Tough Mudder!

It all started back in December while we were visiting the Strongs for Christmas.  There were a few family members that wanted to sign up to do the Tough Mudder race in Vancouver in June.  It was actually in Whistler though.  I had no idea what it was.  Then they showed me this video from the Tough Mudder website.  For those who don't know what this is, you should watch the video.  It is a hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by the British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, metal grit and teamwork.  My first reaction was, "no way," I can't do that!  But after a couple months, Joe and I signed up along with Joe's sister Niki and her husband Morgan, Joe's other sister Brittany and her husband Landon, and Joe's brother Bradey.  There were 7 of us.  I was terrified to do this race.  But I worked my butt off for the last 6 months to get ready for it.

By the time the race came I felt physically prepared.  And mostly mentally prepared.  I was pretty nervous, but I knew it would be fun, especially with my team!  Our team name was Bonesaw's Ready! From the first Spiderman movie when he is in the cage with Bonesaw (Randy Savage).  And we each had different quotes from that part on our backs.  Mine said "Hey freakshow, you're going no where!"  

And we had the best fans there too!  Joe's parents Julie and Kelly and Niki and Morgan's daughter Brynna.

I was nervous about the weather and being cold for the race.  The forecast said periods of rain.  But it didn't rain during the race at all!  All these pictures are from 3 different cameras and the Tough Mudder Facebook page from our race on Saturday.  And we got video too.  Joe rented 2 cameras for our race.

To get to Whister Olympic Park, we had to take a bus and then walk for like 20 minutes.

There were about 7000 people racing on Saturday.  We had the 12:45 start time along with 500 other people.  

When it was time to line up we had to start by climbing over a 6 foot wall.

Before we started, there was a guy there pumping everyone up.  Here is some video of us climbing over the wall and getting ready to go!

Then we were off!  Our first obstacle was a long run uphill called Death March.

Then we went through Kiss of Mud.  We had to army crawl under barb wire though mud.  This was a fun and easy obstacle.  Probably because it was at the beginning and I wasn't tired yet.

Next was Arctic Enema.  I did not like this one.  We had to jump in freezing cold water filled with ice.  And go under the water to pass the wood barrier.  Here is video from the camera on Bradey's head doing the Arctic Enema!

The next obstacle was the Log Bog Jog.  We had to run over a long stretch of big logs and try not to roll our ankles!

The next obstacle was supposed to be Walk the Plank.  It is were we are supposed to jump 15 feet into freezing cold water.  When we ran by it, they had it set up, but there was no water, so they must have cancelled it from the race.   Don't know why, but I'm kinda glad about it.  That was one that I was scared to do.  This is what it was supposed to look like.

 

Next was 2 sets of the Berlin Walls #1.  These walls were 8 feet high!  I had a lot of help from my team.

Here is some video of our team doing the Berlin Walls #1.

Next was the Devil's Beard.  This was another easy one.  But the obstacles got way harder!

The next obstacle was Bushwhacked.  We had to walk down a dense area of forest.  Then we ran for a long time.  And we got higher up and colder, where there was more snow.  Throughout the whole coarse there were signs like this one.  Haha!

 

Next was the Boa Constrictor.  This one was okay for me because I am little.  But for all the guys, they hated it!

Next, we did the Snow Ramp. 

The next obstacle was the worst one of the whole race.  It was called Glacier.  Jumping into freezing cold winter lake water! 

This was the worst thing I have ever done.  I cannot believe I convinced myself to jump into that water!  After I got out I said to myself, "I am never doing this again!"  But after about 30 min, I changed my mind.  Here is some video of my team doing the Glacier obstacle.  We actually lost one of our video cameras that we rented in the water at this obstacle.  Opps!  The worst part about this obstacle was that we couldn't start running right after to warm up.  We had to walk through slippery snow through trees to get to the path.  

 

When we finally got out of the snow, we did the Spider's Web obstacle.  We had to climb up and over a not so sturdy rope ladder.  This one was surprisingly difficult.   

We ran for a long time again until we got to the Berlin Walls #2.  There were 3 sets of 10 feet high walls!  Then we ran another long time until we got to Log Jammin'.  We had to climb up and over and under logs and barb wire.  

Then we ran for a long time again.  Until we found our fans again!  They gave us a snack and I even got some lip balm from Julie! 

 

Next was the Electric Eel.  I was scared to do this one because some of the ropes that are hanging down have an electric charge that could shock you, up to 10,000 volts!  Luckily, I stayed low and didn't get shocked.

Next was another round of Kiss of Mud!

Next, was the Kinky Tunnels.  This one was not to bad if you are small like me!

This next one was fun.  It was called Cliffhanger.  We had to run up a ramp and get pulled up.  This is what it looked like.

Next was called Hold Your Wood.  We had to carry a big log as a team up and down a hill.  

The next one was called Everest.  We had to climb from the bottom of the ski jump to the top.  It was hard!  Joe actually threw up after we got to the top!

On the way down we ran through a crazy amount of mud.  And it felt like forever!   

Next was Funky Monkey.  I was nervous about this one cause I didn't think I could make it across.  But I did!  Here is some video of our team making across.

The last obstacle was Electroshock Therapy.  Same as the Electric Eel, some of the ropes had an electric charge that shocked you.  And I made it through without getting shocked!  Here is video of Joe getting shocked and our team crossing the finish line!

We were done!  YAY!  We were supposed to get orange headbands for finishing but they ran out and gave us shirts instead.  But they are mailing us our headbands.  I felt pretty good when we finished.  Just a few scrapes and bruises.

Next we had to clean up.  We had to hose off with freezing cold water!  Not as cold as the lake water though.  Even though the pressure of the water was good, the dirt would not come off my skin.  So I grabbed someone's dirty sock from the ground and scrubbed it off!  Ew!

This is the pile of dead shoes.

On our walk back to the buses the clouds started to look scary.  And when we got in line to take the bus back to our car it started to rain, a lot.  I was so grateful that it didn't rain during our race.

This was so much fun!  I am so glad I did it.  I would totally recommend it if you are at all interested.  There is going to be one in Calgary in July 2013.  And I have already pre-registered.  Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words, it helped me a lot!  And Thanks to my mom and dad for watching Taylor and Hannah while we were gone!

HOORAH!

Check out this video Bradey Strong made showing our journey through the Tough Mudder race, Here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGu-qyZo5Cg