…And what an adventure it was. I’m not going to lie, based off of one previous experience, I loathed Tough Mudder. I honestly never saw myself doing another one ever again. But alas, time heals all wounds and I’m SO glad I signed up for and attended this event. It honestly was one of my favorite events that I have done to date.
I took a half day off from work on Thursday (Nov. 13) and I was on the way to Vegas!!! Just had to make one little stop at Charlotte before I reached my final destination. Before I boarded the plane I met a some fellow Mudders who would also be taking on this adventure with me. We talked it up a bit and then boarded. And once on the plane, we met even more Mudders who were headed to Vegas! It was pretty awesome talking back and forth between the rows of seats about what we were about to endure in the coming days.
After a nice little flight, we finally arrived, and who was waiting at my terminal with open arms? Why, Neil Murphy of course! We got our bags, picked up our rental and headed to the Grand Wyndham Desert Hotel. Now I thought that it was just going to be like a little rinky dink hotel, but boy was I wrong. This place was MAGNIFICENT!!! And the room was AMAZING!!! Shout out to Renee again for being so kind as to letting us stay at her place!
We headed over to Walmart, bought some nutrition and gear for the event and then just knocked out.
The next day was pretty awesome (Friday, Nov. 14). We met up with Martin (The French Spartin) and headed over to the race site. The reason we were there a day early was because you got to choose and set up your tent site and gear the day before the race so you didn’t have to the morning of; you had enough to worry about running the event for 24 hours. We were able to snag a spot behind the Obstacle Racing Media/BattleFrog tent! And right next to us was also the lovely Amelia Boone! Just a quick shout out, she had just gotten back from knee surgery approximately four months prior to taking on this event. And what I think was the best thing I heard that day was the fact that while walking around, someone comes up to me and says, “Hey! That is an awesome shirt of Matt B. Davis! Where did you get it?” TOTES TWINSIES!
Anyways after setting up our tent and gear and hanging out with everyone, we headed off to lunch, back to Walmart for some last minute nutrition and gear, picked up my Ultra Bestie Aliza from the airport and called it a night.
Race day!!!!
What I had on my persons was my Fuego Y Agua headband, my Foam Fest sunglasses, an Obstacle Racing Media shirt (extra shmedium), a BattleFrog arm sleeve, my black ranger panties, my black CEP compression socks & my Inov8 Trailroc 255s. I also had some Alo lotion on my legs, Dri Glide between my thighs and Trail Toes on my feet. And the extra nutrition/gear I had packed away in my tent was MetRx protein bars, jerky, trail mix (several kinds), peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches, water, Nuun tablets, Tail Wind powder, Coke, Mountain Dew, Honey Stinger waffles, Gu gel, Gu chomps, & Urawk bars. And in terms of gear, extra socks, costumes, shoes, a wetsuit, glow sticks, gloves, head lamps and a camelbak Octane XCT (3L) to carry it all in.
This was actually one of the latest start times I’ve done to date for an event. Usually I take on the elite waves so we start relatively early, but it’s not like that here at Worlds Toughest Mudder (WTM); no, here at this event (like any ultra) everyone starts together. And we all started at 10 am (well 10:30 really) which was after probably one of the most hyped speeches I’ve ever heard (Dustin Dorough knows how to give a damn good speech) and we were finally off.
The first lap was relatively easy. Also known as the sprint lap (no obstacles) you just run the length of the course and whomever finishes this lap the fastest gets the green bib! Now all participants are already draped in white bibs with their bib number and whatever you decided to write in for your name. You get certain types of bibs for certain feats achieved at this event. As stated earlier, whomever finishes the sprint lap the fastest receives the green bib, there’s only one. You receive a 25 mile patch when you’ve reached that distance. Then there is the 50, 75, 100 & 125 mile bibs. And if you stay the full 24 hours, you receive the black WTM 24 hour headband, if you decide to leave earlier, then you receive the orange TM headband.
1st Lap!
I finished getting ready and to the start line late, so I was in the back of the pack, but I didn’t mind whatsoever. We were in Las Vegas, the weather was gorgeous and we were ready to take on this 24 hour ultra with obstacles!!! If you have not noticed, I was extremely excited.
It was pretty slow moving in the beginning because of the cluster of people ahead of us, but Neil and I were hanging out talking with each other and to some of the other participants as well. The terrain was rough. Not rough in the sense that you may be thinking, but it was just hard packed and tight sand/rock. In the beginning there was a nice little climb, but when you reached that descent it was amazing (if you’ve been following my blogs & races, you know that I LOVE to sprint down any sort of descent). And in total for this event, there was about 800 feet of elevation gain per lap. There were ups and downs and a few turns here and there and we finally made it back from the first lap in about 1 hour and ten minutes. We used this lap as a warm up for what was to come.
