World's Toughest Mudder. The biggest and most bad-ass obstacle course event of the year. It is designed to push Mudders to their physical and mental limits, much more so than a normal Tough Mudder event. WTM is a grueling 24 hour obstacle challenge, with double the amount of obstacles per mile than any other Tough Mudder event.
The main difference between WTM and a regular TM event, is that WTM is a competition, with lots of cash and prizes - although this doesn't mean that the comradery that goes hand in hand with Tough Mudder disappears.
A few weeks ago, 2014's World's Toughest Mudder was held in the dry Las Vegas for the first time. It was a 5 mile circuit race, with 20-25 insane obstacles. Participants set up camp in "The Pit", where they could rest, eat and recuperate between laps with their support team of up to 2 people. The overall winner was the person who ran the most amount of laps in the 24 hour period between 10am Nov 15, and 12 noon Nov 16.
There are many official rules which must be followed, otherwise disqualification may occur from the prizes. More information can be found at the Tough Mudder website.
Matt Ansley was one of this year's WTM participants. I personally ran the 2014 Perth Tough Mudder with Matt. After he finished his WTM event (and after quite a while of recovery), I had a q&a session with him. Read on to find out more about the World's Toughest Mudder event!
The main difference between WTM and a regular TM event, is that WTM is a competition, with lots of cash and prizes - although this doesn't mean that the comradery that goes hand in hand with Tough Mudder disappears.
A few weeks ago, 2014's World's Toughest Mudder was held in the dry Las Vegas for the first time. It was a 5 mile circuit race, with 20-25 insane obstacles. Participants set up camp in "The Pit", where they could rest, eat and recuperate between laps with their support team of up to 2 people. The overall winner was the person who ran the most amount of laps in the 24 hour period between 10am Nov 15, and 12 noon Nov 16.
There are many official rules which must be followed, otherwise disqualification may occur from the prizes. More information can be found at the Tough Mudder website.
Matt Ansley was one of this year's WTM participants. I personally ran the 2014 Perth Tough Mudder with Matt. After he finished his WTM event (and after quite a while of recovery), I had a q&a session with him. Read on to find out more about the World's Toughest Mudder event!
"Matt, tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live, what do you do for living?"
My name is Matt Ansley, I'm 30 years old and I live in Auckland, New Zealand. Single with no children and no responsibilities so I have all the time in the world to do what I want. I work for Believe It Or Not Quiz Nights. We are a company that supply pubs around NZ with a weekly quiz night or Trivia nights as you call them in Aus. We supply our product to over 200 pubs throughout NZ so it keeps me busy. I've been there since July 2008.
"When and why did you start running Tough Mudder events?"
My first TM was April 2013 in Sydney. A friend in NZ mentioned they heard about this Tough Mudder thing, I went home and looked it up and it looked like no event I’d ever done. Thankfully a few friends were keen to do it as well, so we travelled over and took part. It was a blast, really hot and we don’t have as many good looking ladies in NZ. It was heaven!
"How many Tough Mudder events have you run, and which has been your favourite?"
I’ve run in six events over the last two years - at four of those events I run three laps over the weekend - two laps on Saturday and one lap on Sunday. At the other two events I just ran one lap. My favourite event so far was Melbourne 2013 in September, the course was brilliant and challenging. The weather was up and down which made for a testing time and the whole buzz of Phillip Island on TM weekend was epic!
"Do you have to travel far for Tough Mudder events?"
Very far. Only one of the six events has been in NZ, so the other times I’ve travelled to Aussie. It’s a 3 hour flight to Sydney, 4 hours to Brisbane and Melbourne and it was 7 hours to Perth. Adelaide this weekend will be a 5 hour flight. I normally go over for 4 or 5 days - always fly home on the Monday after the event so I have time to wash clothes and shoes before returning to NZ!
"When and how did you hear about the World's Toughest Mudder?"
I heard about WTM after I did my first regular TM in April 2013 in Sydney. I watch the footage from 2012 and thought that this looked like the ultimate test and would give me a great excuse to train a lot and focus on a goal.
"What was your training like for WTM, and when did you start?"
