Finally Tough Mudder made the trip to Adelaide to host an
event and they couldn’t have picked a better weekend if they tried! a balmy
34degs on the Saturday and 27 on the Sunday. Perfect conditions for a cracking
OCR event!
Treating this as my final event of the year and the midpoint
of my offseason I was happy to enlist in an event that is promoted as finishing
with your team and forgetting about your time. It allowed me a little more
freedom to “enjoy” the event without the added pressure of an overall time goal
or placing.
This event had an added layer for me as it allowed me to
connect with some old high school friends that I hadn’t seen in almost 15 years
along with making some new friends. The journey began thanks to FaceBook where
we managed to reconnect and through some posts, likes and comments the invite
was thrown out to have a go at Tough Mudder. Being that I have fallen in love
with OCR’s in 2014 I jumped on it, volunteered my wife to compete then saw that
my friend Kevin from high school wanted to have a crack too! Paul who led the
charge being that he had completed Tough Mudder in Sydney 12months ago set up a
team and recruited another couple, Nathan and Jo. We quickly had a team of 7
with myself, Asha, Paul, Belinda, Nathan, Jo and Kevin. Kevins’ wife Carlee who
also went to high school with us had recently given birth so was offered a
reprieve for this one, she won’t be so lucky next time!
With regular dinner meetings and constant facebook banter we
quickly discovered that we had a strong and supportive team, key to overcoming
this event and course!
As the day approached the witty banter turned in to asking
and offering advice and last minute hints and tips, the nerves were on the up!
Finally Saturday the 14th of December arrived and
a 5:30am alarm (mind you I was up at 5am, this alarm was for Asha). So excited!
The ping of messages on my phone started as we were all checking to make sure
we were on target and ready to go!
The drive from home to the course at Langhorne creek was
about 70kms through stunning scenery so the drive was very stress free. Once we arrived there was a buzz around, even
in the car park area!
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| Perfect conditions! Stunning location |
Unpack the car, the kids and the babysitter (aka Mum) and we
set off on the 750m walk to the start area.
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| Someone's excited! |
S&@T getting real
now!!!
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| The obligatory village selfie! |
The registration/Check in area of the village was really
well set up and the processing was easy. There was quite a bank up right inside
the gates as the toilet block was right inside so trying to get through the
other side of the rego tent to a spare patch of grass was a little difficult.
The mandatory pre event photos were taken, complete with
face paint and our event numbers written on various body parts we dropped our
kit bags off at the tent, said a goodbye loved ones and headed to the holding
pen.
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| Paul knowing what was coming was clearly excited, the others however show nervous smiles in anticipation and fear of what is to come! |
This was the staging area for each of the starting waves to
gather. There was also an obstacle BEFORE the official start line. Great
initiative. Just a 7ft straight wall
which you needed to scale to get to the start line holding area is a brilliant
idea. Revved up by the MC we were then let lose. A gentle 2km run to start. I needed to get my
HR up a little so I jogged off from the team and just kept a steady pace and we
all met up at obstacle 1 which was aptly titled “HAHA Ditch”. There was an
element of HAHA to this.
The following is a list of the obstacles in order
1. HAHA Ditch
A climb up a dirt mound, maybe 6ft, then over the other side
in to chest deep water/mud. There is no avoiding getting wet in this one. Suck
it up, jump in, climb out, keep running. If you thought you could go a while
without getting wet, muddy and heavy, then think again! Least we got it out of
the way early!
2. Glory Blades
A series of 2 walls slanted back towards you. No run up
opportunity. Taller people could jump and pull themselves over. Most people
took the opportunity for a boost, hand up. Got through this one with limited
difficulty.
3. Hold your wood
Nothing to this one. Grab a log/stump/branch and walk around
a 400m trail, drop the wood and move on. Wood cut to all different sizes and
weights.
4. Pole Dancer
This was one that I was 50/50 on. Kinda looking forward to
it but a little apprehensive at the possible deceptiveness of it. Personally I
got over this one really well! My upper body held up well and I felt great on
this. Each of our team got through this which was brilliant.
5. Listed as
“Cliffhanger” on the map but replaced with “Mud Pit”
This was one where you needed a team or to rely on the
assistance of others. 2 mud mounds which offered bugger all grip or footing.
