The website says its the "worlds safest most dangerous taste of mental physical pain endurance toughest events. Tough Guy will always be a physically challenging, mentally demanding, fear inducing, visual spectacular. The event is uniquely fear ridden and you need to be fit in both body and spirit to survive the ordeal. Tough Guy is played on the glorious pasture at Mr Mouse Farm for Unfortunates, as the name implies the charitable work is undertaken 365 days each year looking after hundreds of retired horses, wildlife habitats and providing jobs for unfortunate people." Most of the entry fee is donated to Mr. Mouse Farm so its for a good cause.
This year was made even more challenging by the fact that it started snowing half way through the event (the last time that happened during the Tough Guy was over 10 years ago). Basically, imagine being wet in freezing temperatures for 3 and a half hours while trying to make it through somewhat dangerous obstacles that are made extremely dangerous by the fact that you can't grip with your hands and your shoes are covered in mud.
The weekend started on Saturday when I caught a train to Wolverhampton to meet up with about 15 other individuals from the Naval and Air Force Academy, along with a few Mitchell Scholars from Ireland who we know through our friend Vicki. I am really glad we competed as a group because there is no way I could have done it by myself. Once everyone had arrived we went to a Chinese buffet dinner (possibly not the best choice before a strenuous event). It was great catching up with everyone and one of the guys, Eric, remembered it was my birthday on Tuesday so the restraunt sang happy birthday to me and I got a free dessert.
Group shot at dinner
Singing Happy Birthday!
Matt, Eric, and I at dinner
We began Sunday morning with a breakfast in the hotel and we're out the door by 9am. We immediately realized upon stepping outside that it had gotten much colder during the night and that we were crazy for doing this. Little did we know exactly how crazy until later on when we actually couldn't think straight because we were so cold. I don't think any of us saw that coming!
Walking up to the course - freezing fully clothed
We arrived at the race course, picked up our registration packets, and signed our death warrants (something you sign so they can medically treat you if you get hurt). Next we got our numbers written on our foreheads and headed to the changing barn. Here we stripped down to our costumes - flannel shirts and jean shorts - for team Springsteen. Eric (who organized the event for the 15 of us) began apologizing for getting us into this (he then continued apologizing throughout the event)- and he is a Navy Seal, that tells you just how cold it was.
Group shot before the race in our Springsteen costumes
While we were waiting to start the race we gave a few motivational Navy cheers which garnered more than just a few weird looks from our fellow contestants. We began the course probably around 11:30am. We first entered the Country Miles. A rambling multi mile course than encompasses steep hill climbs, cramp inducing stream running, mentally taxing woodland trails and fast open gazelle leg sections. We were lulled into a false sense of warmth from the run and some short lived sunlight.
The first obstacle we came to was The Tiger. We had to wait in the shade while everyone ahead of us clambered over it and that was when I first began shivering and didn't stop for the next 3 hours. The Tiger is 2 massive 40ft A-frames that competitors must clamber up and run down. If that wasn't tough enough, between the 2 A-frames is the Sting in the Tail, a series of electric fences primed and charged with supposedly twice the power required to stun a bull. All I know is I got shocked so bad that I screamed and fell down.
Quick pause for a photo before attacking The Tiger
The most physically difficult part of the day was the Slalom. It was a series of tight twisting zigzags which make you repeatedly run up and down the hillside! The hillside happens to be one of the tallest in the area and I think we went up the hill 10 times! I can't really remember because I was pretty exhausted by the end.
The Colditz was a series of 3 progressively higher walls, 2,3 and 4 m high. It took a subtle combination of rope and leg work to get over.
One of the coldest parts of the day was the Water Slalom which consisted of pools of waist to chest deep water which you had to jump into and then climb out of. There was probably 10 of them in a row. Hila and I teamed up because it was impossible to climb out without a buddy.
The worst part of the day for me was The Behemoth because I almost got seriously hurt. The Behemoth is a series of 4 towers with a series of rope strung across a void, one rope at your feet and one above your head. My guess is that they are 12 feet off the ground. I fell on the last crossing. I couldn't tell if I was hurt because I was so cold I couldn't feel anything, but I got up, brushed myself off and ran on to the fire pits.
The Firey Holes are a series of ditches of varying depth filled with water, interspersed with raging fires! There are floating islands in the ditches to give the illusion you can cross the ditches without getting wet. So you either hurl yourself at the island, leap desperately for the other side, or plunge into the murky depths covering yourself in flame retardant mud. Then you enter the fire walk, a chance to bask in the glow of a warming fire. If you felt your leg hair getting singed you could just keep on running until you fell into the next muddy ditch.
Me freezing by the fire pits
The Tire Crawl consisted a crawl through a series of tires. Some of the routes came out into muddy baths and others into dense thickets of nettles. I got lucky and ended on solid ground.
Me exiting the Tire Crawl - I am sure he got a lovely photo!
Just after exiting the Tire Crawl
When it came to The Swamp and the legendary Tough Guy Mud, the trick was to keep moving. Vicki lost her shoes in the first swamp, but was able to find them.
The Vietcong Tunnels were a little scary. The tunnels are a series of 'used' sewer pipes that worm their way through the hillside. There is a choice of diameter, but you must choose carefully because there is at least one dead end! You could get stuck with no way forward and 10 Tough Guys blocking your passage back. My tunnel was pitch black and I had absolutely no idea how long it was. I eventually made it to the end - no dead end thankfully!
Eric exiting The Vietcong Tunnels
I was shaking uncontrollably by the time we reached the Paradise Climb. It is a raised rope roadway with spectacular views of the killing fields and tantalisingly close to the finish line. Unfortunately the route heads back out into the Killing Fields - plenty more beasting to come!
Entering the Paradise Climb
The most dreaded part of the day is the Underwater Tunnels. The approach to the tunnel is wading through chest deep water. The river has a series of acclimatisation dunks as your route is blocked by telegraph poles.
Leland entering the Underwater Tunnels
The Stalag Escape was harder then I thought it would be. This obstacle consisted of a twisted, tangled web of barbed wire strewn across your path. The only way to pass was to lay face down in the mud and low crawl the 40ft under it.
Tire Torture followed. It was a very deceptive obstacle, with hundreds of tires strewn across the path. You have to leap and bound over them. At this point, my legs weren't really working. Normally, it would have been relatively easy.
The Anaconda consisted of a series of concrete pipes about chest high. I had to get some of the guys to help me over.
The Hill was the last obstacle. You cramble up a slippery muddy hill that feels like a mountain and then you are done!
At the finish you enter a line of people, get your medals, and are handed successively warmer cups of hot chocolate. I was shaking so bad I couldn't even hold the first couple cups. You then hit the showers, but I wasn't in the mood to get more wet so I went back to change into dry clothes - mud and all! I couldn't unbutton my shirt ( my fingers weren't moving) so one of the guys ripped it off of me. Don't worry I had underarmour underneath!
The stats from this year's Tough Guy:
"A broken neck, a dozen broken or dislocated bones and 600 people struck down with hypothermia – including the winner – all meant it was business as usual in what's been dubbed the world's toughest endurance battle."
So, with 6,000 participants, 1 in every 10 got hypothermia.
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/black-country/black-country-news/2009/02/02/tough-guy-competition-held-in-perton-97319-22833923/
http://withleather.uproxx.com/?p=14499
Overall, it was a great experience. I'm glad I did it. It's always good to know your physical limits. I don't think I would do it again, but who knows!
Mallory, Me, and Hila back at the hotel still covered in mud
1 comment:
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