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5/3/2011 7:00:24 PM

wtf. mother fuckers i am irish i don't like spicy ANYTHING. this is not going to be fun

also I think all the dudes that told me they were going to do it with me are bailing. lame.

5/3/2011 9:15:20 PM

i want to do this for the t-shirt

but damn, i really don't want to shell out the $ for the admission fee, hotel, travel costs since none of my friends are interested

5/3/2011 9:26:04 PM

Awwww serious spoiler alert.

I do this Sunday. Woot woot!

5/3/2011 9:57:54 PM

The pepper thing makes me actually want to do it. It's stupid as hell but I have been known to eat habaneros for leisure because I am strange.

5/3/2011 10:38:45 PM

Sorry for the spoiler...I found out before I did the race through multiple sources, so you probably would have found out...or maybe not

For the people who say it's stupid, etc...it's listed as a "voluntary" obstacle, but then again, everything on the course is voluntary. I guess its all really about whether or not you want to do something hard.

5/4/2011 9:20:52 AM

They just released pics (via Facebook) of the course. Still a LOT of snow. This is going to be cold.

5/4/2011 10:47:38 AM

Looks like it might rain a bit on Sunday too...at least it will be warmer than the ones I did in NJ and PA

I am most interested to see how horrible the mountain grade is going to make it...the slopes at Bear Creek were pretty grueling...this should be way, way worse

5/4/2011 10:58:16 AM

Are you doing the one this Sunday?

5/4/2011 11:04:15 AM

Yeah...I've got an 11:40 start time, although those never really matter, you can pretty much go whenever you want

What time are you doing?

5/4/2011 11:13:16 AM

11:40 as well.

I have a team of 5 total people. We're driving up from around Albany, New York.

5/4/2011 12:26:41 PM

Cool man...on Friday I'll try and remember to post in here what I'm gonna wear, maybe we can spot each other

5/4/2011 1:11:00 PM

So did anyone sign up for the event in Wintergreen, VA in October? So far everyone else has bailed on me, so I will be looking for a team to join or toughin' it out solo

5/4/2011 2:25:30 PM

i was going to but everyone also bailed on me. that and I am the epic broke atm

5/4/2011 3:00:54 PM

Speaking of which, what kind of stuff are you going to wear? I was thinking running shoes, shorts (too cold?), a t-shirt, and some gloves.

5/4/2011 3:58:56 PM

This one will be warmer than the others...NJ in November was truly awful...that said here's what I wore and didn't:

gloves - just used cheap gardening gloves, I like them b/c they have some grip and are like a dollar, but really what's most important here is just the idea of protecting my hands going over walls/rope/etc
shorts - definitely not too cold unless you have cramping issues
shirt - I've been wearing moisture wicking tech t-shirts so that they dry out as fast as possible after jumping in the water...since it's not too warm out this is important I think...and also the reason I don't wear long sleeves
shoes - I''m always on the lookout for $20 and under sale shoes (running and trail running) in my size, so I have a bit of a collection now...for these 12 mile runs I try and pick out the most comfortable pair I have, but still be prepared to throw them away. Even if they stay salvagable, washing them is a pain in the ass

A lot of people wear winter hats...I don't find any extra clothing necessary since you're running the whole time and it should be around 60...biggest suggestion though, if you do wear a hat, take it off before you go through the electricity obstacle. The people wearing wet hats seemed to get hit the hardest.

5/4/2011 4:47:23 PM

Thanks, that's an awesome post. I will probably go pick up some cheap running shoes (I really don't want to ruin my marathon shoes) and one of those fast-drying T-shirts. I prefer to run with as little clothing as possible - i.e. I hate sweats and long-sleeve shirts, and definitely no hats.

5/4/2011 5:13:59 PM

NP...that all being said...you can always just wear a speedo like some of these crazy people do...I'm just not that hardcore apparently

5/4/2011 5:21:05 PM

How bad are the "live wires" at the end? 10,000 volts doesn't sound like a lot, compared to say, a taser, but then again, you will likely be wet.

5/5/2011 11:09:50 PM

I'd imagine it's like touching an exposed spark plug wire

5/6/2011 8:58:11 AM

The first time I went through them I didn't get hit at all...second time I got zapped a couple times...I don't get shocked too often so it's hard to say how bad it is...I definitely felt it in my teeth and it's bad enough that I'd prefer not to do be shocked any more. Some people wearing the wet hats were saying they felt like they got punched in the face, sounds overly dramatic to me

For anyone going to be there and you want to find me so you can come back here and post, "I saw a guy from TWW that no one knows!", I'll be wearing a black sleeveless shirt, gray shorts, gloves, and red and black New Balance shoes. I look pretty much the same as in my photo gallery.

