Another Australasian Tough Mudder event done and dusted, another TMtour2014 Event Review! Find out how Perth stacks up against the rest of Australia, in their second Tough Mudder to date. How was the weather compared to the torrential downpour on the Sunshine Coast? Did it hit the comradery levels of Auckland? Was the course better spread out then Melbourne? Have a read, and see how the 4th Tough Mudder in Australia and New Zealand this year went!
26 days is not a very long turnaround time for two Tough Mudder events in Australasia – you wouldn’t think much would change in the time between Sunshine Coast in August, and Septembers Perth Mudder. But in all honesty, the two events were really worlds apart. For good or bad? That’s for you to decide. In this Event Review, the TMtour2014 crew will be fine picking the Perth Mudder apart, going through everything that Tough Mudder did right, and what they got wrong and should fix. We will also be rating the course compared to the other 3 events run this year, Melbourne, Auckland New Zealand and Sunshine Coast. Do you think you know which has been the best so far? The crowd favourite? Think again, we may just be a curve ball thrown at you!
First of all, I want to say that this event, there will only be this one Event Review. Last months Sunshine Coast Mudder had an event review and a personal review of our weekend, but this time we will be combining the two, to streamline the whole Perth experience for you! Before we go any further, here are my stats from the 3 laps that I personally completed over the weekend.
Saturday Lap 1 Bib: 24526 Start: 8:00 Finish: 10:15 Time: 2hrs 15min Obstacles: 22 Distance: 17km Weather: Extremely dry and dusty – Very warm, but not hot. | Saturday Lap 2 Bib: 24525 Start: 11:00 Finish: 1:45 Time: 2hrs 45min | Sunday Lap 3 Bib: 23930 Start: 9:00 Finish: 11:30 Time: 2hrs 30min Obstacles: 22 Distance: 17km Weather: Even warming, dustier and drier than Saturday, although more mud on course. |
Perth Tough Mudder was situated about an hour and a half out of Perth itself (although not as bad as the 2 hours out of Sydney that Sydney Mudder will be in November). The drive down the highway at 6am both mornings was very uneventful, if you forget about the damn sun being right in your eyes the entire drive there! Talk about dangerous!!
The first thing that was noticeable about Perth Tough Mudder, was there was a lot of signage on the highway pointing everyone in the right direction. You couldn't really get lost at all, which was good as it was so far out of town. That was a big plus 1 in my books.
Once we got to the actual farm the event was held in, the parking was really well looked after. That is, the $10 parking. The VIP parking, now that's another story. I don't know of anyone that purchased this $40 VIP parking, but after we parked and walked for about 2 minutes, we were already at the VIP parking site. Those 2 minutes of walking to the Mudder Village certainly don't add up to $40! I know if I had paid for VIP parking and saw how close it was to the rest of us lowly everyday parkers, I would be very annoyed and asking for my money back! But for my weekend, the parking was well looked after, and no problems like Sunshine Coast arose. That's an A right there.
Walking up to Mudder Village at 7am, we could just tell that this event was going to be different from Sunshine Coast a month prior. There was so much electricity in the air (thankfully not all from Electroshock Therapy), people were getting ready, the atmosphere was just absolutely killer - but we'll talk about the Village later in this review though.
So, for the first time at an event this year, we were actually on time to get in the first starting wave! Super pumped for that - there wasn't even any rushing around to get there, we were able to walk up to the starting gates at our own pleasure. Once we got there, everyone was put through a warmup routine by the Tank (whose name eludes me currently). Stretches and limbering up were on the agenda for the next 15 minutes. Once we had finished this, we were ushered through to the starting chute. I love how that everyone has to climb over a wall to get into the starting chute, and hearing lots of people complaining about how the event hasn't even started yet and they are being made to climb just to get into the chute. I laugh everytime, because if this is a challenge for you, I feel sorry for you after the event actually starts!
The first thing that was noticeable about Perth Tough Mudder, was there was a lot of signage on the highway pointing everyone in the right direction. You couldn't really get lost at all, which was good as it was so far out of town. That was a big plus 1 in my books.
Once we got to the actual farm the event was held in, the parking was really well looked after. That is, the $10 parking. The VIP parking, now that's another story. I don't know of anyone that purchased this $40 VIP parking, but after we parked and walked for about 2 minutes, we were already at the VIP parking site. Those 2 minutes of walking to the Mudder Village certainly don't add up to $40! I know if I had paid for VIP parking and saw how close it was to the rest of us lowly everyday parkers, I would be very annoyed and asking for my money back! But for my weekend, the parking was well looked after, and no problems like Sunshine Coast arose. That's an A right there.
