Well, the time has finally come- Tough Guy is here for the
first time since I started obstacle racing last May. The stories that I have
heard about this event paint a picture of freezing temperatures, physical and
mental torture and provide many with
the firm belief that this is THE toughest obstacle race on the planet. I can’t
wait!
I’ve been waiting to
tackle this event since running the Tough Guy 10K in September 2012. The 10K
was good fun and great starter event for the guys with me that hadn’t run an
obstacle race before. Lots of lovely mud, deep water and purpose-built high
rise obstacles made for a fun and challenging day and only heightened my desire
to take on the full 10 miler in winter J
The start to the
process wasn’t the best as I was met with a similar level of pre-race
information before the beginning of the race. Whilst a large race pack arrived
in the post shortly after registration, the photocopied pages were very
difficult to read in places and seemed in many parts to be written in broken
English. The story was similar on the Facebook page- updates regarding snow and
parking seem to be written in “Tough Guy English” often missing words from
sentences meaning that they either didn’t make sense at all or could be read
one of two ways with two contradicting conclusions. I noted that other users
were having similar issues but veterans of the series did not. I’m assuming
this is something that you pick up after a while and I’m sure in 5 years’ time
I will be getting frustrated with the newbies who can’t understand basic
instructions!
Whilst annoying, I
do remember a similar situation with the 10K (Even at the start line we still
didn’t really know what time we were due to start!). Whilst pre-race clearly
wasn’t a strong point, the race itself is, and that should be the main thing
really. So I decided to go with it and as long as I knew were to park and where
to register, I would figure everything else out on the day.
January 27th
was a cold day and despite the snow of the previous week completely vanishing,
it was still cold enough to warrant a few layers waiting for the race to begin.
Rumours, eventually confirmed, that the stagnant water pools were approximately
minus 10 degrees, cemented my decision to run with a top on. This is not
normally something that I do as I get very hot, but the ice chunks floating on
the top of the water spoke for themselves. So my kit list included my normal
shorts, Under Armour ColdGear long-sleeve fitted top, Invo-8 MudSoc 20s, Altura
wind guard for my ears, GoPro HD Hero2 on the head mount, a shed load of Vaseline
and of course my trusty Invo-8 Talon 212s. I also carried a spare battery for
the GoPro in my pocket, sealed in a waterproof bag*.
As I was videoing
the race on my GoPro, I wasn’t expecting to put in any competitive times. I
knew I’d have to change the battery, which in a muddy run is a good 5 minute
job. That coupled with my plan to complete the Wolf6Pack challenge at a
suitable part of the course meant that a good time would be impossible, so
instead decided to just enjoy the run and take it all in.
The venue was easy
to find through the postcode in my new satnav (finally joining the 21st
century!) and although I was taken to an impassable ford at one point, I got
there in good time. There were several car park entrances with helpful marshals
looking at the colour-coded car park passes hanging from the rear view mirror
and directing us to the correct places. The “blue” car park held my space and
was on the side of a grassy (muddy!) hill. Getting into the space was quite
easy, again with loads of marshals to assist, but I had a feeling getting out
would not be as much fun!
Despite there
already being thousands of people on site, there were no registration queues
and the registration process was as simple as quoting your name and number,
signing and initialling the waiver, and being handed your race pack. Race
number transfers were included, along with a room with wet sponges to apply them
with. Little things like this make a big difference to the whole experience.
Timing chip was also included along with the official race number and
confirmation of my squad, the Tough Guy Squad. As I only registered a week
before the race I was expecting to be in a much later wave, but more than happy
with that!
I went to the bag
drop/changing rooms to vas-up and chat to some fellow competitors. A final bite
to eat and sip of water and I was ready to start running. Making my way towards
the start line at about ten to eleven, I had to fight past a lot of people to
get past the later start waves. It was easy to see the start lines for the
squads with large signs, however I couldn’t see the Tough Guy Squad start. In
the end I found a large group of people standing on the back of the hill with
TGS numbers and decided to start with them.
Just after 11am the
cannon fired, fireworks went off and we ran into battle!
The ‘running’ was
few and far between over the first half mile. The sheer volume of runners meant
a serious bottle-neck and even with very wide running sections, we constantly
slowed to walking pace. After a while the running sections opened up a bit and
I could open the taps to move past some of the slower runners. This wasn’t the
same issue that Spartan Races tend to have where they make you run down a
single file track but more that the waves of runners aren’t spread out enough
and there is a huge volume of people trying to get down a track. This
unfortunately was a common theme throughout the race- not so much of a problem
at this point as I wasn’t going for a time and was nice and warm, but got very
problematical later on in the race when the cold started setting in.
The run had a few
small hurdles with some thick mud to start with, moving on to a nice long trail
section through thick mud with some higher hurdles and steep hills. A few
people had already started to dodge these where possible and some even down to
walking pace within the first mile. This didn’t bode well!
