Rain ruled for most of this past weekend so adding some mud to the mix wasn’t a big deal for the thousands who gathered for Tough Mudder Philly, which was held at Plantation Field in West Marlborough Township on Saturday, May 21, and Sunday, May 22.
For the uniniated, Tough Mudder participants – known as “mudders” – pay to display their physical prowess on a nearly 12-mile course fraught with perils such as Electroshock Therapy, Quagmire, and the new Block Ness Monster. Strength, grit, stamina and teamwork get challenged as spectators yell encouragement from the sidelines.
Tough Mudder Inc., which has staged more than 200 events in six countries during the past six years, debuted in West Marlborough this past October, but this past weekend’s course offered a different set of obstacles, turning rolling hills, hay fields, and gurgling creeks into formidable beasts.
Jodi Kovacs, a marketing communications associate for Tough Mudder, said about 7,000 traveled from near and far to participate in this past weekend’s event. She said revenue numbers haven’t been calculated yet, but Tough Mudder typically generates $2 to $10 million for the local economy. According to Tough Mudder’s fundraising platform partner, Crowdrise, participants raised more than $19,000 for various charities ahead of the event.
Connor Dea, a graduate of Unionville High and Elizabethtown College, decided in March to enter with three of his college friends: Patrick Kelly, Matt Jadro, and Matt Frey, an Avon-Grove graduate. Dea said they all viewed the event as a great way to work toward getting in better shape, a goal they had discussed but hadn’t been able to accomplish until their 2 ½-month regimen of race preparation. The fact that the course was at Plantation Field, near where Dea grew up, offered an added bonus.
Coming up with a team name – Five 21 – was equally easy, he said. In addition to being the address of an apartment they share, it’s also the moniker for their band. And the much-later realization that they would be participating on 5/21 made it even more perfect. “That’s so destined,” Dea said they concluded.
Their group of supporters loved the white t-shirts they had printed for the occasion because it made it easy to pick them out in the crowd – at least until their first mud bath. And it wasn’t their last. Dea said one of their favorite obstacles was the Mud Mile, a series of four-foot mud walls that had to be traversed from pools of ribcage-high water.
“You can’t get up without help,” he said, explaining that participants needed a boost from at least one other person to scale the muddy wall. “Basically, everyone was looking around to see who needed help.”
Dea said that spirit of cooperation pervaded the course. He said the Block Ness Monster, two large rolling blocks hanging above a pool of water also required a team approach to conquer. But then participants were on their own for the last 100 yards of the course: the Electroshock Therapy, a forest of dangling, pulsing strands that runners had to traverse.
“They pulse randomly so not every one shocks you,” Dea said. “I got hit in the arm and the back, and then the last one caught me in the back of the knee, and I fell to the ground.”
Undaunted, Dea said he and his teammates had such a good time that they hope to make it an annual event. “We thought we would do it and be done,” he said. “But it was so much fun – and encourages us to keep in shape.”
Dea said the benefits outweigh some of the more punishing aspects of the course. “It’s so rewarding when you finish,” Dea said. “There are so many steep hills, and even on downhill, it’s a challenge – and an accomplishment that we’re proud of. We haven’t stopped talking about it.”
Tough Mudder, which reportedly attracts participants ranging from 20-somethings to 80-plus, says it’s more than just a weekend event; it’s a lifestyle. More than 5,000 Mudders have reportedly had the Tough Mudder logo tattooed on their bodies, according to the organization’s website.
In addition, Tough Mudder has raised more than $10 million for the Wounded Warrior Project®. For more information on Tough Mudder, visit https://toughmudder.com.
(1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)
Loading...
Comments