Walking up to Mudder Village at 7am, we could just tell that this event was going to be different from Sunshine Coast a month prior. There was so much electricity in the air (thankfully not all from Electroshock Therapy), people were getting ready, the atmosphere was just absolutely killer - but we'll talk about the Village later in this review though.
So, for the first time at an event this year, we were actually on time to get in the first starting wave! Super pumped for that - there wasn't even any rushing around to get there, we were able to walk up to the starting gates at our own pleasure. Once we got there, everyone was put through a warmup routine by the Tank (whose name eludes me currently). Stretches and limbering up were on the agenda for the next 15 minutes. Once we had finished this, we were ushered through to the starting chute. I love how that everyone has to climb over a wall to get into the starting chute, and hearing lots of people complaining about how the event hasn't even started yet and they are being made to climb just to get into the chute. I laugh everytime, because if this is a challenge for you, I feel sorry for you after the event actually starts!
Once we got into the starting chute, our favourite Tough Mudder came up on his little stage, and began the 10 minute Mudder speech. Any Australian Mudder Legionnaire will have heard this talk before - it's the same at every Mudder in Australia (and very similar to New Zealand back in March). Throughout the weekend in my 3 laps, there was quite a bit of heckling, and people quoting this speech word for word. As good as it is, I still feel this needs to be changed drastically for next year. The last two events this year, Sydney and Adelaide can have the same speech, but if it's not changed for next year, I feel there will be more and more heckling. At the moment, it's fine, but if it's not addressed next year, minus 1.
"Give me back my watch..."
After reciting the Tough Mudder Pledge (which I always love), and dancing it out to some Lose Yourself, we counted down, and off we took.
"Give me back my watch..."
After reciting the Tough Mudder Pledge (which I always love), and dancing it out to some Lose Yourself, we counted down, and off we took.
In the starting chute, I ran into a mate who was running his 11th(?) Mudder, who I ended up running the 3 laps with over the weekend. We also made friends with some cute ladies who live in Perth, and were on their 3rd or 4th Mudder lap total, and were also running both days at this event. Half way through the first lap, we run into a couple lads, who were on their 3rd and 4th lap (if memory serves me - I really have no idea, just a guess ...). These lads were running on both days this event too. And finally, on Sunday a guy came up to me, who recognised me from the local Leader Newspaper article (delivered to the surrounding suburbs where I live in Melbourne). We were in Perth. I was recognised from this paper. I was stunned! The dude also lived a couple suburbs away from me to, which was cool. Random but cool. We ran a bit together as well, and I'm sure we'll catch up and train a bit before the next Mudder.
So after heading over to Perth from Melbourne with only TMtour2014's Laura, we eventually ran with maybe 10 different people over the weekend. That's the Tough Mudder comradery for you right there!
So after heading over to Perth from Melbourne with only TMtour2014's Laura, we eventually ran with maybe 10 different people over the weekend. That's the Tough Mudder comradery for you right there!
So, enough about me, lets get into the actual Perth Tough Mudder event. What worked, what didn't. What was liked, and what needs to change for Sydney and Adelaide.
The weather, for starters, was fantastic. It was warm, and barely a cloud in the sky for both days. Very different to the torrential downpour at Sunshine Coast. As good as the sun was, it did mean the course was very dry. Long dusty roads, and not as much mud as I would have liked overall. Granted this can't really be helped, as the terrain of the course really wouldn't allow a water tanker to go through to hose down the paths unfortunately. One thing that I will remember for all upcoming Mudders though, is sunscreen! Forgot on my two laps on Saturday, and paid the price for the next week with a hideously burnt face and neck.
With such warm weather, and the extremely dusty and dry course, I thought that there was not enough drinks stations. The 4 or 5 that were at the event just didn't seem enough. With the upcoming events in November and December, I hope that there will be more water stations. It wasn't as huge a deal in Perth, but will be in the next two if there isn't enough water, as Australian summers are deadly!
The actual terrain of the course was fantastic! Using small creeks and river beds to run through, and having to climb up and over very large hills and rock walls was cool. Very different to every other Mudder I've completed, that's for sure! One slight problem that arose was the signage, and directional markers. All 3 laps, myself and whoever I was running with got off track at the same point each time. It wasn't a huge detour, but it could easily have been fixed with an extra sign. That being said though, definitely a 10 out of 10 for course design.
