World’s Toughest Mudder 2017 Success!

On November 9^th, 2017, I left for Las Vegas to have an adventure of a lifetime. I decided for my 40^th birthday this year, that I wanted to take on my first ever World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM). Some women would more likely want a designer hand bag or a girls’ weekend away, but I wanted to trudge for 24 hours through the desert experiencing mud, water, electrical shock, and obstacles.

I registered back in June after I had enjoyed my first 8-hour overnight Toughest Mudder in Philly. I had been doing a lot of multi-lap format races during my 2017 racing season, so I figured if there was ever going to be a good time to pull the plug on WTM, it would be now. This is also the last year this race would be coming to Vegas, so I knew it was good timing. My friend Mike, a seasoned WTM veteran, was the one who gave me the final push I needed to sign up, and he got me started by passing on his gear spreadsheet and some initial words of wisdom about planning. Not long after, my friend Becky decided she was also going to register, so we began planning our flights, lodging, and car rental that we would share to keep costs down.

I was careful in my planning to denote in the spreadsheet which items I would be packing in my carry on roller bag and backpack vs. my one checked bag. Anything I absolutely needed to get out on the race course would not be checked. Things I could potentially replace quickly at a Walmart or sporting goods store after I arrived went in the checked bag. I also purposely chose a direct flight on JetBlue because they’re one of the better airlines. One of the best purchases I made was a rolling sportsman’s trunk for checking. I managed to fit my secondary essentials like camping gear, energy supplements, lighting, medical supplies etc… and have it weigh in at a whopping 47 lbs, just under the 50lb checked back limit. The combined dimensions of this trunk were also under the size limit for JetBlue checked baggage.

I made it to Vegas at about 2:15 PM on the Thursday before the event. I was relieved to see my tote coming around on the baggage carousel. Becky picked me up at the airport, and we stopped back at our hotel to drop my stuff before going out to Walmart for a shopping spree to buy food and water for our pit area.

You’d think by looking at our cart that we were a couple of 5 year olds buying junk food for a sleepover. We had pumpkin spice pop tarts, snickers bites, mini Reese’s peanut butter cups, pizza bites, Uncrustables sandwiches in strawberry jam and chocolate Nutella flavors, toddler oatmeal and blueberry squeeze packets, pretzels, pickles, sour cream and cheddar potato chips, Swedish fish, sour patch kids, oatmeal cream pies, star crunches, Cliff bars, Core Power drinks, Gatorade, water, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, and some other housekeeping essentials for the hotel. We kept telling people it was all for us and they looked at us like we were crazy. The dude at our hotel who helped us get all of our groceries up to our room with a luggage cart offered to help us eat the food if we couldn’t handle it. Let me tell you, we handled it.

Friday morning, we woke up and headed over to the Westin near Lake Las Vegas to pick up our race bibs, timing chips, and parking passes for pit load in. There was also a room full of WTM swag that we went a little nuts over. The line for purchasing gear was actually longer than the line to register, but it was time well spent for a few key items to commemorate such a milestone of an event we were about to take on. I purchased a winter hat, some stickers, a stuffed animal for my daughter, a bottle opener, a wristband, and a buff. I somehow managed to be right behind a new M.I.T. Tough Team teammate, Dalfim, in the merch line, so I introduced myself and we took a photo together.

Once we made our purchases, we drove out to the race site and parked at drop off to unload our gear. Thankfully, we were able to coordinate with our friends Mike and Rick who brought a rolling cart, so we could more easily transport our camping gear and water to the pit area. We chose 4 10ft x 10ft plots on an edge towards the back of the pit area with a nice clear walk to the port-a-potties, orphan tent, and start line.

After setting up, it was time to take it all in. I had been dreaming of this place and this experience for years, and I was standing there surrounded by mountains in a sea of Mudder tents. We climbed up a short hill to get a better view of part of the course. That’s where I got my first glimpse of the infamous 35 foot cliff jump that is a signature Vegas obstacle. After 6 years of enjoying this obstacle racing hobby, I had finally made it to one of the biggest, longest, and most challenging events the racing world has to offer.

