Extreme Sports

Where Obstacles Become The Game And Contribution Is The Winning Formula

Hailed as what might be the toughest sport on the planet, Tough Mudder events are hardcore obstacle courses designed to test your all-around strength, stamina, and mental fortitude. In keeping with the philosophy of this era, challenge “yourself and align with others,” Tough Mudder events have become the newest most rigorous sport for the mainstream public!

With the most innovative courses, over one million inspiring participants worldwide have taken the Tough Mudder challenge to date. Tough Mudder was founded in 2010 by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone. Considered “Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet,” each Tough Mudder endurance challenge tests participants’ toughness, fitness, strength, stamina, mental grit, and teamwork. Tough Mudder hosts international events in the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Germany. In 2014, Tough Mudder will host more than 70 events in at least 13 countries.

What’s so hot about Tough Mudder courses anyways? Tough Mudder is a challenge where about 80 percent of the participants actually finish. Most attendees compete in teams. Tough Mudder is a grueling 3.5 hour experience on a 12-mile obstacle course, which involves a lot of splashing around in the MUDD! It’s a sport of strategy, will, endurance, and determination. It’s a collaborative effort, a test of tenacity, and a tribal union. Sound like the military? Here’s why …

Designed by British Special Forces, Tough Mudder courses “test participants’ strength with military-style obstacles such as ‘Funky Monkey,’ greased-up incline and decline monkey bars; ‘Fire Walker,’ a run through 4-foot-high flames; and ‘Electroshock Therapy,’ a network of 10,000-volt-charged dangling wires participants must move through to get to the finish line.”

There’s something magical going on in this challenge that has it catching on like wildfire the world over. Some people have become so engaged with Tough Mudders that over 1,000 people have Tough Mudder’s logo tattooed on their bodies, as a warrior’s sign of achievement.

They say that every truly successful endeavor has an underlying mission of contribution to others as its foundation – that just might be the formula that’s making Tough Mudders work so well.

Proceeds from Tough Mudders go to the Wounded Warrior Project. The aim of Wounded Warriors is to honor and empower wounded soldiers after war. Their mission is to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history. Wounded Warriors serves to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.

To date, Tough Mudder has raised more than $6 million for the Wounded Warrior Project. Now that’s inspiring. People taking challenges to support those most challenged! Sounds right to me!