The weather, for starters, was fantastic. It was warm, and barely a cloud in the sky for both days. Very different to the torrential downpour at Sunshine Coast. As good as the sun was, it did mean the course was very dry. Long dusty roads, and not as much mud as I would have liked overall. Granted this can't really be helped, as the terrain of the course really wouldn't allow a water tanker to go through to hose down the paths unfortunately. One thing that I will remember for all upcoming Mudders though, is sunscreen! Forgot on my two laps on Saturday, and paid the price for the next week with a hideously burnt face and neck.
With such warm weather, and the extremely dusty and dry course, I thought that there was not enough drinks stations. The 4 or 5 that were at the event just didn't seem enough. With the upcoming events in November and December, I hope that there will be more water stations. It wasn't as huge a deal in Perth, but will be in the next two if there isn't enough water, as Australian summers are deadly!
The actual terrain of the course was fantastic! Using small creeks and river beds to run through, and having to climb up and over very large hills and rock walls was cool. Very different to every other Mudder I've completed, that's for sure! One slight problem that arose was the signage, and directional markers. All 3 laps, myself and whoever I was running with got off track at the same point each time. It wasn't a huge detour, but it could easily have been fixed with an extra sign. That being said though, definitely a 10 out of 10 for course design.
Onto the Tough Mudder Village. I mentioned in the Sunshine Coast review that the Village then lacked something - I just had no idea what it was. Maybe it was the bad weather, but it just wasn't up to scratch. Perth Mudder Village fixed this. Actually, it knocked it out of the park! The entire weekend, it was full of energy, and was just alive. There was the usual food stands, first aid tent, merchandise tent (more on that in a bit), but this time there was games and challenges for people to try. One was a tyre flip - a really big and heavy tractor tyre, that you had to flip over to get a free sausage. Man, did those sausages smell good!
A big ice bath was situated in the middle of the village for anyone who wanted to jump in post run to help with their weary body. The Garmin stand made a comeback, and had big screen tv's with footage of people doing some of the obstacles (possibly a live feed? I have no idea. Will find out in Sydney though).
The bag drop tent worked well, as per usual. I have heard a couple stories at other events over the last few years, of peoples phones/wallets go missing from their bags from inside the tent, and that's a problem which shouldn't arise. The way it's set up though - pay your money, get assigned a section for your bag, drop it off, come back pick it up and get checked out at the door with your bag and corresponding wristband number, all works pretty well.
One thing that has been mentioned to me, was that there should be more chairs and tables around the place, for people to sit down and chill after their event, and to grab a bite to eat. And more shade! More shade is needed! There were a few chairs around the place, but not enough. Also, on the Sunday, we had to buy sunscreen off the St Johns first aid people. Really? Everyone attending the event have paid upwards of $100 for a ticket, and we cant be spared some free sunscreen in the hot sun? I get that it's a business, but it's little things like that which add up, and eventually turn people off of these sort of events. Edit: Ive been told that the money for the sunscreen quite possibly went towards the First Aid volunteers, so if this is the case, then I am fine with spending a couple bucks on sunscreen next time.
Speaking of volunteers, I thought that there seemed to be less than the usual amount compared to other events this year. There were a number of obstacles where there was only one volunteer telling people what to do. Maybe they were more spread out than usual, or maybe there actually was less - I'm not sure, but I feel there should have been more.
And finally, the free strapping tent. I can't for the life of me remember who the sponsored strapping people were, but if I had not strapped my knees for my two laps on Saturday, I don't think I would have been able to run at all on Sunday. This was a huge thing for me. I expect free strapping at all other events from now on! Plus 2 out of 2 points.
The merchandise tent was, actually, a let down. Everything, bar the movie reference t-shirt, was the same as every other event this year. Same merch, same prices - and all can be bought online too. The movie t-shirts are a great idea, as I've said before. A different t-shirt at each Mudder this year in Australasia. Collect them all! This event had a Ghostbusters themed shirt.
A big ice bath was situated in the middle of the village for anyone who wanted to jump in post run to help with their weary body. The Garmin stand made a comeback, and had big screen tv's with footage of people doing some of the obstacles (possibly a live feed? I have no idea. Will find out in Sydney though).
The bag drop tent worked well, as per usual. I have heard a couple stories at other events over the last few years, of peoples phones/wallets go missing from their bags from inside the tent, and that's a problem which shouldn't arise. The way it's set up though - pay your money, get assigned a section for your bag, drop it off, come back pick it up and get checked out at the door with your bag and corresponding wristband number, all works pretty well.
