An 11.5 mile race might not sound like to much fun for some people. But add in around 25 military- style obstacles, and it takes on a whole new meaning. It's exactly what some South Dakota residents competed in this weekend.
It's called Tough Mudder. Twelve-thousand people decided they were up to the challenge on Saturday and another 4,000 on Sunday. That included quite a few from South Dakota who traveled to Somerset, Wisconsin, to get muddy.
"Our goal is 100 percent to finish," Casey Crabtree said.
Crabtree has been training for Tough Mudder since February. He says pretty much the entire race has him worried.
"Yeah, the 12 miles and the 25 obstacles for the most part; but yeah, there's a couple that look like they're pretty tough so hopefully we can get through it as a group," Crabtree said.
"Probably some of the walls to get over, those type of things. 10 miles in you might be pretty tired and not really have the strength to get over it but hopefully with the team we'll have it and can get over it," Regan Smith said.
Smith has run marathons before and saw this as something a little out of the ordinary.
"It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun," Smith said.
"Let’s get it over with," Crabtree said.
11.5 miles, 25 obstacles, and every kind of mud you can imagine.
"Tough race; it’s a long ways. It's a long ways. The totality of it, the 12 miles, it really adds up," Crabtree said.
Crabtree says the running was the hardest part for him. But his teammates were by his side through it all.
"Some of the wall stuff, you know where you're working with a team, that stuck out. You needed your partners to get through that," Crabtree said.
And if you're looking to get dirty, it was the place to be.
“You get covered head to toe with mud and then you run and you just hope the next obstacle has water so you can get some of it off of you,” Crabtree said.
We weren’t able to get an on-camera interview with Smith after the race but he did say it wasn't as hard he thought it would be. But he had a blast doing it.
The event also raised money for the Wounded Warrior Project. So far it's raised more than $3 million.
Comments