2nd Lap!
After crossing the finish line we had huge smiles on our faces because we were about to get some obstacles in! We made a quick stop at our tent, grabbed some handfuls of jerky and trail mix, I threw on my Camelbak which was loaded with a Urawk bar, a MetRx bar, (2) Gu gels and a Gu chomp and for hydration water with half a packet of Tail Wind & (4) Nuun Tablets and then we were off. This lap moved much faster than before because some of the people had spread out and there was less of a clutter. So right out of the gate there was the “Soggy Bottom” obstacle which is legit a pit filled with ankle deep mud you have to trudge through. This went on for about 50m or so, wasn’t too bad at all. Then after getting your feet wet (and dirty) and after that little climb I mentioned earlier, you went through what’s known as “Tight Fit.” Now this obstacle, if you can get through it fast, really separates the runners. It’s a cargo net that’s pinned down on four ends and you have to make your way through it. And as you’re progressing, there’s about four rows of three tires that you have to step over. And once you were clear of that there was that lovely little descent I mentioned earlier and the end of mile one. As you kept progressing through this descent, and when the path cleared, you got to get your feet wet again in the “Muddy Mile” obstacle. This is basically a walk through waist deep water this time around with four mini hills of dirt you have to get over to advance. As the day progressed, the hills started diminishing little by little to where you were practically just walking through the “Mud Mile” with ease.
After getting out of the “Mud Mile” and advancing a little more through the terrain, you came to what’s known as the “Hit The Wall” obstacle. Now here you had three walls to overcome. The first was an inverted wall, the second was a straight wall and finally it was an even higher wall that had the aid of a rope if you so needed it. Neil and I (during this lap), decided to skip this obstacle and take the penalty because there was a huge bottleneck at the rope wall and we would have waited for about 20 minutes before we had a chance to actually start the obstacle.
And here’s another interesting thing that was done at WTM. There were penalty laps enforced if you couldn’t complete the obstacles. So if you failed or decided to skip/not do an obstacle, you would have to take the penalty lap route. The penalty lap for deciding to skip the “Hit The Wall” obstacle was about a 400-600m run with a lightweight CMU cinderblock. Honestly wasn’t too bad at all. There was a bit of a climb, but other than that we breezed right through it. After completing the penalty lap, we moved onward for quite a ways and encountered the “Weigh Too Tough” obstacle. Now this obstacle I loved. There were three different types of materials that they used throughout the day. They had gravel, sand and water. All of which have different densities. What you would have to do is fill your bucket up to the pre-specified weight (which had a +/- error) and take it back to the weigh station. If you were over or under the specified weight, you would have to complete the obstacle again till you got it right. On my second lap the material was gravel with a weight of 15 and a +/- 3lbs error. So you could have had anywhere from 12-18lbs and been okay. Neil and I filled our buckets, did the loop (which halfway through had a bit of a climb) and then headed back to the hanging weigh station and weighed our buckets. BOOM! We both passed. And here is where I yelled “Finally! All that money spent on engineering school has paid off!!!” Got a few laughs. Score!
Then there was this ditch dug out right after where you would jump in, run a few feet then jump out. Just a little thing I guess they decided to throw in there. After getting out of the ditch, we proceeded forward a bit and came up on the “Birth Canal” obstacle. I honestly hated this obstacle. It wasn’t hard, it was taxing, it was just annoying. There was a tarp on the floor, and what you would have to do is lay down on your stomach and basically slide your across this tarp. Why do you have to slide? Because there was another tarp on top of you that had water poured into it which would weigh you down and force you into the ground. So you were literally being reborn. And just to add to the effect, the water was red. -_-
Once you turned a corner after finishing the “Birth Canal” that was the end of mile 2! Which led right up to the “Water Moccasin” obstacle. These were just 2 sets of 1 row floating islands that were about 3’x3′ which were loosely strung together on the sides with some rope. If you didn’t want to do that, you had the option of swimming across instead of jumping from island to island. And not too far away after that was the “Underwater Tunnels.” Now these were three rows of barrels that you would have to submerge yourself underwater, clear, and get back up. After the third time, you were back on shore again. So you’re pretty much soaked at this time. But you keep on keepin on, up and over a little ridge, down a little descent and you come to one of the famous TM obstacles, “Everest.” Now to me, or at least from what I remember, “Everest” was a lot bigger. But thinking back, doing that for 24 hours straight, you would appreciate how they minimized it. Anyways, after clearing “Everest” with ease, and down another descent, you came to one of the new obstacle laid out for this event, “The Grappler.” Now with this obstacle, you were equipped with a rope which had a ball tethered to the end. You would have to heave the ball up and over these planks of wood which would then support you as you scaled the side of a cliff. Neil and I tried a couple times and absolutely failed. So we had to take the penalty loop for this obstacle as well. This penalty loop was an over-under-through obstacle. You would jump over a wall, roll under another and slide yourself through a window to get through the last one. Once finished, there was a bit of a climb and about a 100-200m or so run till the penalty lap was done and you caught up with the participants who actually completed the obstacle. After completing this was the water station which was the designation of the 2.5 mile point in the race; HALF WAY DONE!!!