One thing that has been mentioned to me, was that there should be more chairs and tables around the place, for people to sit down and chill after their event, and to grab a bite to eat. And more shade! More shade is needed! There were a few chairs around the place, but not enough. Also, on the Sunday, we had to buy sunscreen off the St Johns first aid people. Really? Everyone attending the event have paid upwards of $100 for a ticket, and we cant be spared some free sunscreen in the hot sun? I get that it's a business, but it's little things like that which add up, and eventually turn people off of these sort of events. Edit: Ive been told that the money for the sunscreen quite possibly went towards the First Aid volunteers, so if this is the case, then I am fine with spending a couple bucks on sunscreen next time.
Speaking of volunteers, I thought that there seemed to be less than the usual amount compared to other events this year. There were a number of obstacles where there was only one volunteer telling people what to do. Maybe they were more spread out than usual, or maybe there actually was less - I'm not sure, but I feel there should have been more.
And finally, the free strapping tent. I can't for the life of me remember who the sponsored strapping people were, but if I had not strapped my knees for my two laps on Saturday, I don't think I would have been able to run at all on Sunday. This was a huge thing for me. I expect free strapping at all other events from now on! Plus 2 out of 2 points.
The merchandise tent was, actually, a let down. Everything, bar the movie reference t-shirt, was the same as every other event this year. Same merch, same prices - and all can be bought online too. The movie t-shirts are a great idea, as I've said before. A different t-shirt at each Mudder this year in Australasia. Collect them all! This event had a Ghostbusters themed shirt.
I really like these movie reference t-shirts, but like I've said, they aren't getting promoted at all. Also, I feel that there should be more state specific merchandise at each event. Jumpers or t-shirts with Perth Tough Mudder written across the back, or hats with the date of the event. Yes I know these cost money to make, but I'm pretty sure they would be snapped up quickly at each event, especially by the first time Mudders wanting to remember their event.
Speaking of promoting Tough Mudder - Headband Monday and Mudder Monday have next to no-one participating. This needs to be fixed! American Mudders have prizes for best Headband Monday photos almost weekly. Maybe at each event there could be a large wall with the hashtag written across the top, Tough Mudder logo underneath, and have people stand against the wall and get their photos taken (wearing their new headbands) and can upload on the Monday with the hashtag on whatever social media platform they're on. The best photos could be re-tweeted or shared by the official Tough Mudder Aus Facebook or Twitter, and seen by thousands. There needs to be more social media campaigns for this being run. With only 5 events in Australia this year, most people will only be going to one. They run once on a weekend, have a fun time, but by Monday morning, that's it for the next 12 months - no more thoughts about Tough Mudder. Lets try and keep Mudder in our minds for longer by getting little things like #HeadbandMonday and #MudderMonday into the Tough Mudder Australian mainstream.
For everyone reading this review, after your next event, take a Headband Monday photo, upload it and use the hashtags #MudderMonday and #TMtour2014 and we will share our favourite ones across out social media pages!
Speaking of promoting Tough Mudder - Headband Monday and Mudder Monday have next to no-one participating. This needs to be fixed! American Mudders have prizes for best Headband Monday photos almost weekly. Maybe at each event there could be a large wall with the hashtag written across the top, Tough Mudder logo underneath, and have people stand against the wall and get their photos taken (wearing their new headbands) and can upload on the Monday with the hashtag on whatever social media platform they're on. The best photos could be re-tweeted or shared by the official Tough Mudder Aus Facebook or Twitter, and seen by thousands. There needs to be more social media campaigns for this being run. With only 5 events in Australia this year, most people will only be going to one. They run once on a weekend, have a fun time, but by Monday morning, that's it for the next 12 months - no more thoughts about Tough Mudder. Lets try and keep Mudder in our minds for longer by getting little things like #HeadbandMonday and #MudderMonday into the Tough Mudder Australian mainstream.
For everyone reading this review, after your next event, take a Headband Monday photo, upload it and use the hashtags #MudderMonday and #TMtour2014 and we will share our favourite ones across out social media pages!
And lastly, for this review I will be going through all the things that I feel need to be changed, or fixed for the upcoming events. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely LOVE my Tough Mudders - this is positive criticism. I just feel that the slightest chance that someone in the TM business is reading, then they would like some feedback!
After the weekend, I questioned everyone that I ran with over the weekend, and got their honest feedback of the event. Here are somethings that they thought could be fixed or added to make for a better event:
And some feedback for all the positives at Perth Tough Mudder:
I agree with all the above comments, and would love to see some changes made. Tough Mudder is a fantastic event, I/we are just trying to make it even better!
