Tough Mudder

While most of you were enjoying a relaxed Sunday morning, Tim and I opted for the less relaxed version - A 20km obstacle course designed by British Special Ops.  Our team consisted of Laura, Cale and Ashley (Tim's mates), Tim and myself.  We (by we, I mean I!) had done about 2 weeks of training to prepare for 'proably the toughest event on the planet'.. Needless to say we were feeling fit and confident!

 The 'race' was in Phillip Island, and we jumped in with the 9.20 start group.  After taking a knee, we recited the Tough Mudder Pledge.

I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.

I do not whine, kids whine.

I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

I overcome all fears.

With some Eye of the Tiger to get the blood pumping, we set off onto the Grand Prix track

The 25 obstacles were scattered over the 20km, with some challenging you mentally..

Ice bath. I'm pretty sure my face looked something like this too!

And physically..

2m high Berlin Wall

There were 3 Berlin Walls, with the first one being 2m high and getting consectivuley higher.  Laura and I were very lucky we had the boys.. They proved invaluable in pusing/pulling us up!  I feel this is were I sustained majority of my brusises (stay tuned...)

It wasn't called Tough Mudder for no reason - Soon enough we were tramping through mud knee deep (or in the boys case wrestling in it, then getting very stuck!).  Laura had the ingenous idea of rolling rahter than crawling and it quickly caught on.

Next up was a huge slippery dip ending in a muddy pool.. Didn't help wash the mud off though!

What was your regular, grassy hill on the Saturday had become one of hte most difficult obstacles of the day - A very steep, slippery and muddy hill which required the help of your fellow Mudders.  Teeshirts seemed to be the most effective method of pulling each other up the hill...

The monkey bars proved to be one of the more challenging obstacles of the day with Laura and I not even making it to the third bar.. The boys fared a bit better though!  By this stage you didn't even blink at jumping into a muddy/freezing pool..

 It wasn't all cold water and mud - Walking through a straw bale inferno was a welcome change, despite the smoke blurring your vision so badly you couldn't tell which way was out!

Towards the end of the course they were nice enough to include a few muddy pits filled with festering smelly mud to ensure we all went across the finish line as filthy and smelly as possible.  Not before we scaled some nets though...

The second last obstacle of the day proved to be the most challenging, with a roughly 4m high quarter half-pipe being just a little too high for Laura and myself.  We gave it a red hot go, running as fast as we could (which wasn't very fast after already running 20km!) at the wall and hoping the boys up the top would catch us.  They managed to catch us, but our futile attempts to push ourselves up proved to challenging on the slippery rubber surface.  It just wasn't meant to be..

Last but not least.. Electroshock therapy!  As the name suggests, the suspended wires have enough volts flowing through them to knock you out.   We went for the 'sprint though as fast as you can' approach, which semi worked, as we all managed to get at least a few shocks (Laura and Cale got shocked in the leg which knocked them down) but managed to get through, despite them spraying water on us the entire time!

And finally, the finish line!  We were very happy to make it over in just under 3 hours.  We were greeting with our 'Tough Mudder' headbands (exclusibley for those who completed the course), a teeshirt, thermal foil blanket and a VB can.  

Hilary, Laura, Tim, Cale & Ashley

 Needless to say we pulled up pretty sore.. I'm not sure about the boys but Laura and I are covered in an array of bruises.  Mine especially are pretty impressive...

So... Who's up for next year?!  Dougal and I are already down!  It still hurts to laugh/cough, but totally worth it!