Yesterday my girlfriend and I ran our second Tough Mudder in Cold Water, Ontario. A Full Tough Mudder is about 16 KM (10 miles) with about 20-25 obstacles placed throughout the course. The event took place at a local ski hill, which provides great wide open area and various terrain for them to utilize; bush trails, hills, fields, water, etc. We ran in one of the later heats (around 10:30 am), as we had to drive 2 hours to get there to begin with, but couldn’t have asked for a better day, the sun was out, about 20 ish *C with very few clouds and a slight breeze.
The way the event was structured they would have you go up one of the ski hills, and then we would be taken on trails which would lead to a few different obstacles and then back down and across for a couple more obstacles before climbing back up again. The obstacles themselves were the most fun part of the day, couple examples include Funky Monkey, which is a series of different style monkey bars, some were circular others rotated and you had to make your way across or fall into water, and Pyramid Scheme, which is a greased up quarter pipe, where you had to make a human chain and work together to get to the top.
Honestly the hardest part of the day was the going up and down the hills, I was able to keep up a jogging pace throughout the day but had to walk up the hills to give me legs and lungs a break.
The event itself is great for anyone looking to challenge themselves physically, you do not have to be in tip top shape to complete one of these, there were people of all sizes competing. The whole focus of the event is for everyone to work together and have everyone complete the course together, they do not keep track of your time (unless you sign up for the competitive style event) and then at the end you get a Tough Mudder headband and a beer to celebrate your completion.
I cannot recommend this event enough, both times we have gone we have had a great time and made new friends along the way, we have already signed up again for next year!