After the weekend, I questioned everyone that I ran with over the weekend, and got their honest feedback of the event. Here are somethings that they thought could be fixed or added to make for a better event:
- More mud - already covered earlier in this review
- Deeper Arctic Enema - one where the ice water comes up past peoples waist
- Extra rings on Hangin' Tough, or rings closer together - more chance for people to make it across
- Make the Mud Mile mounds bigger, and longer overall - I found personally that the first wave on Saturday, the mounds were reasonably hard to get over, but by my second lap Saturday (approximately 11.30) the mounds were getting destroyed by the thousands of people climbing over them, and on Sunday you could almost walk right through the whole Mud Mile without climbing a mound at all. I have a few ideas on how this could be fixed, but will get to that later
- Directional signpost could be better places - already covered earlier in this review
- Different speech at the beginning of each wave - this was mentioned by pretty much every Legionnaire
- Paper cups instead of plastic - more environmentally friendly
- Longer leap to the cargo net in Leap of Faith - was too easy compared to Sunshine Coast
- Electroshock Therapy didn't shock some people at all, and the cables were too far apart and easily avoidable - I personally am fine with this, but thought I'd mention it anyway
- No bypass lane for Legionnaires at the Electroshock Therapy obstacle
- Would love to see more Legionnaire obstacles - the bigger Walk the Plank and Everest were super great additions for the Legionnaires (more on those later)
- Bigger Fire in your Hole - Possible to make the flames higher?
- Distance markers on the side of the Fire in your Hole obstacle, to see how far you fly through the air
- Fire in your hole videographer (maybe Garmin) videoing each slider, and can download yourself flying through the fire online (would only be a 10 second clip, so not very big to download), or even Garmin could give away your slide video on a USB with their branding all over it
- Shade, and more tables and chairs in Mudder Village
- Not as big an audience at some of the obstacles as previous events - could be bad placement of obstacles (Everest to far away from Mudder Village maybe?), or maybe the spectator routes could be made better, or just have more car transportation for spectators?
- Bag drop and parking fees should be covered in Season Pass Ticket holders - even with my season pass, it still cost 30 dollars each day (insurance, bag drop and parking)
- More promoting Headband Monday - already covered in this review
- New and different merchandise
- Making the events actually 20km, instead of 17-18km - TM shouldn't be advertised as a 20km course, when not once this year its been that long
- And finally, in regards to GameFaceMedia.com photos, there should be a save all button, to save all your photos that you're tagged in at once, instead of going through one by one (over 50 times for myself personally). I know this isn't something Tough Mudder can change, but I would love it if GameFaceMedia added this, as it would be much easier! Everyone does really appreciate the free photos though, Tough Mudder!
And some feedback for all the positives at Perth Tough Mudder:
- Fantastic Legionnaires Loop
- Bigger Walk the Plank and Everest were excellent, and very challenging
- The comradery, as per usual, was excellent
- The terrain was amazing to run through
- Using the land and the terrain was really well done
- Fire in your Hole was awesome
- The new obstacles were challenging and fun
- Spacing of the obstacles was perfect - never too much running
- Mudder Village was really alive with excitement, and really fun
- Overall a fantastic event - will be definitely be coming back next year
I agree with all the above comments, and would love to see some changes made. Tough Mudder is a fantastic event, I/we are just trying to make it even better!
There you have it folks - the Perth Tough Mudder review. Overall it was a great event, lots of positives and very few negatives. You may though be wondering to yourself, "what about the obstacles? You barely covered them at all!" Well, the second half of this review will be concentrating only on the Perth obstacles, and will be out in the next day or two. Make sure you keep an eye out for that, as you'll want to see how Perth went with its first time obstacles like Pole Dancer, Fire in your Hole and Hangin' Tough.
You'll be notified when the second half of this review comes out if you subscribe to our RSS Blog Feed. Also, we will be uploading links on our Twitter and Facebook accounts when it's available.
Like and follow TMtour2014, and send us a comment - let us know how you went at your last Tough Mudder event, be it in Australia, New Zealand, America, Ireland - anywhere! We always love hearing from fellow Mudders!
See you in a few days with the second half of the review - the obstacle review!
Hoo Rah!
#TMtour2014
Like and follow TMtour2014, and send us a comment - let us know how you went at your last Tough Mudder event, be it in Australia, New Zealand, America, Ireland - anywhere! We always love hearing from fellow Mudders!
See you in a few days with the second half of the review - the obstacle review!
Hoo Rah!
#TMtour2014