Perth Tough Mudder is only days away now, and I just cannot contain myself anymore! Sunshine Coast was only 3 and a half weeks ago, so you could almost say I am still on a high from that! I thought I would write up a little blog post, with just some Perth Tough Mudder information, what I hope changes from previous Mudders, and my goals for this Mudder, the 4th of 6 this year in the Tough Mudder Tour 2014.
So I received my info pack email from Tough Mudder last week, containing my start times, location, what to bring, and other information relating to this event. I personally am running 3 laps this weekend - 2 on Saturday (I will be in the very first wave, and then another wave when I finish that lap, approximately 10:45am) and 1 lap on Sunday (in the first wave, 9am). Sunshine Coast Mudder 4 weeks ago, I had the same plan to run 3 laps, but after the successful 2 laps on Saturday, when I awoke Sunday morning, my knees and shoulders were quite sore, and I opted out of running another lap. I probably could have made it through, but thought it be best not to push my body so hard, and possibly injure myself. I knew at the time that there was only 4 weeks until Perth Mudder, so I could make it up then - and here we are, Perth Mudder just around the corner, and I am ready to make it up!
The course in Perth (located in Copley, Western Australia - approximately 1hr20min from Perth) is said to be on brutally tough terrain - open and undulating paddocks, as well as in dense Aussie bush and scrub-land. This sounds quite different to Melbourne Mudder (at the beginning of the year) around the Phillip Island Grand Prix track, or Sunshine Coast Mudder (a month ago), which was farmland and boggy as absolute anything.
Wave starting times on Saturday begin at 8am, and leave every 20 minutes until the last wave at 12:20pm - a total of 14 waves. Sunday doesn't have as many waves, with only 6 running from 9am and the last leaving at 10:40am. Remember: It is always a good idea to get to the event an hour or so before your wave leaves, so that you can get ready, drop off bags, have that final banana and Gatorade, warm up and get to the starting gates without rushing. There is always a good 10-15 minute walk from the car-park to Mudder Village, so make sure you factor that into your arrival time!
Mudder Village will have the usual elements as other events - Starting gates, merch tent, toilets, bag drop zone, a few food trucks/tents and other such things.
The course in Perth (located in Copley, Western Australia - approximately 1hr20min from Perth) is said to be on brutally tough terrain - open and undulating paddocks, as well as in dense Aussie bush and scrub-land. This sounds quite different to Melbourne Mudder (at the beginning of the year) around the Phillip Island Grand Prix track, or Sunshine Coast Mudder (a month ago), which was farmland and boggy as absolute anything.
Wave starting times on Saturday begin at 8am, and leave every 20 minutes until the last wave at 12:20pm - a total of 14 waves. Sunday doesn't have as many waves, with only 6 running from 9am and the last leaving at 10:40am. Remember: It is always a good idea to get to the event an hour or so before your wave leaves, so that you can get ready, drop off bags, have that final banana and Gatorade, warm up and get to the starting gates without rushing. There is always a good 10-15 minute walk from the car-park to Mudder Village, so make sure you factor that into your arrival time!
Mudder Village will have the usual elements as other events - Starting gates, merch tent, toilets, bag drop zone, a few food trucks/tents and other such things.
There are no ATM's on site at this event. Don't even bother bringing your plastic cards, only cash!
The course map for this event has also been released. For the first time in Perth, Fire in your Hole, Leap of Faith, Pole Dancer and Hangin' Tough will be making an appearance. Also, there will be not one, but two Berlin Walls. Funky Monkey will be its comeback after mysteriously going missing on the Sunshine Coast, and the ever famous Everest, Electroshock Therapy, Glory Blades and Arctic Enema will all be there.
From the looks of it though, obstacles like Cage Crawl, Just the Tip, Ladder to Hell and Twinkle Toes have all been given the flick. I suppose there is quite a few obstacles these days, and not all can be at every event. Im just glad there is no Electric Eel!
From the looks of it though, obstacles like Cage Crawl, Just the Tip, Ladder to Hell and Twinkle Toes have all been given the flick. I suppose there is quite a few obstacles these days, and not all can be at every event. Im just glad there is no Electric Eel!
As you may have read in my Sunshine Coast Review, there were a few things that I felt needed to be changed or fixed for the next Tough Mudder event. I'm hope enough people have voiced their opinions about some of these matters, and that Tough Mudder takes note. I will be referring back to this post next week after the event, to see what was changed, so remember to check back for that!
A few things that I hope are changed up from Sunshine Coast include the Mudder Village. At Sunshine Coast, it felt like it lacked something. There was obviously the buzz of excitement in the air, but not as much as there should have been. Auckland Mudder had games and contests in the Village, where Sunshine Coast didn't (on the Saturday that I attended anyways). Granted it was absolutely shocking weather, but people were finishing their course, getting their shirt headband and beer, and just leaving. There was nothing to keep them at the event. I don't know what could be changed, but hopefully something is added to Perth this weekend to make me want to hang around after my laps.