That afternoon, Becky and I took a shuttle over to the strip where we walked to the Stratosphere to take on the 855 ft SkyJump. Another Mudder offered all WTMers a 50% off discount code all weekend, so we decided to take advantage. Besides, it would be good mental practice for the cliff jump we’d be doing on the course the next day.

We arrived just in time to make final pit preparations on Saturday. Becky and I bought extra Ziploc bags so we could organize our gear a bit better in our trunks and things would be easier to find in the dark with headlamps and a small camp lantern. Before we knew it, it was time to load into the starting chute with ~1400 other Mudders.

There were no pre-race jitters. It was just excitement, and that feeling of being part of something bigger. Tough Mudder is known for its community and the camaraderie among its members. You could feel that already at the start as people turned towards each other and shook hands, or fist bumped, and wished each other good luck. Sean Corvelle, the regular Tough Mudder emcee, gave one of his motivational speeches at the beginning reminding us that nobody is better than our best. As long as we leave it all out there and do our best, we have achieved something great. The quote that he has helped spread that has become the mantra of the Tough Mudder community was reiterated.

In life, you can have a lot of things, but at the end of the day, it’s more about what you experience and who you love and spend your time with that make life worth living. If you never try something because of self-doubt, how will you ever know you can? Many of us in that starting chute weren’t sure if we could survive this 24-hour ordeal, but we showed up to try, and that’s better than never showing up.

The first hour of WTM is a sprint lap where no obstacles are open. You just run the 5 mile loop until the obstacles start opening up one by one. It was about 75-80 degrees and dry with not a cloud to be seen. The dust was getting kicked up pretty fast as we started running the course. A buff was nice to have, and I knew my lungs would thank me later for wearing it. Just as the heat was really starting to get to me, they began opening obstacles, and we reached a nice lake crossing that cooled us down. I felt like a new person.  The highlight of this lap was high-fiving OCR beast Amelia Boone and getting a “Nice shades!” compliment from her as we had matching sunglasses.

We didn’t change clothes for lap 2. The shorts and short sleeves were very comfortable now that they were wet. I don’t exactly remember which obstacles opened for this lap, but there was nothing we took penalties for. I think it was mostly stuff like Pyramid Scheme, Kiss of Mud, maybe Double Dipper, and some additional water crossings.

We changed for this lap. It was still pretty warm, and this is where I knew my judgment could make or break me. I opted for putting on long compression layers, but no neoprene yet. It would be getting dark on this lap, and we took headlamps and glowsticks so we didn’t risk getting disqualified if we were found on course after sunset without them.

Favorite obstacle of this lap was a new one called Rope-A-Dope. You had to jump from the platform to the rope, stick the landing, climb the rope, and then transfer to another angled rope and slide down to the opposite platform. I surprised myself by getting this one.

Additional obstacles were open this lap like Reach Around (it would remain this one until midnight until the harder and slipperier Stage 5 Clinger would open) and I think Everest, Funky Monkey 2.0, Abseil, Shawshanked, Snot Rocket, Double Dipper, Kong the Revolution, and Hang Time. We ended up taking the very long penalty loop for Funky Monkey 2.0 because our hands were wet and we slipped off. Part of the penalty loop included the Arctic Enema ice bath. I braced myself for the cold, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they hadn’t put any ice in the container. I couldn’t help but wonder if that would change overnight since Tough Mudder Headquarters seems to like to kick us when we’re down.

We also hit the new electrical obstacle called Pandora’s Box on this lap. Becky immediately opted to take the penalty loop. I was curious enough to look inside, because nobody exiting seemed to be distressed. The obstacle was a low crawl through water where you had to avoid hanging wires that held a charge plus some chains that had zero purpose. The wires were very easy to bypass, and I was through in a matter of seconds. That was a relief every time we hit it for the rest of the race because it was easy and it was kind of nice to lay down even if it was for less than a minute.

