Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Tough Mudder

So many friends have asked me about Joaquin's Tough Mudder that I had to put it on my blog.  First off, it was great to be the supporter & not the participant!  It was 50 degrees & windy so even as a spectator we froze!  The course is 12 miles with 21 obstacles.  Their first obstacle was this "Artic Enema" where they drop in crates of ice into the cold water.  Then the participants (who paid good money to do this) jump into the water & have to swim under that barb wire fence & out the other side.  What?!?  And that was just the first obstacle!
The next challenge I got to watch was this crawling through the filthy water (we saw a contestant wipe off snot that went from his nose to his knees in that water, yuk!) while you are getting shocked.  Look at my man racing out of it!
 The "Mud Mile" was his next obstacle.  There were probably 6 of these "mud hills" with water in between that you just crawl up & over.
None of this phased my crazy, tough hunk of love!
 
 Here's a pix of his team "Don't Smash Your Face."  It's not like a marathon where you are trying to speed through it.  Actually they all repeat this "Tough Mudder" motto before they start that reminds them it's all about team work & no whining.  
 
As a team they have to run, jump, pull, & sometimes crawl up this slippery wall.  I have a video of the whole thing but it's rather long since it took quite a few attempts.  Needless to say the team captain actually did smash his face on the way back down, ouch!
 
This is the final challenge where you have to run/crawl through these cords that hang down shocking you with 10,000 volts of pulsing electricity.  Joaquin put his hands up like a boxer & just ran.  The next 4 guys on his team tried the same approach but were laid out in the mud when the electricity hit them.  He laughed & said he had training from growing up on the ranch with electric fences.

 
 So Joaquin's totally ready to do this again next year.  They had over 6,000 people participate & have already announced they will be holding it in July.  It will be warmer - but that's about the only that will be easier.  So what do you think?  Is the Wyne family up for a tougher challenge?  Or how about an Am. Falls team?