Moving on we moved onto
a slalom hill section- Constant very steep muddy hills to run up and down. My
Talons performed excellently here. I know I rant on like I’m sponsored by them,
but they really were superb. There were very few places where I slipped and I
notice that most others in the same situation were using Talon’s or Mudclaws.
Truly amazing shoes! This was one place where queues got frustrating with a lot
of people down to walking pace, and again the sheer volume leaving little room
to move around them.
On getting to the
top of the slaloms we were treated to a short but heavy rain-shower, which was
more than welcome to keep us cool. We moved down the hill into the wooded
section that I had previously experienced through the 10K run. This was exactly
as before with a section of cargo nets and high steeples to climb. It was equally
as annoying as last time- these obstacles aren’t tricky or taxing in any way.
The only thing that they do is get caught on my GoPro, which is a real pain in
the bum.
We then moved on to
the river slalom. This was the second time we were in water, but
a proper dip this time, right up to chest level at some point for a short-arse
like me. Whilst the layout was no different to the 10K, one thing was
different… the cold. It was truly freezing, and with each dip in the water my
feet got colder and colder. Chest and legs held up ok (Though my legs did go
very pink!) but it wasn’t long before I couldn’t feel my toes.
Out of the water and
time for a battery change and to complete the Wolf6Pack challenge (A friendly
fitness challenge which, on the day, involved me videoing myself completing 21
press-ups. Here is a link to see what it’s all about).
With that done, we
moved on to more water, cargo nets and a berlin wall or two before reaching the
first high-rise net climb with the first electrocution of the day. Now, I’m not
sure if it was generally more powerful or if it was that I was wearing a top
for the first time, but the electric gave more of a shock than I’d previously
experienced by a very long way! I felt it all across my back that made me think
that it might have been that I had a soaked top on. I feel an experiment coming
on…
Next was the beginning
of the serious water- what seemed like a 100m wade through chest-high, freezing
water. It was tough, but I was determined not to slow my pace and kept a quick
stride up, passing many people. I did not want to be in the water longer than I
had to, and I knew my trusty Talons would drain very quickly once I was out.
With that out of the
way, we moved on to a few walls, up to another high-rise via cargo nets then
across balance ropes before heading back down to more water. Plenty of dips
into the water and out again, with fire to run through in between. The bit of
heat was a pain, as you felt warmth then cold, then warmth then cold. The end
of this was a tyre tunnel to crawl through into the last section of water, so
deep that a short-arse like me had to swim. I was pretty glad to be out of this
as I was very cold and was looking forward to being able to sprint off and warm
up a bit.
Next followed a
large stint of thick mud, really testing on the calves and thighs, then on to
the dreaded Torture Chamber. The Torture Chamber required you to crawl in near
pitch-black within about 2 foot of height. The floor was a few inches of water
and rows of logs followed by electric cables hung down throughout. As you crawl
in, there are blood-curdling screams from other runners getting zapped by the
cables. I got hit about 5 or 6 times and on one of those I am sure I blacked
out. This was pretty horrific- physically not too bad but physiologically the
screams and not really knowing where the electric was going to hit really made
you not want to go forward. Top work Mr
Mouse, top work!
These moved on to the
Vietcong Tunnels which were easily tackled and onto the next high section, the
Skywalk and Paradise Climb. By this point, the cold was starting to become a
pain as the inability to close my grip on my hands properly really made me have
to think about things that normally came naturally. Because of this, it took
far longer for me to scale down the ropes. I was expecting for the cold to
cause physical issues, but was not ready for the way it changed my thinking
during the run.
A small run later
and into the deep water. A combination of swimming and the first forced dips
under the water was a killer. My lungs started to burn towards the end of this
and getting out of the other end was when I really started to feel too cold.
The next high climbs, walk-the-plank and rope traversal was a struggle, not
physically, but mentally working out what I had to do. The cold was really
starting to get to me.
I started really
sprinting between each section, trying to warm up as efficiently as possible.
The long section of tyres helped with a nice section of running with high knees
followed by some nice warming electricity. Another dip in the water, and run up
the hill and the final slide down into the lake and up to the finish line.
What followed next
was standing in a hot shower for about 10 minutes, and very quick change and a
sprint back to the car to get the heaters on. 20 minutes of sitting in the car
with fresh clothes and I just about stopped shivering enough to be able to start
the long drive back to Salisbury.
In conclusion, there
is only one word to describe the Winter Tough Guy: Epic. Physically, I feel
like I could have run it three times over, but the cold was just crippling.
Many other races claim to be the toughest or hardest of these obstacle races but
truth is that nothing I have done so far even comes close to this. If you think
the others are tough, you have to try this. Mr Mouse, I salute you!
*I don’t use the
GoPro battery BacPac on the head mount as it makes the camera too heavy and the
video goes all over the place.
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