With recent temperatures in the 90's, Saturday's chilly weather was a little unexpected for a lot of mudders heading to Tough Mudder Philadelphia over the weekend. The one and only, Sean Corvelle, was on hand to pass on inspiration to all mudders at the starting line.
Spartan Race made its annual Beast stop at Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon, New Jersey. Heavy storms rolled into the area early Saturday morning causing every wave of athletes to be postponed 30 minutes. The extra time allowed Spartans to prepare for 13.8 miles of grueling climbs and 32 obstacles which would heavily tax the upper body.
Spartan Race held its first Winter race in the United States this past Saturday. Greek Peak, located in upstate New York, hosted the event while also leaving most of its mountain open for skiers and snowboarders. After a week of temperatures in the upper 50’s, arctic air moved in on Friday to create a frigid setup for a 3.7-mile Sprint Race. More than 3500 Spartans braved the conditions for the race.
Tough Mudder Tri State made its return to the Mecca of the event. Raceway Park hosted the weekend event this past weekend taking advantage of the surrounding woods as well as the enormous dirt track with manmade hills/jumps for the motor cross bikes and trucks. The hills/jumps while small in size were challenging as there were so many scattered providing the only vertical climbing on this otherwise flat course. Depending on which day you ran, you most likely had 2 very different experiences. If you were fortunate enough to run both days, you will not forget the weekend spent at Raceway Park in New Jersey.
Tough Mudder Pittsburgh made its return to the Pittsburgh area last week. Coopers Lake Campground hosted the event for the second year in a row. Some weather that rolled through the area Saturday night helped create some muddier conditions than those experienced on Saturday. For anyone considering which day of the weekend to run, I can try and shed some light on the differences between a Saturday run versus one on Sunday.
Tough Mudder made its annual return to the Kent family farm in Andover, New York. This year surely did not disappoint as the weather was perfect and all of the new obstacles for 2016 were on display. The weather for the weekend was mostly sunny with temperatures in the upper 80’s. The Army Golden Knights put on a parachuting display several times throughout the weekend. The Mudder Village was a celebratory scene with Shock Top beer all around.
This is a great course in a remote setting ly miles from one of the largest cities in the world. Tough Mudder would be foolish to not continue its relationship with the Long Island community as the sold out event seemed to be a hit with everyone I encountered. The course challenged me and I left only failing on the King of Swingers.
Mount Snow, Vermont has been the location of Tough Mudder New England for the past several years and this year showcased perfect weather and a beautiful backdrop for the event. The setup for mudder village was at the base of the mountain and drew a large crowd for the weekend. Along the course, there were more than a handful of rainbow flags carried by mudders in support and recognition of the victims of the recent Orlando shooting.
This was a great course! The light rain made for a perfect storm of both challenge and fun. In 2016, Tough Mudder has thrown more team-building obstacles into the course. In a non-timed event, the teamwork element allowed many mudders including myself, a chance to hang around obstacles and help others out. I am already excited for my next Tough Mudder event!
The Tough Mudder crew set up shop this year in one of the most amazing locations imaginable. The 10+ mile course was literally along the New York Harbor. Mudders spent the weekend with a little less mud than what you would expect at a typical event; however the views of the Statue of Liberty and The New York skyline made this an unforgettable event.