Training was up and down. I had a few injuries which held me back at times. I also picked up a nasty face infection at TM Sunshine Coast in August and couldn't train for 10 days, as sweating would reduce the recovery time of the infection. I don’t work Fridays, so they became my big training day. I would often do every (or at least most) of the circuit training sessions at my local gym then, which would be 6 one hour sessions throughout the day. In between sessions I would do various exercises and running, bear crawls with a tyre on my back, rope climbs, rope kicks, toe to bar raises. Most obstacles require a good power to weight ratio so anything where you are pulling, pushing or carrying your own weight was beneficial. I’d often do other sessions during the week but no more than two hours a day. I’d have at least two rest days a week, sometimes more depending on work, other life events and if I was just lazy or really tired from events or training.
"What equipment did you use for WTM?"
My equipment was quite basic. During the day I just had compression shorts and normally running shorts over that. Simply drifit shirt and some compression arm sleeves to protect myself on the obstacles and in case I fell over on the stones. I wore some Inov-8 X-Talon shoes, and they were brilliant - great grip, comfortable and didn’t fall apart. I also wore some gaiters from Moxie Gear to protect my shins from the bumps and bruises from the obstacles. At night I wore Frog Skins from Moxie Gear as a base layer under my wetsuit and they were brilliant too. The waterproof Black Diamond headlamp lasted all night so that was very helpful.
"What was your food intake like before, during and post race?"
I kept my diet the same until Wednesday before the event when I started really carb loading - pasta, pizza and of course fruit and plenty of water. During the race I lived off peanut butter sandwiches, GU energy gels, salt tablets to prevent cramps, water, coke, electrolyte lollies, potato chips, some chicken my support crew picked up from a competitor who withdrew, chicken broth and some M&Ms. I eventually adopted the seafood diet- you see food and you eat it!
"What were your goals like?"
My first goal was to get to 50 miles, and then if I was going well to try for 75 miles. The second goal was to last 24 hours.
"How did you go overall? Did you make your goals?"
I finished 11 laps (55 miles) which placed me 71st out of 1019 people. A lot of people pulled out when a crazy sand storm came through the course and a lot of people were close to hypothermia.
"What was your favourite obstacle, and which was the hardest?"
My favourite obstacle was the Grappler, which involved throwing a rope up a cliff and then pulling yourself up the cliff. Very technical, and you needed some strength. Plus it had a fear factor as well. Hardest obstacle for me, can’t remember the name but involved the monkey bars into a trapeze swing and then into a long shaft, all across water. I failed it the first three times and ended up just taking the penalty each time.
"World's Toughest Mudder 2015 aspirations?"
I’ve already entered, and my goal is at least 75 miles. The placing all depends on how other people go, which you have no control over so no point aiming for say the top 50.
"WTM vs regular TM events - what's the main difference?"
The obstacles - if you fail an obstacle at WTM, there is a penalty attached which usually involves more distance plus carrying a weight of some sort. Also, the lap is only 5 miles (8 kms) so there is not as much running between obstacles as there is in a regular TM (edit - a good example would be Melbourne Mudder- much too much running in between obstacles). The camaraderie and atmosphere is still there which is great. Some people are in the event to win it so are focussed on that and that is fair enough, everyone is just trying to do their best.
"Thanks for your time Matt, good luck with your training and World's Toughest Mudder 2015!
My name is Matt Ansley, I'm 30 years old and I live in Auckland, New Zealand. Single with no children and no responsibilities so I have all the time in the world to do what I want. I work for Believe It Or Not Quiz Nights. We are a company that supply pubs around NZ with a weekly quiz night or Trivia nights as you call them in Aus. We supply our product to over 200 pubs throughout NZ so it keeps me busy. I've been there since July 2008.
"When and why did you start running Tough Mudder events?"
My first TM was April 2013 in Sydney. A friend in NZ mentioned they heard about this Tough Mudder thing, I went home and looked it up and it looked like no event I’d ever done. Thankfully a few friends were keen to do it as well, so we travelled over and took part. It was a blast, really hot and we don’t have as many good looking ladies in NZ. It was heaven!
"How many Tough Mudder events have you run, and which has been your favourite?"
I’ve run in six events over the last two years - at four of those events I run three laps over the weekend - two laps on Saturday and one lap on Sunday. At the other two events I just ran one lap. My favourite event so far was Melbourne 2013 in September, the course was brilliant and challenging. The weather was up and down which made for a testing time and the whole buzz of Phillip Island on TM weekend was epic!
