Photos from 2012 Tough Mudder Las Vegas

I can still smell the foul, rotten mud. This past weekend Tough Mudder Las Vegas held their 2012 race in Beatty Nevada about 2 hours outside of Las Vegas.

What is Tough Mudder?

The Tough Mudder is a 12 mile adventure race over natural and man made obstacles. The goal is to get yourself and your fellow Mudders to the finish by running and hiking the race course along with conquering the obstacles.

More Than A Race

Teamwork and camaraderie are the cornerstone of Tough Mudder events. As I watched the race on Saturday heard participants cheering each other on, and I saw complete strangers helping each other through the obstacles. One racer was transported by his entire team to the first aid station for a sprained ankle. Individuals and teams wore tee-shirts decorated with nicknames like “Chief Shitting Bull” and “Missionary Impossible”.

Tough Mudder Obstacles

The obstacles require a mix of upper and lower body strength and racers don’t know the exact obstacles for the event until they get on the race course. Here was the obstacle list and course map for the Tough Mudder Las Vegas 2012.

In order:

Kiss of Mud – The first mud pit
Cliffhanger – Scramble up a very steep hill of dirt and loose rock.
Trench Warfare – Slide under barbed wire through a pool of mud and water
Arctic Enema – Jump off a tower into a pond of dirty, cold water
Berlin Walls #1 – Scale the 10 foot high wooden walls.
Underwater Tunnels – Crawl in through and underground tunnel of mud.
Walk the Plank
Dong Dangler – Cross the pond via the rope line.
Log Jammin’ – Navigate over and under a series of logs.
Berlin Walls #2 - Scale the 10 foot high wooden walls.
Jesus Walk – Walk across the hidden the underwater stones or fall into the deep water on each side.
Funky Monkey – Swing across the monkey bars to the other side.
Electric Eel – Slide through the pool of water while being shocked by volts of electricity
Dirty Ballerina
Boa Constrictor
Hangin Tough – Swing across a pit of water on gymnastic rings.
Human Gecko – Scale the sideways walls of rock climbing grips or fall into a pond of green water.
Mud Mile – A very long series of muddy manure hills and water pits.
Everest – Run up the skateboarding ramp allow your teammates to help hoist you to the top.
Electroshock Therapy – Endure the gauntlet of electric tentacles to reach the finish line.

Would I Do It?

You betcha. Registration is already open for the Tough Mudder Las Vegas 2013 on April 13 & 14. I loved taking pictures of the event but I really wanted to jump in the mud with everyone else.