Saturday Bib: 20570 Start: 8:40 Finish: 11:40 Time: 3hrs Obstacles: 18 (25 features) Distance: 19km Weather: Cold and overcast | Sunday Bib: 16689 Start: 9:00 Finish: 12:10 Time: 3hrs 10min Obstacles: 18 (25 features) Distance: 19km Weather: Sunny but cold |
Pumped up doesn’t even start to describe how I felt Saturday morning when I awoke, even though it was at the ungodly time of 5:30am. I don’t think I’ve ever been up this early before, except for maybe the previous day when we had to be at Melbourne airport at 5:30. Not pleasant.
A quick hearty breakfast and we were off on the 45 minute trip South through Auckland to the Hampton Downs Racetrack, or so we thought. Turns out at some point we made a wrong turn on the highway, and started travelling east, which we didn’t realise for about half an hour. So we went almost an hour out of the way, and were very late for the first wave ever in New Zealand Mudder history.
Unfortunately, we missed the first two waves, and had to settle for jumping in the 8:40 start. I was a little upset about this, not being able to be one of the first ever people to run in the inaugural Auckland Tough Mudder, but then things took a turn for the better.
A quick hearty breakfast and we were off on the 45 minute trip South through Auckland to the Hampton Downs Racetrack, or so we thought. Turns out at some point we made a wrong turn on the highway, and started travelling east, which we didn’t realise for about half an hour. So we went almost an hour out of the way, and were very late for the first wave ever in New Zealand Mudder history.
Unfortunately, we missed the first two waves, and had to settle for jumping in the 8:40 start. I was a little upset about this, not being able to be one of the first ever people to run in the inaugural Auckland Tough Mudder, but then things took a turn for the better.
Laura (my running partner who you may remember from her Athlete Profile here) and I got our bibs, had our numbers written in texta on our foreheads, and jumped over the tractor wheels to line up at the starting gates for our first run of the weekend.
The pump up guy on the microphone soon whipped everyone into a frenzy with his array of jokes and chants. He then asked the crowd (of about 200 people) if anyone had run a Mudder before. As this was the first Kiwi Mudder, very few raised their hands. This was my 5th run, so I put my hand up, and he asked me how many I had run. Stunned silence followed as I told the crowd this was my 5th Tough Mudder. He then demanded that I join him on his platform, so I weaved my way through the crowd, and jumped up next to him. He congratulated me, and then proceeded to tell the crowd what was coming next – they were going to crowd surf me across the whole starting gate, corner to corner and back again. So I jumped in, and had the most fun minute of my entire life! I have never crowd surfed before; it was so much fun!
The pump up guy on the microphone soon whipped everyone into a frenzy with his array of jokes and chants. He then asked the crowd (of about 200 people) if anyone had run a Mudder before. As this was the first Kiwi Mudder, very few raised their hands. This was my 5th run, so I put my hand up, and he asked me how many I had run. Stunned silence followed as I told the crowd this was my 5th Tough Mudder. He then demanded that I join him on his platform, so I weaved my way through the crowd, and jumped up next to him. He congratulated me, and then proceeded to tell the crowd what was coming next – they were going to crowd surf me across the whole starting gate, corner to corner and back again. So I jumped in, and had the most fun minute of my entire life! I have never crowd surfed before; it was so much fun!
After this "mini obstacle", for the rest of the day I was being recognised by everyone. I lost count the amount of people that came up to me, or called out Michael, and had a chat while we ran. I can’t begin to tell you about the amount of camaraderie that there was over the entire weekend. It really put Melbourne Mudder (all 4 that I’ve attended) to shame!! Good on you Kiwi’s! Love it!
But enough about me, let’s get into what you actually want to read about, the course.
This course, we found out, was about a kilometre shorter than Melbourne Mudder, clocking in at approximately 18.5km or so. There was about the same amount of obstacles as Melbourne Mudder (click to see my Melbourne Mudder review), but there were heaps more ‘features’, which are mini obstacles like river crossings, marching through mud patches, or climbing over fallen trees. With these features, it really broke up the course nicely. I felt in Melbourne that there were a few running stretches that were about a km too long. Too much running, and not enough obstacles basically. This was not the case in Auckland, as overall all the obstacles and features were spread out perfectly, and I never felt that there was too much running – the next obstacle was almost always just in eye shot.
A few regular obstacles didn’t make the cut in Auckland. The tried and trusted 'Funky Monkey' monkey bars were a no show, much to a lot of people’s disappointment. I heard a number of conversations from people complaining to their friends that they’ve been working out their chin ups and grip strength just for this obstacle. Also, the newly added Mudder Legion route was missing, I believe due to this being the first Mudder in New Zealand. If this is the case, then next year it will (hopefully) make an appearance. Speaking of Mudder Legion, there were no headbands (again) above the blue 3x Mudder headband. So once again, even though I have now run 6 times, I am still yet to acquire my 4-6 Mudder finisher headband which I’m a bit annoyed about! The volunteer handing the green 2x and blue 3x headbands took down my details and promised me I would be sent my 4-6 completer, but I've have heard this before - at Melbourne I was told the same story. I will mostly likely have to chase this up myself. It is just a little thing, but it still slightly dampened an almost perfect weekend. I will just have to make do with my blue 3x finisher headband in the meantime, if I can wrestle it off my girl ...