"Do you have to travel far for Tough Mudder events?"
Very far. Only one of the six events has been in NZ, so the other times I’ve travelled to Aussie. It’s a 3 hour flight to Sydney, 4 hours to Brisbane and Melbourne and it was 7 hours to Perth. Adelaide this weekend will be a 5 hour flight. I normally go over for 4 or 5 days - always fly home on the Monday after the event so I have time to wash clothes and shoes before returning to NZ!
"When and how did you hear about the World's Toughest Mudder?"
I heard about WTM after I did my first regular TM in April 2013 in Sydney. I watch the footage from 2012 and thought that this looked like the ultimate test and would give me a great excuse to train a lot and focus on a goal.
"What was your training like for WTM, and when did you start?"
Training was up and down. I had a few injuries which held me back at times. I also picked up a nasty face infection at TM Sunshine Coast in August and couldn't train for 10 days, as sweating would reduce the recovery time of the infection. I don’t work Fridays, so they became my big training day. I would often do every (or at least most) of the circuit training sessions at my local gym then, which would be 6 one hour sessions throughout the day. In between sessions I would do various exercises and running, bear crawls with a tyre on my back, rope climbs, rope kicks, toe to bar raises. Most obstacles require a good power to weight ratio so anything where you are pulling, pushing or carrying your own weight was beneficial. I’d often do other sessions during the week but no more than two hours a day. I’d have at least two rest days a week, sometimes more depending on work, other life events and if I was just lazy or really tired from events or training.
"What equipment did you use for WTM?"
My equipment was quite basic. During the day I just had compression shorts and normally running shorts over that. Simply drifit shirt and some compression arm sleeves to protect myself on the obstacles and in case I fell over on the stones. I wore some Inov-8 X-Talon shoes, and they were brilliant - great grip, comfortable and didn’t fall apart. I also wore some gaiters from Moxie Gear to protect my shins from the bumps and bruises from the obstacles. At night I wore Frog Skins from Moxie Gear as a base layer under my wetsuit and they were brilliant too. The waterproof Black Diamond headlamp lasted all night so that was very helpful.
"What was your food intake like before, during and post race?"
I kept my diet the same until Wednesday before the event when I started really carb loading - pasta, pizza and of course fruit and plenty of water. During the race I lived off peanut butter sandwiches, GU energy gels, salt tablets to prevent cramps, water, coke, electrolyte lollies, potato chips, some chicken my support crew picked up from a competitor who withdrew, chicken broth and some M&Ms. I eventually adopted the seafood diet- you see food and you eat it!
"What were your goals like?"
My first goal was to get to 50 miles, and then if I was going well to try for 75 miles. The second goal was to last 24 hours.
"How did you go overall? Did you make your goals?"
I finished 11 laps (55 miles) which placed me 71st out of 1019 people. A lot of people pulled out when a crazy sand storm came through the course and a lot of people were close to hypothermia.
"What was your favourite obstacle, and which was the hardest?"
My favourite obstacle was the Grappler, which involved throwing a rope up a cliff and then pulling yourself up the cliff. Very technical, and you needed some strength. Plus it had a fear factor as well. Hardest obstacle for me, can’t remember the name but involved the monkey bars into a trapeze swing and then into a long shaft, all across water. I failed it the first three times and ended up just taking the penalty each time.
"World's Toughest Mudder 2015 aspirations?"
I’ve already entered, and my goal is at least 75 miles. The placing all depends on how other people go, which you have no control over so no point aiming for say the top 50.
"WTM vs regular TM events - what's the main difference?"
The obstacles - if you fail an obstacle at WTM, there is a penalty attached which usually involves more distance plus carrying a weight of some sort. Also, the lap is only 5 miles (8 kms) so there is not as much running between obstacles as there is in a regular TM (edit - a good example would be Melbourne Mudder- much too much running in between obstacles). The camaraderie and atmosphere is still there which is great. Some people are in the event to win it so are focussed on that and that is fair enough, everyone is just trying to do their best.
"Thanks for your time Matt, good luck with your training and World's Toughest Mudder 2015!
You will be able to catch Matt and myself running a muck at this weekend Adelaide Tough Mudder event. Make sure you follow us on the Tough Mudder Tour 2014 Social Medias for on course photos, and more! Catch you with the Adelaide Event Review early next week!