Tough Mudder Run Part 4, The Distance

Right after I passed the second set of Berlin Walls came the mile marker 5 sign. Meaning that I hadn't even gotten halfway through the course yet! I was still feeling pretty good and I hadn't injured myself so it was really more mental than physical at this point. I decided this would be a good time to use the Gu I had with me to help revitalize my system. Gu is really just electrolytes and energy to refuel you on the go. I am really glad I did because I'm not sure what would have happened had I not used it.


Log Jammin'

The next obstacle wasn't very difficult, just time consuming. You have to climb over six to seven foot stacks of logs and then duck under (sometimes crawl) lower logs covered by barbed wire. Some of the people without a lot of upper body strength needed help, which of course was available in ample supply. But for the most part if you took your time this obstacle was quite easy. And thank goodness because there was a lot more ahead!

Mud Mile

The following obstacle was surprisingly difficult. Mud mile isn't actually a mile long, probably about 100 yards or so. But you had to climb into and out of waist deep sludge. Everyone needed a helping hand to get out as it was surprisingly deep and the islands in between had absolutely no slope to them at all. Not to mention the mud was thick and thus required a lot of energy to move through. There were probably five trenches total and I was very tired by trench number four. The man next to me stumbled out of the last one completely exhausted. I saw a lot of people resting here. And it is no wonder. I didn't realize but it was over a mile before we reached obstacle number 15.

Dong Dangler

After running for what seemed a very long time I came upon the first bottleneck I experienced during the course. This obstacle required that you shimmy across a taut line suspended above water and try not to get wet. Most people were falling in. Because a lot of people were taking their time I had to wait around for probably five to ten minutes before it was my turn. As with the other obstacles there were participants holding down both sides of the line to keep it as taut as possible to let people cross. I made it about ninety percent of the way before my hands gave out and I dropped into the shallow end on the far side. I'll consider that one a win.

Underwater Tunnels

Again it was a lot more running to the next obstacle, probably another mile and a half. But this ended up being my favorite obstacle of the course. This was also the primary swimming obstacle which meant a lot of signs (and volunteers) telling everyone that if you cannot swim skip it. Apparently they have had a lot of problems with this in the past but I love swimming so I jumped right in. You had to swim about 25 yards to a series of barrels and swim under them and then swim an additional 25 yards to get out. And this water was much warmer than the Arctic Enema, probably about 50 degrees or so. I was very comfortable and it was relaxing just being able to move around in the water a little, I was hoping it would help my muscles some, but I have no idea if it did or not. And again, bonus! Once I got out of the lake I was completely clean again!

Kiss of Mud #2

After feeling refreshed and running a bit more I came upon the mile marker nine signpost! I couldn't believe it, somehow I had missed the others, but this meant I only had two more miles to go! I was feeling pretty good at this point but it was time to get dirty again with the second Kiss of Mud obstacle. This was just like the first so I got through it easily.

King of the Mountain

Rocky impression.

Next up was King of the Mountain where you have to climb up a stack of hay bales twenty five feet high and climb back down again. There was also a nice surprise waiting for me at this obstacle, my beautiful wife! I swear I've never been so happy to see her in my life. She gave me a good luck kiss and I proceeded over the two hay mountains, and then across two more five foot high hay humps. At this point I knew the end was near, but that meant the last set of obstacles were going to be monsters. All of them.

End of Part 4.

Click here for Part 5.
Click here to go back to Part 3.