Back in 2017, I completed my first ever Tough Mudder, which is an event I’d put off for many years, primarily due to the aggressive marketing and fear of failure. As you can see, I had an amazing time…
So when we heard that Tough Mudder Urban 5km was coming to Northampton, the natural choice was to give into curiosity, sign up and see what the event would have in store.
We arrived early which gave me time to explore some of the obstacles, eat some snacks and play basketball. I’m not entirely sure how this all fits in with Tough Mudder regardless it provided us with some light entertainment. I shamefully hadn’t put in any training prior to the event, due to the fact I’m going through what I’d call a ‘busy stage‘ (help – I can’t say no!) and I was confident in my ability to run 5km.
Fortunately, we were on the 9.20am wave (I do love an early start) and we soon headed to the start point to warm up to “I’m sexy and I know it” which, was very apt indeed. G kept a significant distance from me during the warm-up, I’m sure this was because of my creatively confident dance moves and inability to follow basic instructions. Then we were off, the race started with a straightforward flat run and our first 3 obstacles were all wall based.
Top Tip – Anyone considering Tough Mudder who’s vertically challenged (I’m all of 5’6) might I recommend asking a taller person to “wall sit” and allow you the pleasure of stepping on their shoulder? Flopping over the top of the wall is also an effective way to get to know people better.
To make up the 5km, we were effectively lapping one of the training pitches of the Saints Rugby ground, there were a few modest obstacles along the way such as being a human wheelbarrow and crawling under nets. Before we knew it, we were back at the start where they had bundled together the 4 obstacles, which I can only assume was due to space limitations.
I approached “Everest” which looked more like Snowdon in comparison to previous events, and as predicted, I went on to face plant during my first attempt. Then, encouraged by small children spectating and my own ambition, I succeeded on my second attempt – Hurrah, this was a personal best. We then moved onto “The pyramid scheme”, which was also a lot more modest than the full Tough Mudder. But, on reflection, this is a good thing, because it gives people more of an opportunity to be successful on the first attempt. Most importantly, we stopped at the top to help others up, because that’s one of the parts I find most rewarding.
The final obstacle was “Monkey bars”, which is something I couldn’t complete but I aimlessly hung on the first rig and made it look as if I was considering the obstacle. The finish was very uneventful, but we were rewarded with a T-shirt, Headband, Snickers, free photos and a Beer.
Now, as I want to be completely honest, I need to be negative, the event parking was absolutely obscene at £10.00 a car, so we decided to park and walk. My biggest complaint would certainly be bag drop, it was £3 which is fine BUT there was no order or security, we could have easily walked away with someone else’s bags. Frankly, this was completely inexcusable and did put a dampener on the experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed the event, it wasn’t muddy or incredibly difficult and it would be perfect if you wanted to try out an obstacle race, without covering a huge distance or dealing with intimidating situations.
Katie
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