Paul suffered a decent calf cramp on this one and was lucky to make it out! A
bit of muddy fun in this one!
6. Leap of Faith
This is one I was really looking forward too but with a
sense of apprehension after seeing the clip of the course testers earlier in
the week. A 5-6 foot jump to a cargo net vertically suspended above a body of
water. Upper body strength at its finest until you can get a foot hold. I made
the jump and got a good purchase on the net. Managed to pull myself up with
little difficulty and made it to the top of the tower. Great obstacle. 4 out of
our 7 completed this one. Big failure rate on this one. One of the highlights
for me. So proud of Asha having failed on her 1st attempt went back
around and gave it another shot and did it. Kevin also went back and conquered
this one too! hard man!
7. Berlin Walls
A series of 2, or was it 3, high walls around 10ft high. The
small ledge about a 3rd of the way up made this possible for the
vertically challenged. With a decent run up and solid leap I managed to scale
these without too much difficulty. Team work once again is key to this one. One
of our team mates had a shoulder issue for the whole day so we all pitched in
to make sure she got over these ones.
8. Bale Bonds
This was an obstacle placed, in my opinion, for the sake of
it. a couple of big hay bales with some smaller ones used for a step up. An
annoyance more than an obstacle.
9. Soldier Sling
The girls loved this one! This obstacle essentially entailed
the guys piggy backing the girls 50m up the track. Kevin who was running it
without a partner managed to find a mate (guy) to do this obstacle with. They
swapped places half way so they both had a turn being the “man”. I have it on
good authority they exchanged number and promised to call in the morning =)
10. Mud Mile
This is one of the headline acts for Tough Mudder. 4 Mud
hills which are impossible to solo up. Team work and the assistance of
strangers is a minimum to get through this. No technique, no class just push,
pull whatever is needed to get to the top.
This is a good obstacle but completely unrealistic to ever
contemplate doing solo.
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| Mud Mile |
10. Quagmire
Honestly don’t remember this one. Must have been a
highlight. =/
11. Hangin Tough
What would traditionally be the monkey bars has been
replaced with a 5 ring swing across a body of water. Massive failure rate on
this. only 2 of our team completed (yes me being one!). This one is all about
momentum. If you stop, you get wet. Get a good swing at the start and it is
easy picking. Did see a girl slip on the 1st ring, fall backwards
and hit her hear hard on the platform. Hope she is ok.
12. Marked as “Tyred
Yet” but replaced with “Devils Beard”
Another annoyance. A lightweight cargo net strapped to the
ground about 20meters long. Easy enough to walk through forwards or backwards
with little to no difficulty. meh
13. Kiss of mud
Get on your stomach and crawl under barbed wire for 20m. The
barbed wire was strung far too high and not challenging at all. You would have
to have a fair sized behind to get caught on this.
14. Arctic Enema
Another of the headline challenges on course. A shipping container constantly filled with
ice and water. A board is placed half way through which is too high to go over,
must go under. Only trouble is that it’s submerged about 1ft under the water
level. Pitch black in the water so you have to feel your way out. The ice water
does take your breath away but if you keep moving this one is quickly ticked
off. More mind over matter. A few star jumps and push ups after I got out and I
was fine.
15. Everest
One of the bigger and most daunting obstacles at TM. A
quarter pipe rising 30ft up. Muddy, slippery and high. My first attempt was as
spectacular failure! Got a decent run up but my right foot found a pot hole in
the mud, hyper extended my knee and essentially went face first into the wall.
Being that I carried a knee injury in to this event following a Cyclocross bike
race mishap this bloody hurt! After a few mins of gathering my thoughts and
seeing a few of our team go over I picked a section of wall and lead up that
looked good. Got a good run up and got great purchase on my first 3 steps on
the wall. Before I knew it I was heaving myself up, unassisted to the top of
Everest! I look down to mum and the kids and a big fist pump I was stoked! I
then spotted Asha. She had an awesome run and grabbed my outstretched hand and
got up too. 6 out of 7 of us go this done. I stayed at the top of the wall
helping people get up and got many thanks and pats on the back from thankful
Mudders. A nice feel good moment. Heard some stories after this of a few
injuries come from Everest.
