Location
The location...the Meadow Event Park, next to Kings Dominion...was easy to get to, as well as get in and out of. Parking was plentiful, and dry, particularly given the amount of rain the area had experienced the day (and the week) before the event. Parking was organized, and it was an easy walk to get to the event venue. We could feel the excitement building as we walked to check-in...not only did was pass some obstacles on our way to the venue, but we crossed paths with some participants in earlier waves.
The main venue was well-laid out, once you got through the registration area. The line for spectators was ridiculously long, and required a good deal of coordination to keep groups of participants in touch with their spectator crew. Once we were in and together, no one had any trouble finding restroom facilities, the bag drop, the Mudder Legion booth...everything was well-marked and visible.
After the event, there was plenty of seating, and the only shortcoming was the switch over in the water trucks at the rinse stations...hundreds of people left standing in the mud, but hey, it's a mud run event and everyone was in pretty good humor. While we were waiting, folks were munching on goodies and chatting about the course.
Course
The course itself was well laid-out, wide, and well marked. There was a good deal of running over flat, open ground...for some, that's pretty boring. The course wound back and forth, so that as you were running, you'd either see folks who were ahead of you, or those who were coming behind you.
I think that overall, the course proved to be a challenge for the first-time Mudders in our group, challenges that some of them met and overcame, but in the end, everyone had fun, and had a great feeling of accomplishment.
I have pretty mixed feelings about the obstacles. Many were really good and challenging...not everyone was completing them, so you got a great sense of accomplishment if you finished one, like the Funky Monkey. There were plenty of opportunities to help your fellow Mudder, as on the King of the Mountain and the Blades of Glory.
However, there was one obstacle that was half of the Boa Constrictor, called "Prairie Dog". You slide down a tube into water...and then just...get up. What? Sometimes I wonder...is it better to have half an obstacle versus none at all?
Of course, there were some of the Tough Mudder signature obstacles, like the Arctic Enema, Funky Monkey, Walk The Plank, and Berlin Walls. There was some new ones that were pretty cool...Balls To The Wall, for example. Other epic Tough Mudder signature obstacles, such as Mt Everest, were noticeably absent. On many of the Tough Mudder events that I've run, the course terrain has had a nature thinning effect, dispersing the runners. I'm guessing that with the expanses of flat terrain on this event, that effect did not have as significant a role, which led to backups and delays at several of the obstacles.
Legionnaire's Loop
Those of us who were part of the Mudder Legion separated from the n00bs in our group for the Legionnaire's Loop, and the first obstacle we ran into was a low crawl under barbed wire followed by about 15 or so feet of crawling under the dangling charged wires? Really? Not only was this not original, but the last thing I wanted to do was catch one of those wires in the eye...pass. Then there was a crawl up a tube...agian, really? I've already done the Boa Constrictor at several events, so this was nothing...particularly because there was a rope laid out in the tube. There was a bit of a back up at this obstacle, so we ended up standing around some more. Honestly, replace both of those obstacles with Just the Tip...
Next, there was some running in the woods, which was great...it wasn't overly hot on the course, but it was nice to run in the woods nonetheless. And then we hit the mud...one of our team members saw me sink into it up to my chest, and yelled out, "It's a trap!" My "thank you, Admiral Akbar!" fell on deaf ears, particularly because he was now in the mud himself, letting loose with a torrent of expletives. As I didn't fall into the water on any of the subsequent obstacles, I was still covered with mud by the time we crossed the finish line (all of us together). When I look at the pictures after the event, it reminds me of how much time I spent at the rinse station!The final obstacle on the Legionnaire's Loop...Hangin' Tough...was pretty awesome...there were three lanes under a frame, and each lane had three suspended rings, then a yellow nylon rope hanging down (with a knot at the end), and then some more rings. The idea was to swing across, grabbing each suspended object in succession. This was a challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed, and would love doing again.
Overall Impression
This Tough Mudder course was much better than some I've done (Frederick in Sept, 2012), but having to wait in long lines for multiple obstacles (Funky Monkey, Walk the Plank, Berlin Walls) really took away from the event as a whole. Some of the long expanses of running over open ground would've been great places to put a physically challenging obstacle...following Tough Mudder on Facebook is such a tease, because you see some great obstacles on courses, and then don't see them at the event you're running.
Some of my co-workers in the EU were running Tough Mudder Scotland on Saturday, as well (here's a blogpost from someone who ran that event). One of them sent me the link to the course map the Friday prior to the event, and I immediately noticed some differences...one of which was that the folks in Scotland still have the Electric Eel on their course! I really see no need for the shock-type obstacles, particularly when there are other Tough Mudder signature obstacles (Mt Everest) and so many new ones.
What's Next?
I've already registered for the Tough Mudder Seattle, and between now and then I'll be doing the DC Spartan Sprint with my wife, and then the Virginia Super Spartan, which is being held in Nelly's Ford, VA, for the second consecutive year. Training starts on Monday, 16 June!
