OCD FOR OCR

Standard parking at a big private venue. Race time, temperature was in the mid 50’s with rain and wind.

• Registration and Festival:

With a mass of volunteers, Tough Mudder gets registration done and over with a quickness. They’ve been doing things long enough to have it figured out. Multiple registration lanes and Mudder service right there to fix any registration issues.

Tough Mudder festival is hands down the best in the business. From salmon ladders to rotating monkey bars to a jousting arena all for prizes. They even had Cornhole, football bowling and other activities to engage participants and make them hang out for a bit after they run.

Tough Mudder village has more freebies than most with many health and wellness vendors introducing their products to participants. Meal plans, health drinks, men’s/women’s grooming products, and with many beverage options and a caravan of awesome food trucks replenishment is easy.

Tough Mudder also brings an almost unlimited merchandise tent, if you want it, they’ve got it. The plethora of tents truly makes it feel like a village festival and even in the worst of weather people are engaged and active in that village before and after their event.

• Pre-race MC:

This was my 10th Tough Mudder and I’ve never been disappointed with their Pre-Race MC. Sean Corvelle is tops in the business in my opinion at tapping into the participants vibe and moving their energy.

On this day it was E-Rock’s turn and he was phenomenal! He was very Informative about rules and course info, but at the same time got everyone loose and warmed up. When the guy from Hawaii praised the Midwest weather and its people the corral, got a few degrees warmer. Well done E-Rock I wanted to do another lap just for the Pre-race.

• The Course:

This year’s Classic Mudder course ran 8.3-miles with 1800-feet of elevation through beautiful manicured rolling trails, across fields of wild flowers with bounding deer, around the most serene lake. I almost wished I’d brought my rod. You’d never know this place was a sand and gravel venue.

I chose to participate in this event on Sunday with a team of first time Mudder’s/OCR racers, including my 66-year-old female cousin who’s had both knees replaced. She was an inspiration to any and all she came in contact with out on the course, you could literally grab chunks of inspiration from the air as she maneuvered through rain soaked sand and muddy terrain with her foldable cane! We walked/jogged the first two scenic miles with the team doing obstacles such as the Quagmire, a water pit that goes from ankle deep to waist deep unexpectedly a few times. Cousin Carmen really enjoyed it and was inspired by the obstacles she could do.

There were barbed wire crawls, tubes, walls, ramps, and of course the always fun mud mile, all in tough Mudder fashion were accompanied by H2O. When we got to the classic/5k cutoff it was time to cut the team loose on their own to finish Carmen’s not only first 5k but 5k Mudder as myself and cousin Justine embarked on finishing her first Tough Mudder Classic.

With every obstacle she amazed me with her bravery, and willingness to embrace fear. Understanding her fears and the failure rate Justine learned that the growth happening with so called failure, outweighed success on some of these obstacles any given day. Funky Monkey 2.0, Electric eel, Augustus Gloop, inverted walls and the gauntlet (I’ve yet to figure out the bumper hitch) taught us valuable lessons. However, when I witnessed my cousin Justine attack the Everest half pipe and fight, as total strangers held her hands, screaming words of encouragement, to get the rest of her body over that obstacle I knew she had realized then and there, that there’s nothing the world can throw at her that she cannot handle.

Tough Mudder obstacles are always on another level, you’ve got to be big to be this big! Coming into the finish MudderHorn and Electroshock therapy awaited. A very spectator friendly finish over, not your average A-frame cargo net at 35-feet and of course, Electroshock therapy is always great for end of run highlights. Just run fast people.

Hits and Misses: A semi private elevated wash station keeps you out of the mud after your run, nice touch. Also, chatting with the president Kyle McLaughlin as he mingled with participants and guests was nice. He is as genuine and approachable as you can get! Absolutely no misses here, not even Mother Nature could dampen the spirit of the Mudder Nation on this day.

• The Bling:

Headbands rule, and I love the way Tough Mudder constantly switches up their finisher shirts.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

With Tough Mudder events it’s always bigger than self. No one asks what your time was. “How’d ya do and how did you finish”! This company is still changing lives with every event. The tight knit community of Mudder Nation never ceases to amaze me.

One final highlight was the gang of Ambassadors visible and wearing bibs. It was amazing to see and be a part of as they/we were all very informative, helpful and friendly to anyone enjoying their first-time experience. A great way to extend the hand Tough Mudder! Well done. My heart is full!

I rate this race and event, 5 out of 5 stars.

Article Written by: Troy Hall