Another thing that needs to be changed, is the size of the obstacles and the waiting lines. Pole Dancer, Hangin' Tough and Leap of Faith especially had ginormous lines, with wait times of up to 20 minutes for some people. I mentioned in the Sunshine Coast review, that a simple way to halve the waiting times would be to just expand the obstacles and make them twice as big. Twice as many cargo nets to jump across in Leap of Faith means half the waiting time. Simple. I really hope this gets looked at for Perth and for all upcoming Mudders worldwide. There is nothing worse than trying to do really well at your event, getting through three quarters of the course, and then having to wait 25 minutes to try the next obstacle. That is just annoying!
Speaking of the obstacles, my prayers were answered from Sunshine Coast. I talked about previously that obstacles, for example Berlin Walls, seemed to be getting easier and smaller, and this was making Tough Mudder a Not So Tough Mudder. On the Tough Mudder Australia Facebook page the other day, they posted a video regarding some of the obstacles. Have a look:
A few things that I hope are changed up from Sunshine Coast include the Mudder Village. At Sunshine Coast, it felt like it lacked something. There was obviously the buzz of excitement in the air, but not as much as there should have been. Auckland Mudder had games and contests in the Village, where Sunshine Coast didn't (on the Saturday that I attended anyways). Granted it was absolutely shocking weather, but people were finishing their course, getting their shirt headband and beer, and just leaving. There was nothing to keep them at the event. I don't know what could be changed, but hopefully something is added to Perth this weekend to make me want to hang around after my laps.
Another thing that needs to be changed, is the size of the obstacles and the waiting lines. Pole Dancer, Hangin' Tough and Leap of Faith especially had ginormous lines, with wait times of up to 20 minutes for some people. I mentioned in the Sunshine Coast review, that a simple way to halve the waiting times would be to just expand the obstacles and make them twice as big. Twice as many cargo nets to jump across in Leap of Faith means half the waiting time. Simple. I really hope this gets looked at for Perth and for all upcoming Mudders worldwide. There is nothing worse than trying to do really well at your event, getting through three quarters of the course, and then having to wait 25 minutes to try the next obstacle. That is just annoying!
Speaking of the obstacles, my prayers were answered from Sunshine Coast. I talked about previously that obstacles, for example Berlin Walls, seemed to be getting easier and smaller, and this was making Tough Mudder a Not So Tough Mudder. On the Tough Mudder Australia Facebook page the other day, they posted a video regarding some of the obstacles. Have a look:
Granted, its not Berlin Walls in the video, but a bigger Everest and a higher Walk the Plank? Can't go wrong with that! Good work Tough Mudder.
And finally, a few minor things like more first aid tents/personnel and better parking attendants would be good. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the Sunshine Coast review for those messes!
And finally, a few minor things like more first aid tents/personnel and better parking attendants would be good. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the Sunshine Coast review for those messes!
Ive mentioned a few of my goals for lap times above, but overall, if i personally get 2 laps completed on Saturday and 1 on Sunday, no matter how long they take, I will be very happy. This year, I've gone from 1 lap a Tough Mudder event (and being stuffed days later still), to 1 lap both Saturday and Sunday, to 2 laps Saturday. Hopefully this weekend in Perth I'll finally be able to claim 3 laps in a weekend. Ive heard of people doing 4 laps in a weekend, which is just amazing. That's 2 full marathons worth of Tough Mudder in a weekend. Maybe at the last event this year in Adelaide, depending on the wave times, I could try that? That would be awesome!
I have completed 8 Tough Mudder laps pre Perth, so I will be getting my Black 10x Finisher Tough Mudder Headband this weekend. I am so super pumped for this - I'm sure I will be wearing it everywhere from next week onwards! I love the Mudder Legion Tough Mudder introduced this year!
I have completed 8 Tough Mudder laps pre Perth, so I will be getting my Black 10x Finisher Tough Mudder Headband this weekend. I am so super pumped for this - I'm sure I will be wearing it everywhere from next week onwards! I love the Mudder Legion Tough Mudder introduced this year!
Remember, loyal TMtour2014 readers, that at everyone of the 6 events we are completing this year, we will be live Tweeting, Facebooking, and Blogging while on course. Find me someone else that does that during their Tough Mudder event! So make sure you follow, like and subscribe to keep up with all the goings on this weekend, including photos, up to the minute Perth event weather and course conditions, movies and much more. You may even see awesome footage of the Fire in your Hole obstacle, appearing in Perth for the first time!
Finally, any readers out their running this weekend at Perth? Let us know, and we can do a lap together! Mudders band together!
Finally, any readers out their running this weekend at Perth? Let us know, and we can do a lap together! Mudders band together!
Don't forget your Tough Mudder Tour 2014 checklist, so you don't forget to bring anything to your event! The worst thing is finding you've driven for an hour from home, to only find you're missing a sock, or your finishers headband.
TMtour2014 Checklist |
See you out there, Mudders!
Hoo Rah!
#TMtour2014
Hoo Rah!
#TMtour2014