Alex Patterson, Vice President of Brands for the challenging obstacle course Tough Mudder, in an interview Monday spoke on the course for the March 7 event in East Milton. Two of the ten obstacles he said would be a revised version of Everest, and the debut of Cry Baby. The event will also debut the Mini Mudder, a Tough Mudder course for children.
Everest, Patterson said, “is always a key obstacle.” He described it as a quarter pipe with a ledge at the top participants have to ascend quickly and grab the ledge. A slight change making a big difference this year he said will be to rounding off the ledge. Runners won’t simply be able to grab the ledge and pull up on their own, “so they’ll need more teamwork,” he said.
Cry Baby is a different kind of endurance test. Patterson said the obstacle will involve a “teargas type substance.” He said it would be an extreme obstacle. “It’ll definitely make you shed a tear [and] cough a little bit.” However, he did say the type of gas the Obstacle Innovation Team decided to use will not be military or police grade teargas.
The Mini Mudder course, Patterson said, is geared toward children 8 to 12 years old. This course is still being designed, he said, but would extend about a mile, sponsored by the beverage company Fruit Shoot.
Despite the intense nature of some of the events, like the roughly 50’ by 20’ obstacle full of electrified dangling wires called Electro Shock Therapy, or the ice water obstacle called Arctic Enema, Patterson said “Especially if you’re a new Mudder, you’re encouraged to go through but you don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”
While TM started as a more grueling course, Patterson said, “It became a lot more fun.” The challenges he said involve more dexterity and the focus is on teamwork. “[TM] at its core is taking on a really tough challenge with your friends. It’s pretty much impossible to do on your own.” TM, he said, doesn’t have a time limit. “The course is tough so we don’t need to make it more intimidating with a clock. It’s about going out and having a great time with your friends, lots of slip sliding around in the mud, lots of fun.”
As March 7 approaches, look for more articles on Tough Mudder as obstacles are finalized and participants speak about taking on the challenge. Also get an exclusive first look at a draft of the course map straight from the venue itself here.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: New obstacles in Tough Mudder announced