New Zealand's inaugural Tough Mudder a success

Thousands of mud-mad Kiwis and international visitors completed New Zealand’s inaugural Tough Mudder event at Hampton Downs this weekend. From the sideline, they were supported by over a thousand spectators of all ages.

The large-scale, global adventure event, designed by British SpecialForces, landed in New Zealand for the first time this weekend. Tough Mudder’s Senior Vice President – Asia-Pacific, Drew Ward, says the first New Zealand event exceeded organisers’ expectations, proving Kiwis are as tough as ever.

“The reputation New Zealanders have of giving anything a go and jumping in head first proved absolutely true this weekend. And the camaraderie on the course was fantastic – in true Kiwi spirit, everyone helped each other.”

The 20km course was littered with a series of gruelling obstacles including the “Kiss of Mud” barbed wire mud crawl, “Everest” - a greased-up quarter pipe, the “Arctic Enema” ice bath, and the world renowned “Electroshock Therapy” live wires.

People travelled from overseas for the event, including many from Australia and the US. A third of the participants were female.

Tough Mudder was created in 2010 by Englishmen Will Dean and Guy Livingstone. Dean developed the idea while studying at Harvard Business School. The phenomenon has exploded across the world since then, with over 1.3 million people having participated in a Tough Mudder event to date. 2014 will see more than 60 Tough Mudder events taking place globally.

Rather than being a race it is a challenge designed to test all-around strength, stamina, mental grit and teamwork.

Among the participants were actor Jared Turner, sportsman Wairangi Koopu, and Shortland St star and Tough Mudder Ambassador Pua Magasiva.

Of his experience, Magasiva said, “Now I know why they call it Tough Mudder. My legs are shot, because I sped out too quickly at the beginning, but I’m so glad I did it - twice. The best part is when everyone starts helping each other.” Pua completed the 20km course on both days.

69-year-old Tough Mudder finisher, Vicky Williamson from Auckland, says, “It was fantastic. The best bits were the electricity and doing it with my three girl friends from Queensland – we all grew balls, and had a ball.”

Whangarei’s Adelle Allbon says, “Tough Mudder was awesome, I’m about to sign up for next year. The Electroshock Therapy was pretty crazy and the high wall took me a couple of attempts but the camaraderie was brilliant. You couldn’t do it without people helping you through.”

Ward says the team at Tough Mudder HQ are looking forward to bringing the event back to New Zealand in 2015. Details will be announced soon and tickets are on sale now.

More info at www.toughmudder.com.au