Tough Mudder Midlands is the second event of the UK season. Belvoir Castle is also home to Europe’s Toughest Mudder which was happening this event weekend too. Unfortunately due to a clash of races (Tough Mudder moved ETM) I was unable to participate, however I still managed to fit in the “Classic” 10 mile course on the Saturday morning.
Watch the video to see all the obstacles!
The Obstacles
- Kiss of Mud – Muddy Crawl under low barbed wire. The “level up” lane was a tigher squeeze
- Pitfall – Large pit of water with hidden “drops”, catching out unwary participants – usually getting a face full of water/mud
- Hero Walls – three levels of wall heights to get over solo in as a team
- Blockness Monster – rolling blocks in around 5ft of water. Get your team to start rolling to traverse up and over
- Everest – Quarter pipe ramp. 3 levels for all abilities. The highest level is one to be mastered with the help of team mates at the top giving you a hand
- Tight Squeeze – a variation of birth canal. A crawl under large bags of water which push you down to the ground.
- Over tired – Climb over a large A frame. The level up lane is taller than the usual routes
- Entrapment – crawl under electric wire
- Agustus Gloop – Climbing up a ladder as a heavy shower comes down on top of you
- Cliff Hanger – Climb up a hill (not even as steep as Killa Gorilla if I’m honest)
- Funky Monkey – Grip strength needed to cross the pit of water. Level up lane has a rope climb rather than rope ladder. The whole set up is easier than previous years, but is still challenging for the masses and has a better completion rate!
- Leap of Faith – Jump across a trench of water onto a rope ladder. Use some core strength to slide down a pole to the other side.
- Arctic Enema – 2 submersions into a water bath full of ice!
- Creek Crusade – Cross the river
- Island Hopping – A floating platform onto the river, get across and jump the gaps
- Devil’s Beard – Cargo Nets
- Killa Gorilla – Hill repeats
- Texas Hold ‘Em – a deceiving little obstacle that requires team work to geto across it. The introduction of tubes make the whole thing much harder.
- Pyramid Scheme – Get over the A Frame with the help of your buddies
- Hero Carry – Piggy back and switch
- Spread Eagle – Rope traverse
- Mud Mile – Infamously muddy! Large trenches full of mud and water
- Black Widow – Traverse a pit of water across a tangled web of ropes eaning you have to duck and weave
- The Whopper – 4 obstacles in 1 – Balance Beam, Arm Dip, Monkey Bars (changed from Rings) and wall hang (aka Just the Tip)
- Mudderhorn – Huge A frame with awesome views from the top
- Electro Shock Therapy – run the gauntlet through 10,000 volts of electricity
Final thoughts
Changing back from 2 loops to one loop made for an interesting route change. The start of the course is different with some elevation climb around some of the beautiful Belvoir surroundings. There is still a bit of crossing / back and forth across the main obstacle area which is a little flat and boring, but interesting to see others completing the obstacles . The introduction of “island hopping” was a nice change, whilst it’s always fun to see the unexpected drops in “pitfall”.
Village wasn’t as “banging” as London West, but I was there early and due to commitments didn’t hang around. No grand stand at Electro Shock Therapy, but enough space for spectators to watch the fun and games.