But enough about me, let’s get into what you actually want to read about, the course.
This course, we found out, was about a kilometre shorter than Melbourne Mudder, clocking in at approximately 18.5km or so. There was about the same amount of obstacles as Melbourne Mudder (click to see my Melbourne Mudder review), but there were heaps more ‘features’, which are mini obstacles like river crossings, marching through mud patches, or climbing over fallen trees. With these features, it really broke up the course nicely. I felt in Melbourne that there were a few running stretches that were about a km too long. Too much running, and not enough obstacles basically. This was not the case in Auckland, as overall all the obstacles and features were spread out perfectly, and I never felt that there was too much running – the next obstacle was almost always just in eye shot.
A few regular obstacles didn’t make the cut in Auckland. The tried and trusted 'Funky Monkey' monkey bars were a no show, much to a lot of people’s disappointment. I heard a number of conversations from people complaining to their friends that they’ve been working out their chin ups and grip strength just for this obstacle. Also, the newly added Mudder Legion route was missing, I believe due to this being the first Mudder in New Zealand. If this is the case, then next year it will (hopefully) make an appearance. Speaking of Mudder Legion, there were no headbands (again) above the blue 3x Mudder headband. So once again, even though I have now run 6 times, I am still yet to acquire my 4-6 Mudder finisher headband which I’m a bit annoyed about! The volunteer handing the green 2x and blue 3x headbands took down my details and promised me I would be sent my 4-6 completer, but I've have heard this before - at Melbourne I was told the same story. I will mostly likely have to chase this up myself. It is just a little thing, but it still slightly dampened an almost perfect weekend. I will just have to make do with my blue 3x finisher headband in the meantime, if I can wrestle it off my girl ...
At one point in the distance, we saw a guy running wearing a Carlton guernsey (my AFL footy team since I was born). When we got close enough to him, I yelled out a couple times about the Blues, but to no response. After the next obstacle, I called out again, but still no reply. I didn’t know if he was snubbing me, or just couldn’t hear me. So finally, when we passed him, I asked how the Baggers were going to go tonight in their game against West Coast. Turns out he was a Kiwi, had no idea about AFL at all, and borrowed the jumper from his friend. No wonder he didn’t reply! We had a good laugh about that together (Killer win by the Baggers over the Weagles that night by the way).
We finished the run with a time of exactly 3 hours, beating out my time of over 3.5 hours a month ago. I could easily see how much my training this last month had paid off. I was barely out of breath the entire run, and I owe that almost exclusively to my Training Mask which I have been using religiously since Melbourne Mudder. I just can't recommend it enough (stay tuned, as I will be uploading my product review on it soon). I also had no niggles or pains anywhere during the run, which was a pleasant relief after the excruciating pain in my hip flexors in Melbourne a mere month ago. The Monday after I couldn’t even walk, and if you remember, it took me 4 almost 5 days afterwards to fully recover!
Later in the afternoon, Laura and I headed down the beach for a recovery session. The freezing water was almost as bad as the Arctic Enema, but it did do wonders on my stiffening quads and calves though. Then it was home time, dinner time, footy time (carn the Blue Boys!) and bed time, hopefully to get enough sleep to do it all over again the next morning.
Later in the afternoon, Laura and I headed down the beach for a recovery session. The freezing water was almost as bad as the Arctic Enema, but it did do wonders on my stiffening quads and calves though. Then it was home time, dinner time, footy time (carn the Blue Boys!) and bed time, hopefully to get enough sleep to do it all over again the next morning.
Auckland Day 2 started off similar to the previous day. Woke up, had breakfast, got ready and left for the racetrack, although this time we had our good friend Lisa as our personal driver/photographer for the day, AND we actually new the proper directions this time!
Over the weekend, Laura and I stayed at Lisa's home. We have been long-time friends, and she even ran Melbourne Mudder in March last year with me, so was well aware how gnarly the courses are. When she volunteered to be our personal professional photographer, I expected her to bring some little dinky digital camera. This wasn’t the case. The camera she brought on the trip was the biggest most amazing camera I’ve ever seen. She is definitely a true professional photographer, and I can't thank her enough for the accommodation and all the photos! All her photos will be uploaded shortly, so make sure you stay tuned!
