Normally
a day reserved for sleeping in, this last Saturday found me at my friends house
at 7:15 am, jumping around excitedly in a bright orange women’s athletic shirt,
my bright orange Tough Mudder headband from last year, and camouflage running
shorts over running tights. Our team of
5 men and 6 women may have looked silly in our salmon colored outfits, but we
were pumped: it was Tough Mudder day,
and we were determined to have the best time out there. The crisp mountain air was clear and we had a
beautiful day ahead of us. After
navigating the gridlock in Martis Valley on our way to Northstar, packed in an Expedition, and blowing past the
traffic cops while shoving my employee parking pass out the window for
authenticity, we casually parked in a nearly empty employee lot and went up the
base chairlift (avoiding the already-growing line at the gondola). Registered, numbered, and bag dropped, we
naturally stopped at the base lodge for a group bloody mary before heading to
the start. Uh oh, we have to climb these
walls first? Better put the drinks
down. Two 8 foot walls later, we are
packed tightly like sardines at the start, waiting for the Emcee to get the
show rolling. I stood shoulder to shoulder with my teammates, and many others
dressed in outrageous costumes, athletic gear, or wearing nothing but a pair of
hotpants and carrying their country’s flag.
Knowing that the first part of the course consisted mostly of an uphill
climb, we used our experience from last year to walk it out, jogging only when
“prudent” (re: flat or downhill).
Obstacles came at us slowly at first, with a mud crawl under barbed wire
for starters, followed by 2 more 9 foot Berlin Walls. Never will a person depend on others so much
as with these walls. For most women,
they are impossible to climb on our own.
A couple of my male teammates were able to scale them, thanks to a
year’s worth of Crossfit training. Having no upper body strength, I had to rely
entirely on my teammates to hoist me up to the top. I was nervous for the 3rd
obstacle, Walk the Plank, as it brought up memories from last year’s event held
at Squaw Valley. While last year’s
obstacle was placed in the middle of the course (after we had warmed up a bit),
the water was devastatingly cold, and we had to swim about 2 pool lengths (and
pass through another floating obstacle of barrels and barbed wire). Despite being an ex-swimmer, I was terrified
and had to forego the floating obstacle, hanging onto the framing for dear
life. This year, the course designers
smartly created a small pond to jump into, allowing us to feel 100% the cold
water, but within 8 or so strokes, we were climbing out, with the help of cargo
netting. I was happy with the less
scary and non life-threatening version.
After watching many of my teammates do gainers and flips into the pond,
we continued onward and upward.
Many new obstacles were placed on course this year,
including the rings, known as “Hangin Tough”, the “Electric Eel” (a mud crawl
under hanging electric wires) and “Mud Mile” (not a mile, but maybe 100 ft of
mud holes and hills). The Electric Eel
was entertaining, as I wasn’t receiving shocks through the wires, but through
the water I was laying in, being the recipient of electricity conducted from
the many shocked participants around me.
I strategically placed myself behind someone who moved quickly through
this obstacle, but some of my teammates were not so lucky, shouting out words
commonly used in the fishing industry in rapid fire as they waited for the clog
to clear. With that fun over, we reached
the top of the course, and, elegantly timed, SNACK TIME! Most of us continued on through the muddy
tunnels, but soon learned we had to wait while 3 of our teammates decided to
stand in line with the spectators for sausages and beer. Time was of the
essence, so, carrying sausages through the tunnels, we continued onto another
mud crawl.
Down
the course we continued, enjoying more Berlin Walls, an “Arctic Enema”
(freezing tub of water with ice floating in it), log obstacles, a cargo net
climb, the monkey bars, and a very touching tribute to the Wounded
Warrior project, which is the primary recipient of the entrance fee proceeds,
aptly named “Wounded Warrior”. This
challenge asked for me to pair up with someone and carry them on my back for 50
yards. Then we switched. It was the perfect reminder for why 15,000 of
us felt compelled to do this silly event in the first place: it’s for our
soldiers.