5/6/2011 9:03:06 AM

I'm 90% certain I'm signing up for Wintergreen. Did Rugged Maniac in Asheboro last month and it was a breeze. Only 5k though, but even being wet and 50-ish degrees outside it was fine. It was fun though, I liked getting dirty and having to jump over walls and crawl through mud, so I imagine Tough Mudder would be more of that and therefore more fun.

I have a friend up in DC who was thinking about running it too but haven't heard back. Is there a team on TWW going up to Wintergreen in October in case I can't get a team up with my friend?

5/6/2011 10:49:11 AM

I might have to do this when I get out of training. I'll consider it. I'm sure I'll be ready since I have a 10 day field exercise in September.

5/6/2011 6:03:39 PM

I'll be wearing brand new silver/red Nike shoes, dark colored shorts (probably gray) and a red "quick drying" Under Armor shirt. Odds are I may ditch the shirt if it gets too hot, but who knows.

11:40 Sunday start time for me. I too, look like my photo gallery pics, my name is Jim if anyone wants to come say hello.

5/6/2011 6:27:45 PM

Holy shit, that was not what I had expected. I'll treat this post as a mini-blog, so it may get a little long.... so skip it if you want.

I have run a half-marathon in the past, and I plan on doing a full one this year. I have went through P90X three times and Insanity twice. I am really active, and I like to think of myself as being in really good shape. I only say this to put things in perspective, not to brag or anything like that. All that being said, this event really kicked my ass.

It would have been hard on its own, but a few things exacerbated the course. First, it was fucking cold. I would guestimate around 50 degrees, maybe 10 degrees less at higher elevations. That isn't all that cold, but there was no sun, and we were all sopping wet. I never used one of the Mylar heat sheets provided, but I would say at least half of the participants were wrapped up shivering at some point in the race. I also had three injuries that ended up really messing with me. The day before the race, I had stepped on my weight bench and torn a huge piece of skin off the bottom of my foot. It hadn't really scabbed over yet, and once the mud and gravel got in my shoe, it was a bitch the whole way. The second (and worst) was when I twisted my knee somewhere around Mile 3. I was running down the mountain and all of a sudden my knee just buckled. It hurt pretty bad, but I was able to go on at a significantly reduced pace. Every step from that point forward hurt. Also at one point, I was running down the mountain and slipped on a rock, and pretty much tore the skin off my entire right calf/shin. That was more of a nuisance than anything, as I only noticed it if I had to crawl or climb over something.

I fully intended on running the entire thing, but that plan went away within the first 15 minutes. We charged down the initial hill, and then started running up a ski slope. The slope was covered with mud (duh) which made running nearly impossible. Plus the fact it was huge fucking steep mountain. So basically it turned into everyone walking the 3,600 feet to the top, which took about 40 minutes or so. It was a bitch.

The rest of the event consisted of random obstacles, followed by either more uphill climbing, or careening yourself down the rocky, muddy, slippery mountain. The worst were the ones involving submerging yourself into water. On one had you shimmy through 2 pipes that were about 2.5 feet in diameter and 40 feet long. The bottoms of the pipes were covered in gravel and water. In fact, in order to even get into the second pipe, you had to submerge yourself in muddy water and just start swimming.... it was actually really disconcerting. There was another toward the end with an ice-water filled dumpster that was colored with some vomit green substance that you had to submerge yourself into and swim under a board. Every time I got out of the water, I couldn't feel my whole body for the next 5 or 10 minutes.... it was a strange feeling.

I would go through all the obstacles individually, but there is no way my words could do them justice. In and of themselves, none were all that horrible. But coupling them together with 10 miles of going up and down a mountain, bone-chilling conditions, and all the other obstacles (plus some injuries) and it was a real bitch.

I did finish, so I wasn't among the 25% that bitched out, but there were times that I didn't know if I would be able to. Between stiff and sore muscles, my twisted knee, and the cut on my foot, I can barely walk today. But I did get my orange headband and my T-shirt, so I guess I'll count this one as a win.