I was relieved to get back for this particular pit stop. The sun had set, and I could tell I was starting to get cold. I went for my 3/2mm wetsuit and a neoprene cap. Immediately after putting on the cap and standing in the wind, I realized the cap wasn’t enough, so I swapped it for a hooded 5/3mm vest. I felt instantly better. Meanwhile, I used some extra time to reapply Trail Toes to my feet because blisters make life a living hell. I also grabbed my BleggMitts, ate something, and then we were off. Almost everything was open at this point except for the cliff, Humpchuck, and the Statue of Liberty which would all open at midnight.

I went for Rope-a-Dope again, but found myself either too tired, or the rope was too wet near the top that I couldn’t quite get up high enough to reach the other rope to make the transfer. I rested my arms a bit with the rope locked between my feet. Meanwhile, people below were yelling, “Don’t you quit 1643! You’ve got this!” The encouragement gave me a boost and I struggled once again to move up higher. I finally reached the other rope, but found myself stuck again. I swung my leg once and touched my toe to the other rope. I swung it again, and almost locked my foot around. I swung it a third time and lost my grip and fell into the water. I was so spent after that, but one of the girls who had been yelling encouragement jumped into the water and gave me a big hug saying she was sorry and she thought I had it. This is why Mudders are so great.

This was our last lap before we knew the cliff jump would open. We were both looking forward to it, so we knew we’d be motivated to get lap 5 done and go out for lap 6. I don’t remember too much of this lap except that I think this is where my Inov-8 shoes started to bother me because they don’t have a lot of cushioning. The ground at Lake Las Vegas is mostly hard packed dirt, so I was pounding on my joints up to that point. I could start to feel the tendons in my foot getting inflamed, and I knew a shoe change was in order. We were back at our pit around 11PM and excited about having 5 laps in already.

I opted to put an additional 1mm layer of neoprene on top for this lap as I was starting to feel cold in the pit even with an emergency blanket around me. I was fine when we started walking to the start, but almost as soon as we got out on the course, I was overwhelmed by fatigue. You know the feeling you get when you start falling asleep at the wheel and you can’t quite keep your eyes all the way open or make them focus? That’s what this lap was like as I was walked. I would reach an obstacle, be able to focus well for the obstacle, and then I’d be half asleep again walking without really being able to focus on the ground in front of me. I was staggering from side to side like a drunk person. My first thought was that if the rest of the race was going to be like this, I would have to sleep at some point. I couldn’t fathom pulling all of my gear off and having to put it back on hours later, so I kept at it. I also remembered that I hadn’t had any caffeine up to this point in the race. I was purposely saving my caffeinated GU gels for a point in the race where I really needed a good kick in the pants, and this was definitely that time.

As we approached the cliff jump, fear set in a little. Becky looked really nervous, but she insisted we were going to do it, but maybe just once if it was unpleasant. I agreed, and she opted to go first. She jumped like a pro without waiting barely a second. I waited for her to clear the water and it was my turn. I tried to remember all of the advice on how to exit the platform. I held my nose, crossed my arms, and stepped off the edge. I don’t know if it was because I was looking down, or some how I created a bit of momentum backwards when I went to cross my ankles, but I tipped back the slightest bit, and the impact of the water on my lower back and tailbone didn’t feel good. I was ok, but a little shaken. Still, we had both conquered the cliff jump! Note: my headlamp was a casualty of this obstacle. I had it wrapped twice around one of my upper arms, but I should have turned the headlamp itself so I had it squeezed between my arm and ribcage.

I broke into my bottle of Pepsi when I got back to the pit. I also loaded up my race belt with caffeinated GU Gels and Shot Blocks. Becky, unfortunately, returned to pit to find that her Raynaud’s had kicked in due to the cold, and her hands were so swollen and numb that she didn’t feel like she could possibly grip anything for another lap. She opted to play it safe, and go get warm before considering going back out again. I headed out solo for lap 7 and stopped by the orphan tent to see if they had any food or drink that was warm. The girl who helped me said, “We have pizza!” I looked at her with wide eyes. She said, “I’m not lying to you. We have pizza. Would you like some?” Hell yes, I would like some. That one slice of lukewarm pizza hit the spot and made me feel renewed. I broke out into a run this lap feeling fully awake again.

I ended up taking the penalty for the cliff jump this time because my tailbone was still sore from the last jump. Just as I was coming into the finish chute not long after that, I could see the hint of a sunrise starting over the mountains. I knew the next lap would be beautiful.

