Friday, September 14, 2012

Toughen Up


I’m not sure who my readers are at this point, or what your interests are, but I do know that we all like to challenge ourselves in some way or another.  If you’re one of those people that choose to challenge yourself both physically and mentally by enduring through grueling workouts, then you should continue reading.  For those of you that choose to go a different route in challenging yourself, you should still keep reading but this may not be your cup of tea.

Tough Mudder is essentially a 10 plus mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces to push you to the limits of your physical and mental abilities.  The brutal obstacles range from swimming through freezing cold water, to being charged with 10,000 volts of electricity. This is no simple task, but the reward is well worth the pain you must endure to cross the finish line. 

Unlike many similar challenges, Tough Mudder prides itself on not only being difficult to complete, but also fun at the same time.  This is no ordinary test of strength and endurance, and it doesn’t end when you cross the finish line.  If you do manage to carry yourself across the finish line, you’ll be met by a cold beer and a live band, fueling the after party. 

Tough Mudder holds events worldwide over the course of the year.  For all of my Queens readers, the event will be in Society Hill, South Carolina the weekend of October 27.  If you think you are up for the challenge, registration is open until October 19.  If you don’t think you are quite ready yet, you can register as a spectator to check out what the course is like and support the hundreds of challengers as they persevere through what is likely the most difficult obstacle course in the world.

This is just a brief explanation of Tough Mudder.  If you’re interested in finding out more about the event visit www.toughmudder.com

Jeremy Bugbee


6 comments:

  1. It was a really interesting piece, especially for someone aspiring to complete the race one day. It kept the attention of your audience, whether they want to do the race one day or not. I like how you acknowledged that the article might not be perfect for everyone, and then you started trying to sway them towards your side. It was very well written and no grammatical errors got in the way of the content.

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  2. Jeremy,
    I had never heard of Tough Mudder before, but it sounds like a really hard challenge, how did you hear about it? Are you participating in the race in Society Hill, South Carolina? Even though I am a swimmer I do not know if I would be up for the challenge to swim through freezing cold water or be charged by 10,000 volts (how does that happen really?).
    I think going through a race like this is a great thing to do, as it challenges you both mentally and physically, just like you mentioned. I am definitely not ready to go through such a race right now, but sometimes in the future I will.

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    1. I first heard of the challenge through a friend of mine. She called me a few weeks back to ask if her and a friend could crash at my place since they will be volunteering at the event. Unfortunately, I will not be participating in the upcoming Society Hill challenge due to the fact that I am a broke college student, and the entry fee is out of my reach at this time.

      The Tough Mudder website has short videos of each obstacle within the challenge. The "Electroshock Therapy" obstacle is a wooden structure with "live" wires hanging from top to bottom charged by 10,000 volts of DC power. There is not much wiggle room between the wires, so really the only way to get across the finish line is to run straight through the pain.

      The challenge is not only designed to test yourself but to develop camaraderie. Many teams enter the event and take on the challenge together. Maybe you could convince your team to do a little fundraising and take on the challenge the next time it comes around!

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  3. I think this is insane! I give much credit to anyone who can complete this. I have also been a student athlete at Queens and it takes a great deal of physical and mental strength! This post was very interesting and I throughly enjoyed it!

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  4. I had never heard of anything this intense in my life. From prior knowledge, the hardest courses I had ever heard of were Amazing Race, Survivor, and The Real World Challenges. I think that this would be way worse than them all put together! This would really call for to be physically and mentally in shape and will pull out all of the weak links. This post really caught my attention as a student athlete and makes me realize I'm not as tough as I thought!

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    1. I thought the same thing when I first heard about it! Being an athlete, I like to think I'm in superior condition, but when I saw how this course is designed I began to question just how fit I actually am. The course that will be in Society Hill is just under 11 miles, and has been approximated at around two and a half hours from start to finish. That was the deal breaker for me. While we go through a pretty rigorous training regimen for lacrosse, I don't think that would come anywhere close to preparing me for something this intense!

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