I love Tough Mudder so much I had to share it with 23 friends!

When I looked at the course map I was kinda disappointed to see only 18 obstacles, especially since they omitted twinkle toes and the dong dangler, both of which we’d trained for quite a bit.  Oh well, they made it up by adding more steep hills (or so it felt).

All in all, this was my greatest experience at Tough Mudder!  I know I’ve said that before, but this one takes the cake. Here’s why:

First off this was our largest group by far!  Although our Summer training was shorter than theWinter program, our workouts ramped up fast; just like the team bonding!  We came a long way in a short time, and endured some pretty challenging conditions on the hill to get ready for this.

You can almost feel the humidity in this shot!

4th of July was wicked hot!

It wasn’t much cooler in the studio…

Then the big day finally came and the weather was absolutely perfect!

After a somewhat tense time registering (they couldn’t find me!), and a questionable decision to leave the shoes behind, I peeled back my right big toenail on the mini wall before the start line.  Shortly after discovering this one of my teammates stepped on it.  And we hadn’t even taken the pledge yet…Not a good sign!  It’s cool though.  I think mud and manure are good for open wounds.

Like an athlete getting injured in warmups

Anyway, once we took off, as we had for our entire training, we stayed as a group for the entire course!

The Gauntlet

Cliffhanger

Doing it with Smiles!

I’m pretty sure I did not get bit by the electric eel but here’s proof that my fellow Osos did:

The thought of the Arctic Enema was nice during our training:

Funky Monkey was a good spot to show off our skills!

Then the highlight of the day!  The Big Man wasn’t even on our team, but witnessing his perseverance was so inspiring!  And even when it looked like he wanted to give up, we (our crew, the volunteers, and spectators) wouldn’t let him!  His final and successful attempt starts at 9:36:

Finally, as we did in Boston, we finished together!  This time with two lines!  I was so proud and somewhat shocked (get it?) that both lines stayed in tact throughout since the electricity was significantly more intense than expected!  I think the staff cranked it up while we were getting situated.  It didn’t matter, however, as the extreme voltage was no match for the literal and figurative bond of Los Neuty Osos!

Here we go!

Whoa! Did you feel that?

Yes!

Another fantastic day on the mountain with an amazing group of people!  Here are some statistics from the event:

• Orange Headbands – 24
• Ladies – 10
• Gentlemen – 14
• Virgins – 14
• Veterans – 10
• Married couples – 2
• Newly engaged couples – 1
• Pairs of brothers – 1
• Pairs of sisters – 2
• Ages 28-59.98
• Average age 39.08
• Complaints – 0!
• Pairs of shoes worn – 23

Conquest!

Congratulations to Heather, Mike, Catie, Alicia, Kelly, Kristan, Geoff, Jim C, Tim, MJ, Ryan C, Ryan McN, Brian and Karen, Erin, Georgia, Anita, Emily, Rick, Jim L, Chris A, Chris S, and Dave!  Special thanks also to our media crew: The First Laidy, Maureen, Brendan, Matt, and Dan for capturing some awesome moments and for your support and encouragement on the course!

Oh, and my feet were fine.