5/9/2011 11:50:09 AM

Great review, was just coming in here to see how you liked it (or didn't). A few thoughts of mine on the race:

- Of the 3, this has been the toughest so far. I think we had to climb 7 ski trails in total. It was funny to see people still trying to run as far as the second hill...by the 3rd there was absolutely no one running. Everyone was either trudging along, crawling, or stopped.
- The weather was absolutely awful. In temperature it was the same as the other 2 I've done, but like you said, no sun whatsoever. After submerging yourself in the ice cold water there was nothing do to warm yourself up but run and jump around
- That being said, I thought this one was set up the best of them so far. First, there were very few logjams, usually half the obstacles have long waits. Second, I liked the "Glacier", "Turd's Nest", and "Evil Knievel" obstacles a lot (hadn't seen those before). Third, the course was just a more interesting course than most. There was very little just plain running. There was almost always mud or snow or some other interesting terrain. I also really liked the part where instead of going up one of the slopes we went up through the woods and basically had to climb up.
- Sucks about the injuries. My friend who I was running with was having some serious cramping problems for much of it, so I probably ended up around the same time you did, maybe even worse.
- Turns out I was wrong about the mystery obstacle, which was a pleasant surprise because I wasn't looking forward to eating another habanero, and because my spoiler didn't ruin anyone's fun

Unfortunately I'm going out of town the next few weekends, so the next run I'll be able to do will be the Spartan Race in Tuxedo, June 4

Anyways, the real question is, are you going to do it again?

5/9/2011 1:28:42 PM

I need to SERIOUSLY up my workout regime if i intend to do the one in october it seems :/

BUT I WILL DO THIS IF IT KILLS ME

5/10/2011 7:22:21 PM

I would do one of these... the pepper thing is stupid though.

Its been a while since I ran, though

5/10/2011 8:32:18 PM

Thank you for the input to those of you who have completed the tough mudder.

I'm contemplating spending a weekend in Tampa and doing the December one. Post up in here if you will be doing that one.

5/10/2011 9:50:20 PM

I hadn't looked at the schedule because I only recently decided I'd be willing to do this. Then I decided not to because October in Virginia doesn't sound like much fun. But December in Tampa is quite tempting (especially because I have family there I can stay with). I might have to go for it.

5/10/2011 10:14:58 PM

Anyone get any good pictures? Here are mine (from this race and Pennsylvania)...mediocre...especially disappointing that I spent all day going through the 10,000 (literally) pictures of people jumping off the platform since I posed for that one mid-air and found nothing

5/12/2011 4:08:19 PM

I wanted to wait a few days before I did a follow-up post. After the race I was completely bummed, cause I wanted to absolutely destroy it, because basically I trained really hard for it. Between the elements (average temp of 38 degrees) and my knee/foot, I didn't do anywhere close to as good as I know I could have.

Looking back now, despite all that, I am happy I did it. I will probably do one again in the future. A word of advice, if you are doing one with hills, then for God's sake, practice walking on a stair-stepper for hours at a time, or climbing big hills over and over, or doing a treadmill on max incline, or something. The obstacles are what they glamorize, but the true grind of the course was the course itself. The obstacles were probably about 15% of the total time spent on the course.

Here's a mini-collage I made of the event from the photos they provided. The top left is at about the 8.5 mile point after I had just gotten out of the ice-water dumpster - perhaps the lowest point of the event for me. I was toast. The second one was after climbing under the barbed wire - it was actually pretty easy and I was waiting for the rest of my team. The one on the upper right is at about mile 7 or so - jumping off of the platform into the water. The bottom is a team photo taken after the race.

5/17/2011 12:11:38 PM

Funny I was just thinking about the best way to train for hills last night. I was trying to think of places like Derr Track that have outdoor stadium steps to run that are easily accessible. Since I'm not a student anymore Derr isn't really feasible but a stair stepper is a good idea. A former co-worker used to show up early to work some mornings and run up the 4 stories of stairs on one end of the building, down the hall across the building, and down the stairs on the other end, then repeat.

5/18/2011 9:22:32 AM

Jim, that is awesome! I am doing the Gladiator 5k this weekend, and I am already feeling this event sometime next year.

http://gladiator5k.com/

5/18/2011 4:32:45 PM

Look, I like ice baths as much as the next guy.

But I'm really struggling to understand the appeal of eating peppers and getting electrocuted.

5/18/2011 4:37:02 PM

because they're there

5/18/2011 4:50:24 PM

Quote :

"On one had you shimmy through 2 pipes that were about 2.5 feet in diameter and 40 feet long. The bottoms of the pipes were covered in gravel and water. In fact, in order to even get into the second pipe, you had to submerge yourself in muddy water and just start swimming.... it was actually really disconcerting."

i think that would get me

5/18/2011 5:02:10 PM

Here's a cool 2-minute clip of the Vermont Tough Mudder. There's some footage of the pipes I mentioned before. I am thinking about doing the October Virginia one.... glutton for punishment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObcX5ZopSZE&feature=youtu.be

5/18/2011 8:19:03 PM

Anyone know what song that is playing to open the video?