After fueling with either some water or 1 of three different types of MetRx protein bar slices they provided (I believe the flavors were chocolate, banana & salted caramel), you would do the “Abseil” obstacle which was the opposite of “The Grappler.” There were several ropes laid out where instead of climbing, you would repel down the cliff. And don’t worry folks, if you fell, there was some hay on the bottom to catch you! You progressed a little, and had this nice steep climb which wasn’t long at all and you were back in the festival area! You would go over the “Crossover” obstacle (more on that later) and then had another little climb till you reached the top of a ridge. Once on the ridge, you would progress down a slight descent and end up at the “Liberator” obstacle. This obstacle got harder throughout the day. It was basically a slanted peg wall that you would gradually move up with each peg you forced into the next hole. Once at the top, there was a rope and descent with some beams you could gradually get down with. After a slight run, you crossed the 3 mile marker!
Right after the “Liberator” and crossing the 3 mile marker there was the “Island Hopping” obstacle. Now this was kind of like the “Water Moccasin” obstacle except the floating islands had 3 columns and they were all bound together with a cargo net. On the second lap, this obstacle had to be skipped (had to do a swim) because something was wrong with the setup of the obstacle. After this lap and for the rest of the laps the obstacle was fully functional.
After completing “Island Hopping” not too far away was the “Hump Chuck” obstacle. Now this obstacle wasn’t too bad in the beginning, but you definitely needed help as the day wore on. You basically swam 50m or so and once at the end there was this slanted wall. There was a base beam that you could step up onto and you would have to jump and hoist yourself up to get up and over the the wall. This obstacle was the epitome of camaraderie because people would continue to help other people up and over all throughout the day. If you failed this, you would have to swim about another 50m or so and then you would have to take a penalty lap, just running, no obstacles or blocks to carry. And after completing this, you would then proceed onward and get to the “Ladder To Hell” obstacle. This wasn’t bad at all. It was basically 2×10 pieces of wood that were spaced out about 3′ apart and you would climb up 5 rungs. Once up top, you would climb over and descend. Easy peasy.
(You’re welcome).
Then after completing this, you would continue down a descent and do the “Crossover” Obstacle. It was basically a sewage pipe (a clean one) that you would crawl your way through till you got out the other end. It was about 10′ long, not too bad at all. And once cleared you would turn, go down another descent and come upon the “Gamble” obstacle. This was a fun one! Throughout the day they changed the die roll you would have to complete to pass the obstacle. On the second lap, if you rolled a 1-5, you were safe. If you rolled a 6 you failed and had to do the penalty. There were two penalties at this obstacle. You either did the “Electroshock Therapy” or you had to army crawl under barbwire up an incline. I passed on the second lap! No penalty for me!
You would go up and over another hill and come upon the “Swingers” obstacle. This. Was. Amazing. You would jump to bar, which would then swing you down and UPPPP and you would have to either reach out with your hand or kick a bell to complete the obstacle. If you missed, you would just splash into the water below. Definitely one of my favorite obstacles during this event. During the second lap it was way too backed up, so Neil and I decided to take the penalty lap again to avoid the line. Here the penalty lap was another run, no block to carry or no obstacles to go through, just another run. And it was another 400-600m added. Once completed that was the end of mile 4. You would progress further to the second “Crossover” Obstacle which led right to the “Grabbin Shaft” obstacle. This was another awesome one. You would do the incline half of the TM A-frame monkey bars which then led to a trapeze bar which then led to a 2″ diameter pipe that you would descend till you reached the platform. Both Neil and I made it on our first try! Hollaaaaaaa. And if you failed the obstacle, or just took the penalty lap, you would do another 400-600m run with a lightweight cmu block. Much easier of a run than the first one over at “Hit The Wall.”
