Tough Mudder

Tough Mudder ( American pronunciation: [ 'tɐfˌmʌdɹ ]) is an American operator of extreme obstacle courses in which individual participants or teams try to complete a 16-18 kilometer run through mud and other obstacles. The races have between 10,000 and 15,000 participants. According to the organizer, the limit of one million participants since it was founded was broken in 2013, and three million in 2017.

history

Tough Mudder was founded in 2010 by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone from the UK. Dean and Livingstone hosted the first Tough Mudder Run on May 2, 2010 in Pennsylvania, USA, with 4,500 participants. The idea for this came from the British Tough Guy Race , which Will Dean studied in detail with its founder Billy Wilson in 2008 and whose concepts he partially adopted. Tough Guy organizer Billy Wilson accused Dean of breaching confidentiality agreements. Two other events were held in California and New Jersey in 2010, and another 14 in 2011 in various US states. Tough Mudder was held in Germany for the first time in 2013.

stretch

A typical tough mudder course is 16 to 18 km long and contains 20 to 25 obstacles. The terrain varies from route to route; Natural conditions are built into the route design at each venue, which makes each route unique. So far, u. a. Farms, motocross tracks and ski areas used as venues.

The obstacles used vary from track to track, although there are some distinctive obstacles that are used in almost every race. This includes:

Arctic Enema : Participants jump into a pool filled with ice, dive under a fence that runs through the pool, and pull themselves out of the water on the other side.

Electroshock Therapy : Power lines hang over a mud field that participants have to traverse to reach their destination. These are under a voltage of up to 10,000 volts by means of an electric fence device .

Funky Monkey : Two climbing frames are attached over a pool filled with ice-cold water, into which participants fall if they lose their grip. The framework is provided with a mixture of butter and mud to further increase the level of difficulty.

Everest : Participants run a rubbed with mud and grease quarterpipe high.

In 2012, Tough Mudder founded the Obstacle Innovation Lab in New Jersey, USA, where the company designs and tests new obstacles.

Other event formats from Tough Mudder

In addition to the classic Tough Mudder events, the company has launched other event formats over the years.

World's Toughest Mudder

World's Toughest Mudder is the final race of each year on the Tough Mudder calendar of events. In contrast to the regular Tough Mudder events, World's Toughest Mudder is a 24-hour race for men, women and teams of at least four people. While Tough Mudder itself is also suitable for amateur athletes, the World's Toughest Mudder only takes participants who have already completed several Tough Mudders or similar events. The aim is to complete as many miles as possible on the 5-mile circuit within these 24 hours. The winners of the individual ratings will be awarded $ 10,000 each and the team rating winners will receive a total of $ 12,000. Ryan Atkins, the 2013 and 2014 winner, broke the magical 100 mile barrier in 2013. World's Toughest Mudder 2015 took place in Las Vegas on November 14, 2015.

Mudderella

Mudderella is a stripped down version of Tough Mudder, so to speak, and is aimed exclusively at women. At 5–7 miles, the route is significantly shorter than the original, and the obstacles have been specially designed by women for women. So far, Mudderella events have only been held in the USA and Great Britain.

Mini Mudder

Mini Mudder is part of the Tough Mudder and Mudderella program in the US and UK. It's an obstacle course for children about a mile long. As with adults, the focus here is on teamwork.

Urban Mudder

Urban Mudder is an obstacle course about five miles long and, unlike the original, does not take place in nature, but in the middle of the city. Mud - the actual main element of Tough Mudder - is avoided here. The course is characterized by many climbing obstacles and demands great skill from the participants. The first Urban Mudder took place on July 25, 2015 in New York.

Partnerships with charities

Tough Mudder has raised over 8 million dollars for charitable purposes since 2010 as of April 2015, including 6.5 million dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project, which supports needy US veterans. Tough Mudder also supports military charities in Canada (also Wounded Warrior), Great Britain (Help for Heroes) and Australia (Legacie). In Germany, however, Viva Con Agua is a non-profit organization that supports clean drinking water.

safety

Obstacle courses are generally associated with dangers. In the beginning, the minimum age for Tough Mudder was therefore 18 years. Since 2015, however, young people aged 16 and over have been allowed to compete in the company of an adult.

On April 20, 2013, a fatal accident occurred in Gerrardstown, West Virginia, when a participant remained underwater for several minutes after an accident at the Walk the Plank obstacle and died shortly afterwards. A resulting legal dispute with the bereaved was settled out of court.

Web links

Commons : Tough Mudder - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

German-language website

Individual evidence

↑ https://mudder-guide.de/tough-mudder-ffekten/#geschichte

↑ Tough Mudder CEO what accused of dirty tactics . In: The Boston Globe .

↑ Office Workers Run Amok . In: Wall Street Journal .

↑ Mudder Guide: Facts and interesting facts about Tough Mudder

↑ Getting tough in the Black Diamond mud with Tough Mudder this weekend . In: Maple Valley Reporter .

^ Tough Mudder: Mud, Sweat & No Tears . In: Men's Journal . Archived from the original on March 29, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 16, 2013. @1@ 2

↑ One Tough Mudder . In: Vermont Sports .

↑ Tough Mudder's 20 Most Badass Obstacles: Arctic Enema . In: Men's Fitness .

↑ Tough Mudder's 20 Most Badass Obstacles: Electroshock Therapy . In: Men's Fitness .

↑ Tough Mudder's 20 Most Badass Obstacles: Funky Monkey . In: Men's Fitness .

↑ Tough Mudder's 20 Most Badass Obstacles: Everest . In: Men's Fitness .

↑ Obstacles Test Athletes' Grit . In: The New York Times .

↑ Mudder Guide: World's Toughest Mudder

^ Tough Mudder: World's Toughest Mudder

↑ Mudder Guide: Mudderella

↑ Mudder Guide: Mini Mudder

↑ Mudder Guide: Urban Mudder