5/19/2011 9:15:47 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwZ7LDqJ9Vk

Here is the video I put together about the Warrior Dash last in MD this past Sunday. Next time we agreed to do costumes, but this time I was representin' in my NCSU gym shorts. I saw a couple of girls rocking NC State t-shirts as well.

This is the first mud run I have ever done, and I found it more physically demanding than I thought. I don't even break a sweat running this kind of distances at moderate pace around the neighbourhood or on the treadmill, but with the mud and the elevation changes I had to slow down and walk a few times. Obstacles were pretty easy I thought. Will be sure to train hard for the October Tough Mudder, thanks for your feedback ElGimpy and FeebleMinded!

5/24/2011 10:28:44 AM

Wow nice video bro.

5/24/2011 12:13:18 PM

Really thinking it was a mistake to sign up for the NJ Tough Mudder two weeks after the D.C. marathon...

Oh well

5/24/2011 1:46:05 PM

I can only speak from my half-marathon experience, but after my race my body was completely recovered after 2 days. I am sure a full marathon would take a bit extra, but 2 weeks seems like plenty of time for you to heal up.

5/25/2011 11:48:31 AM

It really irks me that the writer got the basic premise of this article wrong.

Quote :

"It's a mad, mad, mad 5k BY JOE MILLER - Correspondent Spartan: http://www.spartanrace.com The races go by names such as the Gladiator, Warrior, Rugged Maniac, Spartan and Tough Mudder. They feature obstacles ranging from mud pits covered by barbed wire to a gauntlet of dangling, live electric wires. And to pitch themselves they use adjectives like "grueling" and "insane," boast that the Navy SEALS and British special forces had a hand in their design, and feature promotional videos of paramedics carting bloodied contestants off the field of battle. They're the new breed of 5Ks: 3.1-mile races peppered with obstacles that vow, in the words of one race, the Tough Mudder, "to test all-around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie." The grueling races have become enormously popular in the past five years, and when you ask participants why, they answer pretty much like 41-year-old Craig West of Raleigh: "They're just fun." West was one of 776 fun-seekers at Cary's WakeMed Soccer Park in May for the Triangle's inaugural 5K obstacle race, the Gladiator 5K. For a first-time run, nearly 800 runners isn't a bad showing. But it's peanuts compared to some of the more established races around the country that draw 20,000 or more and have to be held over an entire weekend. The races represent an evolution and marriage of fitness and fun. The multidiscipline events - which typically require crawling, climbing, shinning and swimming in addition to running - reflect a logical outlet for the growing legions of boot camp and cross-fit exercise buffs. And the races are in the same fitness-for-fun vein as military-style mud runs and "harrier hashes" - a mix of running, orienteering and drinking thought up by bored British military officers in Kuala Lampur in 1938 and revived here in the 1990s as an entertaining break from the tedium of training runs. Adding to the obstacle 5Ks' allure: There's often live music, and alcoholic beverages are sometimes served. This year, there are 35 Warrior Dashes scheduled, 32 Spartan races, 13 Tough Mudders and a handful of Gladiators. Races in the Carolinas include the Carolinas Super Spartan June 25 in Winnsboro, S.C., and the Warrior Dash the weekend of Aug. 27-28 in Huntersville. Hurdling a wall of fire, navigating a junk yard (a feature of the Huntersville Warrior Dash) and those dangling hot electrical wires (an element of the Georgia Tough Mudder that might seem the domain of 20-somethings hopped up on Red Bull.) Yet at Cary's Gladiator on May 21, nearly 300 of the 776 runners were over 35, and 26 were over 50. The field was nearly equally divided between males and females, and there were a number of Gladiators along the lines of Kadesha Roach of Raleigh. Picking the spot Because of the unorthodox nature of the 5Ks - and because beer is often a feature - the races tend to be held at venues more accustomed to higher-risk activities: paintball parks and motocross parks, for instance."

5/31/2011 9:16:08 AM

nah he pretty much got it all right

5/31/2011 1:23:17 PM

Quote :

"3.1-mile races "

5/31/2011 2:01:21 PM

Most of them are...he mentions the Tough Mudder in his list, so yeah, he clearly got that part wrong, but the focus seems to be on the Spartan Races, Warrior Dashes, and Gladiators...

5/31/2011 2:50:05 PM

I'm just persnickety about journalism I suppose, because nobody else seemed to care either. I'm used to losing battles over the written word though. I'm used to it.

5/31/2011 2:58:10 PM

OK, I did miss that. He did not get the basic premise wrong but yes he should not have grouped them all into a 5K. Should have called them "mud runs" across the board or something

5/31/2011 3:21:14 PM

funny thing is, the only race they link to, the spartan race, is also not 3.1 miles--it's 8.

5/31/2011 4:03:32 PM