Tough Mudder

Wow!  Tough Mudder!  My crazy family decided to embark on quite the obstacle course.  They have been training for a few months now for the most grueling, physically draining, and crazy obstacle course I have ever seen.  I considered doing it with them, but I just didn't have the stamina.  I am so proud of all of them who did have the endurance and completed this 12.1 mile mud obstacle course. 

Among our team, the WTFers (Ward-Taylor-Farmers) were some friends of Megan and Greg's, my cousin Michael (who flew out here with his wife Allison and their cute littler Harper), my 55-year-old dad, my sister and brother-in-law, and Christian.  So proud of this team!

Here are the tough mudders (of course it's BEFORE the race).

Tony, Brian, Christian, Michael, Rob, Dad, Greg, Megan



Prior to this race, the idea of, "Tough Mudder" has pretty much consumed all of these participants lives.  They trained, watched videos and even did a practice run which Christian called the "11 Lap-a-thon."

Stretching before the race.

Before the race even started, they had to climb this wall to get to the starting line.  I love that this entire "race" is designed as a team event.  The entire point is to work together to complete the obstacles....all 28 of them!

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

It was a cold morning, and it was about to get colder.  They team was ready to get started.




Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

And they're off.  The first obstacle was the Braveheart Run.  About 2 miles to get you all warmed up and amped up. 

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

This was followed by the "Kiss of Mud" where they climbed under wire, through the mud, all on their tummy. As a spectator, I was unable to see all the obstacles, but according to the runners, this was a favorite.

After the "Kiss of Mud," came the most feared obstacle, "Artic Enema."  This was tub filled with ice water.  They were literally pouring more ice in the water as they jumped in, swam under a board, and came up on the other side.  Crazy!

They were so happy to have this one over!

A few more obstacles in and we saw them again.  This time they had to jump 20 trenches.  This may not have looked hard, but try jumping 20 when you have already ran 6+ miles and completed 9 obstacles.  This was tough!

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

Another fun one to watch was the "Boa Constrictor."

Julia was on the sidelines with me, my mom, and Allison.

There's Christian!

LOVE this picture of Dad!

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

OKay, so this picture is about 1/2 way!

"Hold Your Wood" A mile of carrying a log.

They SO started running as soon as they saw us with cameras!

Christian and Dad were just fine walking.

Another obstacle that Allison and I ran to make sure we could see was the "Berlin Walls."  They actually had to do this 3 different times, and at this one they had 2 12-foot walls to scale.  Teamwork was the key.

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

The mud mile was one where they could have a little fun splashing eachother.  The spectators got a little muddy too!

"Walk the Plank" was one I wish I could have done! :) 



Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum





Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

 Mt. Everest was the obstacle that required the most teamwork.  It was so fun to see them help not only each other, but also other teams.  What a great sense of commraderie it was.

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum



Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

"Funky Monkey" Get across or fall in the water.

Megan figured out a way to make it across without falling in...whatever works!

Aww, the dreaded, okay VERY dreaded, Electric Shock Therapy.  They had to go through the mud, running through wires charged with 10,000 volts of electricty.  This was painful to watch.  People falling to the ground, the loud zapping sounds you could hear, the screams of the participants, and the look of pain on their faces told me that this one was tougher than anyone planned. 

After that crazy electric shock therapy, they huddled together before crossing the finish line.  All together, just like they started.

Christian was completely out of it after the shocking, I don't think he really understood what was going on.

Farmer Family.

Father-Daughter

Michael and Allison

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

Us

Team WTFers (AFTER)

Photo courtesy of Allison Yokum

After the race it was freezing so we all went our separate ways back to warm up.  Everyone agreed though, the Electric Shock Therapy was the worst, and the only reason they would consider not racing again!  They all said the experience was amazing and I am so proud of them all!