friends of mine did it. They had a lot of fun. I'm probably gonna start getting in shape to try it out. The electric wire field and the running through a field of fire are particularly entertaining (to watch).