I tried to wake Becky up, but after saying her name very loudly a few times and getting nothing more than a cough, I knew she needed her sleep more than she needed to get out for another lap. I took the time to snap a couple of photos of the beginning of the sunrise over the lake, but my iPhone camera didn’t do it justice.

From 4:30 PM Saturday on, before you go out for each lap, you have to go through a medical check at the start line. They just want to be sure you’re coherent, you aren’t hiding any major injuries that could compromise your safety on the course, and that you’re not showing any signs of hypothermia. I had two female medics this time who brought me to tears pointing out that I had made it because the sun was coming up. I spent much of the start of this lap tearing up thinking about what I had already achieved, and that I knew the end was near and I would finish. All of the doubts were gone at this point and I could enjoy the rest of my time out there.

When I got to the cliff jump this lap, I began weighing my options because I didn’t feel like taking the super long penalty loop for it again. A couple of girls standing there contemplating the same pointed out that it’s over quickly, so I decided to give it another go. I stood on the edge of the platform feeling more nervous than before my first jump. Thankfully, a guy I had been walking with for a bit had just jumped and saw me hesitating from where he was floating below. He started yelling up at me to look straight ahead and not think about it. I did just that, and I started to fall in a perfect line. The free fall was long enough that I could hear him cheering for me before I entered the water perfectly this time like a pencil. I was so excited when I surfaced and happy that I took a chance to own that jump before the end of the race. It would be closed to non-elites the following lap, so that would be the last time.

Becky was waiting for me in the spectator area across from the cliff after I swam across and climbed back up. She was so excited, and seeing her brought me to tears. I asked if she was ready to come back out and finish it, but she was happy with her 6 laps and being warm and cozy again in sweats. She told me our friends Mike and Rick were going to go out for their final lap around 9:00 and it was 8:30 at that point. Perfect. I could go back and eat/hydrate before finishing with friends.

I’m pretty sure I ate everything in sight: a sandwich, 2 star crunches, an oatmeal cream pie, a Honey Stinger waffle, chips, and some sour patch kids, all while being bundled in two emergency blankets as we waited for one friend to finish lap 9 before joining us for his 10^th. I got the most painful ab cramp just before we headed out. It was so tight, I could feel this huge bulge on top of my rib cage underneath 3 layers of neoprene. All I could do was try to relax and apply some pressure to it with my knuckles. It took a good 10 minutes to go away as we began lap 9.

This was the lap where we really took our time to enjoy the course and the scenery. I tried the Everest wall for the second time determined to get up it even with my semi-slippery shoes. With the help of the long arms and strong grip of my friends, I was able to do it on my third or fourth try. I watched as my friend Mike took on obstacles he had failed earlier in the race, and nailed them with ease even with a bum shoulder. It would be his final WTM, so it was an epic way to go out. I could tell after pulling muself up and over Reach Around that I was feeling tired again, and I was ready to be done. We still had a ways to go, but I kept taking a physical inventory of my aches and pains and telling myself I was ok and I could still keep moving.

We jogged it in for our finish. My eyes started to water almost immediately from the emotion hitting me of what I had just accomplished. 9 laps/45 miles, probably an additional 10-15 miles in penalties, and I had lasted the full 24 hours which was my main goal. I found out later that I came in 13^th  our of 36 in age, 63 out of 247 women, and 362 out of 1466 overall. For my first 24-hour event, I was very happy with how I did and my attitude throughout.

This event wrapped up my 2017 racing season. I tried to take in the details: the quiet of 1400+ competitors during Sean’s opening speech, how in tune we all were singing the National Anthem when the recorded audio cut out, the bagpipes playing every hour that could be heard from anywhere on the course, the views of mountains all around and their reflections in the lake, the dust in the air that you would only see running a race in the desert, the elites running past me again and again, the encouragement of complete strangers along the course and in the pit area, approaching the platform for the cliff jump for the very first time, walking in the dark over terrain that made me feel like I must be on the moon, and crossing that finish line knowing I left it all out there and still arrived at the end in one piece.