Heather Latter
Five local men tested their strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie this past weekend as they participated in the “Tough Mudder” event at Devil’s Head Ski Resort in Merrimac, Wis.
Terry McMahon, Matt Sweigard, Jason Sobkowicz, Adam Foley, and Sean Wiersema fought through a 10-mile course and more than 20 different obstacles in what is known as one of the toughest events on the planet.
“It was pretty wild,” said Sweigard. “We were all pretty beat up after the weekend.”
“It was a long and challenging race,” echoed McMahon, a certified sport conditioning coach and personal trainer.
McMahon first discovered the event online when he was searching for something to train for during the summer months.
“I was looking for something that would challenge me,” he remarked, noting a few others were interested and he was able to put a team together, allowing for only about two months to train.
“We didn’t get as much training in as we wanted because I was going to wait until next year to do it, but then I decided to give it a try this year,” McMahon explained.
He said the team trained by running hills and doing some basic strength training.
But despite all the training, the “Tough Mudder” event was more challenging that McMahon had expected.
The 10-mile obstacle course, designed by British Special Forces, featured an array of difficult stunts for the “mudders” to complete.
Starting with the “Braveheart Charge,” mudders charged into battle calling out war cries, then heading straight up a red-graded ski run right to the top of a mountain.
“Pretty much the first five miles were up and down ski hills, which was lovely,” McMahon said sarcastically.
“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be,” he admitted. “I didn’t think there would be that many hills.”
But he found a lot of the obstacles to be fun, though challenging.
The team was forced to crawl through a series of pipes through freezing, muddy water, scale 12-foot high walls, slither under wire set only eight inches from the ground, and manoeuvre through cargo nets.
There also were some more “shocking” obstacles, which included sprinting through a field of live wires, some of which carried a 10,000-volt shock, and a run through blazing kerosene-soaked straw with flames at least four feet high.
“By the time you get to the walls, you’re so wet from getting dunked under water from some of the other obstacles it was hard to hold on to anything,” noted Sweigard, adding he found the hardest part to be all the uphill runs and then having to scale the 12-foot wall.
“Being so fatigued and wet and slippery, it was pretty tough,” he remarked.
“They take a regular sort of hike and throw these obstacles in to really challenge you mentally and physically,” Sweigard said, noting he was glad to be taking part in the event as a team.
“I don’t think I would do it alone,” he noted. “It’s a lot better to have guys pushing you and the camaraderie was great, too.”
McMahon said most of the 7,500 competitors weren’t gunning for a fast finish time since simply completing a “Tough Mudder” is a badge of honour.
On average, only 78 percent of participants finish the course. Only those in reasonably strong physical condition are encouraged to enter.
“It’s more about finishing and challenging yourself, and about camaraderie,” McMahon stressed. “Only the elite racers go for time.
“We took a lot longer than we thought because we were stopping at obstacles and helping other teams through.”
Still, both McMahon and Sweigard said they’re looking forward to competing in the event again next year. Perhaps even in another city, so they can try out a different course.
They’d also like to get a larger team together for the next one.
“We got a lot of bruises, cuts, and scrapes, but it was a lot of fun and we had a good time,” Sweigard enthused.
“Tough Mudder” takes place throughout the United States, and will be heading to Canada, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom next year.
The events also have raised more than $1 million for the “Wounded Warrior” project.