Then after that was done, you would run a little bit more and come up to the “Sewage Outlet” obstacle. Now this one was annoying. Again, not hard or taxing, just annoying. They had really low barbwire you had to crawl or slide under, which you would then have to get into another sewage pipe that was on an incline. Once you made it to the opening, it was just a straight drop to the water. Now, if you’re a big guy, this obstacle sucks for you. You had no room to move or wiggle and basically had to navy seal (back drop) into the water every time. If you were smaller or more flexible, you were able to squeeze and turn around and jump out normal.
After finishing this, you would again start off on a little run, up and over a little ridge, turn a corner and end up at my favorite obstacle at this event “The Cliff.” This was a straight 38′ drop into the lake below. Coming up on it, I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait. Neil and I were giggling like little school girls coming up to the jump. They would give you a 3, 2, 1 GO! and you had five seconds to jump. If you didn’t, you would have to do the penalty obstacle. The penalty for this was about a 800m (1/2 mile run) and then a swim.
As soon as we heard go, we both jumped together. I automatically got into pencil formation, closed my eyes and grabbed my nose. I was in the air thinking to myself “Hmm, I feel like I should have hit the water by now.” And then a second or two later, BOOM!!! A big splash and being submerged about 8-10′ you would swim up with the biggest smile on your face. The rush you get just jumping and being suspended in midair till you hit the water was exhilarating. Definitely my favorite obstacle, BY FAR. You would complete about a 30m swim or so, climb up a cargo net dangled on the side of the cliff and about another 100m or so, you would run and come through the finish!
We finished the second lap with the obstacles in about 2 hours. We originally planned to reach 50 miles and get a lap (or 5 miles) every two hours or so, we were making great time.
After crossing the finish I was super happy, and who would I happen to bump into, but the lovely Margaret Schlachter! Gave her a big hug and then headed off to get changed. This second lap I changed into my “Bling Bling” speedo. Again had some jerky and trail mix, 1 MetRx bar, some Mountain Dew and a PB & Nutella Sandwich and I was off.
3rd Lap!
The only thing different with this lap is I actually tried and completed the “Hit The Wall” obstacle, but felt a strain on my hip flexor which has been a recurring problem since my 50 mile ultra back in August. Completed the “Weigh Too Much” obstacle which had the material of sand this time around and you had to get it at 25lbs (+/- 5lbs), I jumped across and nailed the “Water Moccasin” obstacle by doing broad jumps from floating island to floating island and aggravated my hip flexor even more. Then I nailed “The Grappler” obstacle this time around, and the “Island Hopping” obstacle was open, made it across that too. Completed and had a huge rush from the “Swingers” obstacle, failed the “Grabbin Shaft” obstacle which they had removed the bungee cord this time around and just had a still trapeze pipe which to me was harder and finally got back to my favorite obstacle, “The Cliff!” Took one big jump and crossed the finish.
4th Lap!
When I crossed the finish I went straight to my tent, changed again (into my tuxedo speedo this time), and went out for my fourth lap. Had a blast on this lap as well. I took the penalty for “Hit The Wall”, swam across for “Water Moccasin”, “Weigh Too Tough” material was water this time and you had to have 35lbs (+/- 5lbs) I failed this one, I think I splashed too much water climbing up the hill, I did it again and passed the second time. Did the penalty for “Grappler”, failed the gamble this time around, so I crawled through the “Electroshock Therapy” and got caught on my right shoulder and lower back. Hurt like hell. Got to “Swingers” jumped, grabbed the pipe, slipped, hit the bell, got flung into the air till I just SPLASHED and hit the water hard. I was hurrying through this lap because I wanted to make it before I missed out on the last “Cliff” jump for when they closed for the night course. So after doing the penalty for “Grabbin Shaft” I was running to get through “Sewage Outlet.” After completing that, I started running down the trail which led to a fork and either led you to the “Cliff” obstacle or down the path for the night course which led you to the finish. When I came up on the fork, I suddenly became distraught. I saw a HUGE group of 20 or so just standing around. I asked them, “Did I miss it? Did I miss the cutoff?!” “Why are you guys standing around?” One guy replied, “It’s 10 minutes to 5 pm.” “So you have 10 minutes to make it to the “Cliff” or you just wait here for the night course.” I said “Forget that! I’m out!” And me and two other guys started running to make it to the “Cliff.” Right before we came up on the obstacle we saw a volunteer and asked if we would still be able to do it. She said yes, and the other two guys went ahead of me and I was the last one to jump off the “Cliff.” Honestly the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
After crossing the finish I had to change again, but into a wetsuit this time and put on my Panda hat! The sun had set and it was freezing. I was passing by Margaret’s tent and she saw how I was looking; I looked terrible. My shins started to hurt during my fourth lap and I was cold (probably because I was running in a speedo). But I felt fine, I was ready to keep going. I was happy. So I got to my tent, changed into my wetsuit. I then filled my camelback, ate a sandwich and some trail mix and jerky and had a Redbull. Now what sucked about this pit stop was the fact that I lost my timing chip on the last “Cliff” jump I did. So what essentially took me about 10-20min transition time before I started my next lap, took me about 45 minutes to change, eat and get a new timing chip. The volunteers were really working their hardest, and I can’t blame them for my mistake. So after getting my chip, I was off!
