Muddy Muddy Muddy- Oi Oi Oi

WARNING: The article below contains extremely good looking blokes( Their own words, not mine)

Starting Line

I had a very eventful and muddy weekend, having followed my boyfriend and his mates to the Tough Mudder Competition held at Philip Island- Melbourne on Saturday. Tough Mudder, a concept i was completely unaware of a few months ago, until the boys decided to take part in it. I can still remember how shocked i was when he showed me a video of Tough Mudder in the USA, announcing he was taking part in it. Not one to discourage him, I just said "Wow, it looks great!" , while others said "You will never be able to do that" it was a blunt thought part of me shared.

The Boys

What is Tough Mudder, would you say? Well their website qualifies it as 'The premier obstacle course series in the world" it is a 20km obstacle course, which was designed by the British Special Forces. It is meant to test the participants' all around strength, stamina, mental force and most importantly camaraderie.It is not a race that one takes part in, but more of a challenge and what a challenge it was! The boys trained a few times a week, running, taking part in boot camps, changing their diet and also missing out on evenings out on the town due to training sessions early in the morning. They were preparing physically but also mentally, avoiding alcohol and fatty foods whenever our group of friends would hang out on week-ends. Easy task would you say, well not that easy when one has to do it for a few months on end, when you are in your 20's and peer pressure/temptation is constant during these gatherings.

Team Maji

So after months of training, Saturday morning the 5 of us embarked to Philip Island a 2.5hour drive from Melbourne.The event was being held at the Philip Island Grand Prix Circuit, upon reaching it one could only get carried away in the joyous mood in the air. Teams were getting ready to start the course, some of the teams complete with matching outfits or disguises ranging from the Super Mario Brothers, to Superheroes; even Borat's mankini was a recurring disguise. After a few stretches, the boys grabbed Maji- a stuffed Horse on a stick and lined up among a throng of other mudders for their 11.15am start time, during which they were motivated by an MC and asked to recite the Tough Mudder Pledge:

As a Tough Mudder I pledge that…

• I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
• I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.
• I do not whine – kids whine.
• I will help my fellow Mudders complete the course.
• I will overcome all fears.

After screaming a few other war cries, featuring the national "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi". We watched them start off to 'Eye of the Tiger' for what would be 3.5long and gruelling hours of battling all kinds of obstacles but also overcoming their physical and mental capabilities.

Neeroo and I taking in the view and following the course

The two of us girls had our partners participating so we tried our best to follow them around to snap pictures but also to see how they were doing. We luckily saw them ramping under a giant heavy net, and jumping head first in a slimy, ice water filled tank to then resume their running. But that was not the end of it- the boys battled fire, swam in a deep lake, climbed wooden 'Berlin' walls, did monkey bars over icy cold water, climbed mud hills and got electroshocks along the way. When we finally saw them again, it was 2 obstacles before the end and they were covered in mud and had to wait in a 45mins queue to get up the 'Everest' . After the long wait, they finally managed to try out at the mud covered wooden ramp to climb on top, it was a hard obstacle taking into account the Mudders were tired, cold and the mud made things very slippery. But having pledged to help their fellow Mudders; the men and women who managed to climb on top of the 'Everest' lied down extending their arms to help others to climb- it was a beautiful gesture to watch, and one I couldn't tire myself of watching. The camaraderie, the effort everyone was putting in so as not leave a fellow Mudder behind and to make sure everyone finishes the course was exemplary and an attitude only sports can bring.

Everest

After finishing up the 'Everest' the boys proceeded to their last obstacle,got electric shocks along the way and grabbed their tough Mudder headband, T-shirt and an ice cold VB- which according to them has never tasted so good! They told us about the obstacle course, which even though seemed tough was not as hard as expected. Funnily the hardest part of it all was the waiting times before the last few obstacles, which was very painful when one was wet, cold and tired. It should be noted that they carried Maji-the stuffed horse throughout the course, alternating among each other to carry it so that Maji also made it to the finish line, very dirty and muddy but still alive. There were even tales of how they had to perform CPR on the dear toy halfway through the course.

We are very proud of the boys for taking part and completing the course, the feeling of accomplishment they felt post Tough Mudder was very beautiful to watch. I would recommend everyone interested to try it at least once, according to the boys it is an addictive feeling. Therefore we are heading to Sydney in September, for them to take part in the Sydney event, a few more months of hearing about Tough Mudder for us girls!!

Winning Team- Yuvy, Ash, Dom and Nash

For more information about Tough Mudder: http://toughmudder.com/about/