Obstacles of Tough Mudder

During this round of Tough Mudder I knew what to expect from the obstacles.

The Tough Mudder Website is pretty comprehensive now (it didn’t use to be), with images of certain obstacles.

Hey, I’m not stupid, I want to know what I’m getting into.  I know some people don’t want to know, but me, yeah I like to have a rough idea of what an obstacle is going to be *.

This time around we go issued a map.  Yay, a map!

Not all the obstacles were listed, which is fair enough, there has to be some element of surprise.

Here is a list of some of the obstacles that we encountered in our course.

Arctic Enema

Jumping into an ice bath, then having to go under a barrier to get to the other side. There is more ice on the other side so yes it is colder.
RunMum Rating – Hard, as you will get winded, and your muscles will tense up (4)
RunMum Training – Cold showers, swimming in a cold pool, running in the rain.

Mud Mile

Running/Walking through various thicknesses of mud.
RunMum Rating – 2
RunMum Training – Skiing, Wading through knee need water.
If you are with a team, hold each other’s hands, it does help with balance, as it will be slippery.

Tire Mountain

A pile of old tires of various sizes to get up and over.
RunMum Rating – 2
RunMum Training – Bouldering/Hiking

Glory Blades

Think Berlin wall but angled towards you. You will need your teammates to help you over.
RunMum Rating – 4
RunMum Training – Pull-ups, Box Jumps

Boa Constrictor

Crawling through a series of tunnels coming in and out of muddy water.
RunMum Rating – 3
RunMum Training – Plank holds, Commando crawling

Hold your Wood

Holding a block of wood approx 20kg, and then doing a walk/run loop
RunMum Rating – 2 **
RunMum Training – Carry your 5-year-old around the block. Don’t have a child? How about a bag of potatoes instead?

Balls to the Wall

Rope Climb over a 2.5m wall.
There was a wait when we got to this obstacle, it did get congested. Some people were a lot faster than others (men especially)
The rope doesn’t go all the way to the ground, so you will need to use your strength (what’s left) to get to the first tier. The rope will also be muddy, so it will be hard to get a grip. You may need your teammates to help you up this one.
RunMum Rating – 5
RunMum Training – Rope climb, Pull Ups

Twinkle Toes

Balancing on Logs of wood over a water course.  Sounds easy? Tough Mudder has added tires on the wood for you to get over as well.
RunMum Rating – 3.5
RunMum Training – Balance Beam

Electric Eel

Yes, water and electricity, a great mix! You’ll need lots of grit for this one.
Commando crawl through muddy water with electric wires hanging down, yep you will get zapped. They put the ones at the end down lower so be prepared to get stung.
RunMum Rating – 8
RunMum Training – Commando crawl, Mountain Climbers
If you have a trampoline that’s really static-y, then I recommend getting used to that zap, as that’s similar to what you will experience on the course.

Just The Tip

A new obstacle for 2014, inspired by rock climbers.
Shimmy across a ledge with minimal foot holds. But wait there’s a gap in the middle. Prepare to fall, as the ledge is wet and muddy and hard to hold on to.
RunMum Rating – 5
RunMum Training – Pull-ups.

Leap of Faith

Think walk the plank meets cargo net. If you miss the net, expect to get wet.
RunMum Rating – 5
RunMum Training – Box Jumps, Pull up’s.

Legionaries Section

This was the section that was just for me and past mudders.
A short detour found us with our obstacle – A Net.
The objective of this obstacle was to lift the net so that we had to crawl/hunch underneath it, and then proceed up a hill for approx 20 meters.

RunMum Rating – 4
RunMum Training – Swimming, Squats, Wall Sits.
Now if you are thinking of swimming?, let me explain. The quickest way to power through this obstacle is to move the net over your head with your arms, just like a swimmer (backstroke).
I really enjoyed this obstacle, and the bonus, the volunteer told me and the girl I did it with that we were the fastest he had seen all day. Win!

Funky Monkey

Monkey Bars over a watercourse.

If you can get your hands dried this will help a lot.
The bars also move, so make sure you have a good grip, because if you get an ill grip *** you will fall into the water.
RunMum Rating – 5
RunMum Training – Pull up’s, Chin-ups, Sit-ups.

Mount Everest

Run up a Half Pipe.
You’ll need speed to get to the top without any help. Otherwise, go hard and jump for a helping hand.
You will be tired, and the pipe will be slippery with mud and water.
RunMum Rating – 7
RunMum Training – Sprints, Lunges, Box Jumps & Pull-ups.

The Legionnaire’s 3’s 

As a past mudder, I didn’t have to do electroshock therapy.  I had my own special obstacles to get through.
Part 1 – Hail Bales. Leaping from bale to bale.
Part 2 – Crawling through a muddy trench.
Part 3 – Climbing up and over on a spider net.
RunMum Rating – 5
RunMum Training – Box Jumps, Jumping Lunges (Mary Janes), Commando Crawling, Bear Crawls, Pull ups.

The bonus course wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. And although I didn’t have to do Electroshock Therapy, I took one for my team.

Electroshock Therapy

Run through hanging wires to get to the finish line. Your fear of getting zap will stop you with this one.
RunMum Rating – 6.5
RunMum Training – Sprints, Breaststroke.
Use your arms to get the wires out of the way.
Or you could be like my mum and walk through, less likely to get zapped, but you will hold up the obstacle for the others.  I say just get it over and down with and sprint through it.

Footnotes

1 * This also helps to train specific areas that may not be my strong suit.

2 ** I’m giving this a rating of 2 this year as it was so much easier than last year. Why? Well, we had dry wood, and dry wood is a lot lighter. In Jan 2013 the wood was obviously a tree that was recently felled, and those logs were so heavy I struggled to carry it around the course. Last year’s rating would have been a 7.

3 ***  This happened to me.  I was so close too, right at the very end! ARGH! I had 2 maybe 3 rungs to go but I got an ill grip on one of the bars, and that was it, I fell into the water. I was not happy, to say the least. But a huge improvement on last year, when I failed right at the beginning.