Over the weekend, Laura and I stayed at Lisa's home. We have been long-time friends, and she even ran Melbourne Mudder in March last year with me, so was well aware how gnarly the courses are. When she volunteered to be our personal professional photographer, I expected her to bring some little dinky digital camera. This wasn’t the case. The camera she brought on the trip was the biggest most amazing camera I’ve ever seen. She is definitely a true professional photographer, and I can't thank her enough for the accommodation and all the photos! All her photos will be uploaded shortly, so make sure you stay tuned!
The Sunday run, our second run for the weekend, was pretty similar to the previous day. A good (note: not great, but good) pump up pre start, lots of camaraderie on course, and fantastic support from the volunteers.
Half way though the event, Laura twisted her knee, hurting the ligament. This slowed us down quite a bit, and we had to walk many sections from this point onwards. The competitor in me said leave her, and run off without her, but the camaraderie on course said stay and walk it out with her, and finish together. The camaraderie won out and we ended up running two third's of the course, and walked the other third. Turns out though, we finished Day Two in 3 hours and 10 minutes, only 10 minutes slower than Saturday, which was very surprising. We must have set a cracking walking pace! As we crossed the finish line, it was a bittersweet moment - I know we could have run a better time had there been no injuries, but we had both still completed Auckland Tough Mudder twice. Probably only a handful, if not only we can say this.
Half way though the event, Laura twisted her knee, hurting the ligament. This slowed us down quite a bit, and we had to walk many sections from this point onwards. The competitor in me said leave her, and run off without her, but the camaraderie on course said stay and walk it out with her, and finish together. The camaraderie won out and we ended up running two third's of the course, and walked the other third. Turns out though, we finished Day Two in 3 hours and 10 minutes, only 10 minutes slower than Saturday, which was very surprising. We must have set a cracking walking pace! As we crossed the finish line, it was a bittersweet moment - I know we could have run a better time had there been no injuries, but we had both still completed Auckland Tough Mudder twice. Probably only a handful, if not only we can say this.
Overall, I give Auckland Mudder an 8/10. It was great, but as it was the inaugural event a few things need to be ironed out before next years event. A few examples: the headband situation, including the Mudder Legion route, the pump up guy at the beginning didn’t know the Tough Mudder Pledge by heart, and had to read off the paper on Saturday, and mucked it up altogether on Sunday and had to start again, having the course completed and built before participants start running (there was a worker drilling together the Ladder To Hell obstacle while people were climbing it on the Saturday morning), and making the course 20km to match the rest of the events worldwide. I’m sure there was a section where we could have doubled back for a kilometre or so to make up the full 20 k’s. But still, even with these few things, it was still an excellent weekend of Muddering. Loved pretty much every minute of it, and would highly recommend Auckland Mudder 2015 to everyone.
I am currently writing this mid-afternoon on Tuesday, and I am feeling very good. No serious injuries like last Mudder, I am able to walk around normally, and will be able to jump straight into training for Sunshine Coast in a bit over 15 weeks. My quads and calves are the slightest bit tight, but nothing I won’t be able to stretch away, and I’m sure by Hockey training tomorrow night I will be at 100% again (I put myself at about 90-95% at the moment).
Just quietly, my plan for Sunshine Coast Mudder is to run twice on Saturday and once on Sunday - 3 time total. I will have to up my training quite a bit, but after this last weekend, I believe it’s possible. Stay tuned for my training posts to see how well I’m heading towards this goal!
That about wraps up my review of New Zealand’s inaugural Tough Mudder. 15 weeks until the next Mudder, but don’t worry, there is lots of posts planned. Remember to Like TMTour2014 on Facebook for updates and photos, follow me on Twitter for even more updates and photos, and subscribe to the RSS Feed to never miss a blog post - trust me, you don’t want to miss what’s coming up in the following weeks!
Hoo Rah Mudders, see you on the Sunshine Coast next!
#TMTour2014
I am currently writing this mid-afternoon on Tuesday, and I am feeling very good. No serious injuries like last Mudder, I am able to walk around normally, and will be able to jump straight into training for Sunshine Coast in a bit over 15 weeks. My quads and calves are the slightest bit tight, but nothing I won’t be able to stretch away, and I’m sure by Hockey training tomorrow night I will be at 100% again (I put myself at about 90-95% at the moment).
Just quietly, my plan for Sunshine Coast Mudder is to run twice on Saturday and once on Sunday - 3 time total. I will have to up my training quite a bit, but after this last weekend, I believe it’s possible. Stay tuned for my training posts to see how well I’m heading towards this goal!
That about wraps up my review of New Zealand’s inaugural Tough Mudder. 15 weeks until the next Mudder, but don’t worry, there is lots of posts planned. Remember to Like TMTour2014 on Facebook for updates and photos, follow me on Twitter for even more updates and photos, and subscribe to the RSS Feed to never miss a blog post - trust me, you don’t want to miss what’s coming up in the following weeks!
Hoo Rah Mudders, see you on the Sunshine Coast next!
#TMTour2014