5th lap!
Now this one was different, this lap (at least for me) was the first lap where I would do the Night Course instead of the course layout I had done for the previous four laps. Basically what happens during the night lap is slight modifications for safety. So a new, slightly modified route had been laid out to still attain 5 miles per lap, but with skipping some obstacles.
So for example, before reaching the the first obstacle (“Tight Fit”) there was a slight detour we would have to take. We veered right and down a hill. Then we were in what seemed like a dried up body of water. It was pretty awesome because we were there with these two high “Cliffs” enveloping us, the beautiful stars in full view shining so bright with the cracked rocky terrain beneath our feet. And what lit our way? Little tiki torches. It was lovely. After a nice climb, and then another little climb to the “Tight Fit” obstacle, the detour was over and we were back on the regular course.
Again I took the penalty lap for “Hit The Wall.” Passed the “Weigh Too Much” obstacle first time around (material was gravel again). Swam through the “Water Moccasin” obstacle, and then came a new detour for the night course. Instead of doing the “Underwater Tunnels” obstacle, the new one which was not too far away at all was called the “Statue Of Liberty” obstacle. This was the only obstacle which was added to the night course. You would swim from bank to bank (which was the same distance as “Underwater Tunnels”) holding a lit torch in your hand (GET IT?!). The swim was approximately 30-40m, but you just really had to focus on keeping the torch lit and praying you didn’t slip and put it out getting in or getting out of the water. It seems like there was a short penalty run if you failed to complete the obstacle, but I passed the two times I did it, so I’m not really sure what it entailed. Got “Everest” again, did the penalty for “Grappler”, passed the “Gamble”, did the penalty for “Swingers”, also did the penalty for “Grabbin Shaft” and finally after getting done with “Sewage Outlet” was the last detour for the night course. Remember the fork in the road I had mentioned earlier before reaching the “Cliff”? Well if you took the right (which you had to for the night course) it was basically a straight shot from where you were to the finish line. And that was the end of the 5th lap!
After getting through the finish, I was hurting bad. It wasn’t the cold because I had my wetsuit on and that helped a lot (should have had more though); it wasn’t my diabetes because I was completely making sure everything was okay in that realm, but it was my shins. My shins which had started hurting from the 4th lap increasingly hurt more and more per lap. Again, Margaret saw me when I passed by and told me I should just stop. My good friends Corinne Kohlen and Josue Stephens were there too! And advised me that I shouldn’t push too hard, if I’m hurting I should just stop. And I promised them I would… after one more lap.
So this time around, I kept my wetsuit on, ate a sandwich, a Honey Stinger waffle, some Gu Chomps, a Gu Gel, some Mountain Dew, threw on some gloves with hand warmers in them, changed my shoes from the Inov8 Trailroc 255s I had been wearing the whole day to the Inov8 Race Ultra 290s, and switched from my Panda hat to my Piggy hat and I was ready to go.
6th Lap!
This lap moved extremely slow for me. I started becoming cold, my shins were screaming in pain, but I told myself I had to keep going. You know that saying “You’re your own worst critic.” Well, I beat myself up on a constant basis to push myself to become better. What people don’t realize (those outside of the ultra runner realm) is that you have to be mentally prepared taking on an ultra just as much as you are physically prepared. Because when those outside factors start culminating and beating you down, it will be your mind to tell your body to keep going; you can finish; you will finish. So that’s what I was doing at this point. Every step hurt, but I had to keep pushing. I was better than that. I WILL finish this lap.
