We Met the People Flying Halfway Around the World for World's Toughest Mudder

A couple of weeks ago, nearly 1500 competitors (as well as their friends and family) from around the world flew out to the Nevada Desert to take part in one of the world’s hardest endurance races. The participants and their pit crews descended on Lake Las Vegas for the weekend, with World’s Toughest Mudder, a 24 hour obstacle race, being the centre of their weekend. This year, as well as the thousands in attendance, almost a million extra people from 200 countries watched the action online.

Some of the people who run this race are experienced athletes who live and breathe for these serious challenges. Others are just normal guys off the street, doing this with their mates, some for fun and others for charity. Before they put themselves through 24 hours of pain, we spoke to some of the competitors who'd flown halfway around the world to take part.

I’m running World’s Toughest Mudder to further raise money for Help for Heroes. I prepare for the event by pretty much training all year, to get ready for it I run multiple laps at Tough Mudder events throughout the year in the UK. I also do a lot of mileage, a lot of hill running, a lot of strength and conditioning. I could be quite biased because I’ve only done the World’s Toughest, but from what I’ve seen with all the other events I don’t think there is any other experience like this out there. It generally is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and it will continue to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, no matter how hard I train or prepare for it because the course always changes and you always end up pushing yourself that little bit further to get more miles or climb up the placing ladder.

Probably the hardest part of the event is running at night, putting your wetsuit on, putting your head torch on, going into freezing cold water and continuing to run throughout the evening, knowing that you’re not stopping until the sun comes up. And then when the sun comes up you’ve probably got another three, four, maybe five hours to keep going until you can actually finish. I would very much like to place in the top 10 this year, I think I owe it to myself to get that result. But then, it’s all very well and good me saying that, but the competition is always fierce, there’s a lot of people that have never competed before but are professional athletes or phenomenal endurance athletes. So I’ll just have to wait and see how I do, I know that I’m not going to stop, I know that I’m going to give it my best and whatever the result is at the end of the day i’ll be happy with that.

(Mark ended up running 85 miles, meaning he finished 1st out of the UK competitors (and 12th overall) and ran further than any UK entrant in the history of the event)

I’d done a lot of training to get ready for a normal Tough Mudder, and when I did that Tough Mudder the whole experience was great but I didn’t feel it challenged me enough. I felt like I could’ve done another lap or two, so because I was still pumped I got home, went on the internet and tried to find where the hardest course was and I saw Las Vegas World’s Toughest, so I just thought it was going to be an awesome trip to do the two together. I just signed up for it there and then, but it was only afterwards that I realised what was involved. I didn’t realise you needed a wetsuit, I didn’t realise how hard 24 hours would be training wise. It’s taken over my life. Every meal I’ve had since April, breakfast lunch and dinner, I’ve been conscious of what I’ve been eating. No drinking, so my social life has just kind of gone out the window, but at the same time it’s quite cool because everyone is supportive of what I’m doing.

I’ve broken it down into three hour stages. So first three hours, get out there and enjoy it, after that you put on your wetsuit, go out. 9 o’clock I’ll be going at it quite hard, that’s when I’ll change into my second wetsuit. 12 o’clock will be a milestone, because midnight, and then at 3 in the morning I’m going to do a Facebook live. So I told everyone back in England, when they’re having their breakfast to go on Facebook and see what state I’m in. And then from sunrise is going to quite a buzz, and then from then until 9 o’clock in the morning, and then you can just think you’ve got three hours left til the end. It’s just being positive as well. The last week that I was at work I was just sitting there thinking “what have I done in the last 24 hours” and then thinking that the whole of that time, I’m running in the desert, most of it in the dark.

Training wise has been Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday has been in the gym. Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday has been running and Saturday, Sunday, Monday mornings I’ve been going to do hot yoga. So that’s sort of a set of what I will do on those days, and then on those days, depending on how I feel because it does take it all out of you, and depending on what I’m eating, maybe on the Wednesday I’ll go for a 24 mile run or on the Saturday I’ll go for a 24 mile run. And in the gym, maybe on the Thursday and the Friday, I’ll push it really hard. Originally I was going at it running a lot, and then I was finding I was losing weight quite quickly and you’re muscle you’d lose. And then I was going in the gym too much I was getting too stiff and too much muscle to go running. So then I was trying to go more for endurance training, if you don’t feel like it just pushing yourself and then building up a good stamina. So my last couple of weeks of training were like I’d go out and run 16 miles, come home and eat something and then go straight back out and run again. When you finish you’re running, for me it takes like a minute for your heart rate to settle down and then you can go again and you’re not sore. When you’re stiff or something, that’s when it gets hard. The yoga really helped a lot with that, it really sort of kept me loose and focused.

I'm running for the James Wentworth-Stanley memorial fund, he was a friend of mine. He committed suicide a few years ago, and on the back of that his mother set up a charity that is all about supporting people with suicidal thoughts. When I used to have a career in polo I was doing very well in that, but I always wanted to be an architect. In a career like that, the only way to get out of it was just to walk away altogether with no ties and go from a career like that to student flats in Leeds and becoming a student was really hard and I got quite depressed with it. That charity helped me out a lot then, and thats why I want to do it for them.

It’s pushing me beyond my limits I think, and trying to do something that’s better than me and trying to better myself and push myself. You’re out in the desert, with you’re friends and family and camaraderie. It’s just a great, spectacular race. I’ve been training pretty much non stop. I’ve been injured pretty often this year, I’ve had shin splints, runners knee, you name it. But the last three or four weeks injury free, so just concentrating on running, intervals, upper body strength and conditioning. I’m not scared right now, I’m feeling quite confident, I’m not nervous. But I think that’ll all change tomorrow when we get on the start line and it all sinks in that we’ve got to run this race for 24 hours, or more actually, and the obstacles, and making sure we get over the ones we need to complete and get through. That’s probably what I’m more nervous about, until I actually see it and do it.

The longest I’ve done is 18 hours back in July, I finished 42 miles. That was some good training, learnt a lot about nutrition as well that I’m trying to do here. So we’ll see how it goes in 24. My top target is 60, get that brown bib is definitely what I’m going to try and do. Right now I’m confident, it’s just about how the body stands up. I’ve got the legs that can get through, I’ve got the upper body strength I think to get through, mentally I’m alright. It’s just all three together, with the conditions we’ve got because it’s hot.

I wanted a challenge about three years ago, I wanted to do something a little bit different than just road running. I saw a Tough Mudder, a couple of friends signed up so I went with them, it was in Winchester a couple of years ago. I ran it with them in three hours and loved every minute of it, I instantly signed up for the next one and it was just a snowball effect. I keep going to these and other events that are out there, just keep doing it, it’s about bettering yourself each time and seeing what you’re body can do. This is my first time at World’s Toughest, hopefully not my last. The events that have been put on, the community that’s here is amazing. I think that’s what puts it apart.

For more information about World's Toughest Mudder, and the rest of the Tough Mudder events, head to www.toughmudder.co.uk