16. Electroshock
Therapy
The final obstacle. The big one! 10,000 volts in random
wires hanging down across a 20m dash. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT. No shocks, not
people dropping, no screams. I have heard rumours that this was dialled down. I
don’t get it. You sign a waiver, you hear the stories, you know what you are
signing up for! Leave the bloody obstacle alone!
Being that this was my first TM I was not permitted to take
on the “legionnaires loop” which is an obstacle for Multi Mudders. This one was
titled “Fire in your hole” a steep slide down and exiting over a 2ft flame at
the bottom of the slide then a 6ft drop in to water. Looked like fun. Next
time!
There was another obstacle in there called “Jesus walk”. A
30m mud walk with randomly placed holes/drop outs. Easily navigated on hands
and knees. Walking was a bad idea in this one.
Pretty sure I have forgotten one or two obstacles which
means they didn’t exactly rate a mention!
So my overall
thoughts.
A really enjoyable, team event. I loved the aspect of doing
this with a bloody brilliant group and the peripheral joy of reconnecting with
old friends and making new ones. Seeing people that didn’t think they could,
overcome that and do it was sensational. Helping strangers over walls, through
mud etc was rewarding.
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| Annnnnd After! Mud, Beer, Mates....Orange headbands! |
For me, I treated this, as I said earlier, an offseason
training/maintenance event which is OK. I’m OK with that....seriously!
The course
The route was spectacular through vineyards, open paths,
creeks, uneven trails and dry dams. My kinda course! Loved the terrain.
The obstacles
I walked away from
the obstacle portion of this feeling like I was missing something, a
little...meh. There were some in there just for the sake of it (Bale bonds,
Devils beard, Kiss of Mud) which is an annoyance of mine. I know it breaks up
the monotony of the running aspect of it which can be a nice reprieve.
Mud mile. Although epic in it’s design is completely
ridiculous. I understand that TM promote team work and helping each other out
but this one is just OTT. It is near impossible to complete this as a pair. 3
would be minimum in my opinion.
Electroshock. The BIG letdown. I was expecting to be dropped
into a slobbering mess and have welts. I didn’t even get tickled. As I said
earlier I have no idea why this was dialled down. 10,000 my a$$. All the
warnings, war stories, waivers whatever ended up being irrelevant. I saw people
strolling through grabbing wires by the handful with no reaction.
Disappointing.
The Village
Overall a good solid set up. The kids course was a stunning
idea. My 2 ran themselves ragged and loved showing off to everyone.
The Garmin tent was a good sponsor initiative.
Merchandise was massively over priced (However I did partake
in some after race purchases)
Lack of food outlets and a surprising lack of locations to
purchase a COLD soft drink!
The first wave started at 8am with the last being 12pm. The
12pm anticipated finish would be 4-5pm yet the after race festivities (I.e
concert etc) didn’t start until 8pm! I would love to know how many hang around
being that there was no on course camping. I know we didn’t!
The proprietors of Brothers in Arms winery who graciously
allowed use of their land to host the event were great to talk to in their tent
after the event. Giving samples of Langhorne Creeks finest reds and red blends.
Their No6 was also a fundraiser for “Soldier on” the TM charity of choice, so
yes I did make a donation!
The rinse station was a muddy mess by the time we got there.
Good fun in a hedonistic kinda way.
We managed a smooth escape from the village after we prized
the kids away from their course, brought some mercho, a bottle of wine, got out
finishers t-shirts and picked the 3 corner jacks from our feet.
I have rated this a 6.5/10 for an OCR in my limited
experience.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. I hope they run the
Adelaide event at around the same time next year. Personally I feel that True
Grit is an overall better event in Adelaide from a course, location and general
feel perspective.
For a first timer event in Adelaide I think they did a great
job and will only improve should they come back next year, which I hope they
do. As OCR’s become more and more popular in little ol’ South Oz there will be
a greater level of competition for market share which will force organisers to
ensure a quality event, not just rely on the “name” or previous success. They
will have to continually lift the bar!
A big AROO and OOO RAH from me!
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| Course map |
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| 2 Thumbs up! |
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| Need to work a bit on the guns... |
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| So proud of this one! Absolute superstar! x |