So while going through the detour before getting to “Tight Fit” I ended up making conversation with a female participant who had been taking on this event. What’s funny is I also bumped into her during the Ultra Beast (which is a Spartan Race obstacle Ultra). We talked along the ways a bit and then separated a little while after “Tight Fit.” I again took the penalty for “Hit The Wall”, got ‘Weigh Too Much” on the first try (material was sand this time around), got through “Statue Of Liberty” again, took the penalty for the “Grappler” as well. What I loved this time around was the volunteers were trying to cheer us on and were like “Hey! Try the “Grappler” now! We changed the ropes, it’ll be easier to throw and get!” I tried three times and failed again and just moved on. Then we come to “Hump Chuck.” As I mentioned earlier this was the obstacle where you would swim to an slanted slippery wall, jump and hoist yourself up and over. What was working great before was that usually you were there with other people so you could get over easily with the help of others, not this time around. I made the swim across and when I got to the wall there were only a couple guys there and no one behind me. I was on the left side and the other guys were on the right (there were about 3 or 4). On my side there were two guys who had gotten over with no problem. One of them stayed back to help me, but I just couldn’t get it. I didn’t have the energy to force myself high enough to grab his hand. So I gave him my thanks, told him to just keep going and I took the penalty swim. Now the penalty swim was about another 30-40m on top of the swim you had to get to the actual wall. I started swimming and started developing a cramp. The life guard noticed quickly and came to help me out. He tossed me a floaty and paddled me to shore. So on top of the penalty swim, you would have a little more ways to run for not completing the obstacle. This is when the ever so famous sand storm that lasted the whole night was in full effect. I started the penalty run and noticed all the sand and wind whirling around me. It was nuts being out there and the weather had gotten much colder to top it all off. I had to steadily walk because I was low on energy and I noticed the wind pushing me ever so slightly towards the edge. Once I got to the “Ladder To Hell” obstacle you could visibly see how windy it was because of the sand that was swirling around. I had to stop to ask the volunteer, “Uhm, do we still have to go to the top?” he nodded yes, and that’s what I was off to do. Got over it, ever so slowly, but I did it. Then the “Gamble,” I tried my hand and lost again. I dreaded taking it on, but I headed towards “Electroshock Therapy” again. What was glorious was this time around, it was so windy that the hanging cords were being swayed upward so I was able to go on through without getting hit once! Took the penalty for “Swingers” again and on my way past the 4 mile marker I started to lose it. My shins were hurting so much that I didn’t think I would be able to make that last mile. I was legit about to break down and start crying. But some dude came out of nowhere and we just started talking. And that took my mind off of the pain. It’s the little things that will make you endure in these types of situations. Needless to say, 13 hours in and 6 laps (30 miles) later, I crossed the finish line for the last time. I couldn’t take it anymore, I was in extreme pain and could barely walk. I got some food in me, tried to dry off as much as possible and just hung out in the tent.
What an experience it was though. The volunteers who were always so full of energy boosting the morale of the runners. The camaraderie experienced between all of the runners at every obstacle and throughout the event giving encouraging words to keep you going. And just the plain old conversations and friendships developed through the event with other runners who are crazy enough to put themselves through 24 hours of running 5 mile loops with obstacles known as Worlds Toughest Mudder. I will definitely be back next year to take this event on again and you should too!
And some funny side notes: I hit the the water so hard after the “Cliff” on my second lap, that I lost a contact lens and was running with only one the rest of the day. And remember those shin pains? I realized on Sunday that with all the fuss going on, that I was only running with one insole. My left shoe had one and my right shoe didn’t. Maybe that’s why my shins were hurting so bad?
Oh! And I got featured in both the pre and post race interviews. You can check them out at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TweItBFM-Fg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7kVN3M6Iq4
And a special shoutout to my dude Ryan Atkins for taking first place for males; to my darling friend Amelia Boone who took first place for females & to the Wolf Pack Spartan Team for taking first in the team division.
Oh! And some crazy things I heard from other runners (because I didn’t go out again after my last lap) was that during the night, the wind had gotten so bad that they just made you go up only to the second rung for “Ladder To Hell”, the middle portion of “Everest” had peeled away and you would only be able to run up the two outside lanes & the “Swinger Obstacle” got dismantled, so instead of doing the swinging portion, it just changed to “Walk The Plank.”
While this might make some people gasp and say why would you ever put yourself through something like that…
This just makes me all the more excited for next year!!!
Samurai Piggy 