South West returns to the Badminton estate, but it is only for one day as it is paired with Spartan Race which ran on the Sunday. However, this meant that the course was buzzing, with over 7,000 participants on the day through all the obstacles, and, with so many people, very few queues! I ran with fellow @UKOCR Who’s Hot presenter and elite OCR racer, Becky Neal – @therunnerbeanuk on Instagram.
Now, if you have been following me for sometime, you may know that South West is one of my least favourite courses. The lack of elevation for one, but its becuase its always seemed like one long dog leg of and out and back – running past people who have just started or just finished – seeing pretty much all of the course in the distance with all the loops.
This year was different – of course, its the same estate, but the small changes in the course meant that it felt like a properly thought out course, with very little loops. Great runners course, with some long running sections on the 15km – fun obstacle placements (although no real surprises) but I do like the feel of the “gauntlet” towards the end – Stairway to Heaven – Pyramid Scheme, Everest, Arctic Enema, Mudder Horn, Hanging Tough then finishing into Electro Shock Therapy And lets have a moment for Electro Shock Therapy – Levelled up once again by TMHQ – the addition of a large hay bale is both evil and genius!
Video is from the 11am wave on Saturday – apologies for the quality of some of the footage. The weather was playing havoc – as you can see, we started in bright beautiful sunshine and ended in what felt like a tropical storm, wtih all the seasons inbetween!
Tough Mudder South West 2023 YouTube Video
Tough Mudder South West 2023 Obstacle list
1 – Hero Walls
2 – Birth Canal
3 – Just the Tip
4 – Human Gecko
5 – Cry Baby
6 – Texas Hold Em
7 – Electric Eel
8 – Blockness Monster
9 – Mud Mile
10 – Hero Carry
11 – Walk this Way
12 – Trench Warfare
13 – Devils Beard
14 – Bale Bonds
15 – Funky Monkey
16 – Dingle Berries
17 – Hydrophobia
18 – Lumber Jacked
19 – Kiss of Mud
20 – Mudder Squeeze
21 – Sack Up
22 – Twinkle Toes
23 – Stairway to Heaven
24 – Pyramid Scheme
25 – Everest
26 – Arctic Enema
27 – Mudderhorn
28 – Hangin Tough
29 – Electroshock Therapy
Tough Mudder South West 2023 image gallery
Tough Mudder South West final thoughts
South West has gone from (in my opinion) the most boring course, to one that I really enjoyed! TMHQ made a few small changes to the course which made it less “out and back” . The last gauntlet of obstacles definitely added to this. I also guess, being paired up with Spartan and only running the course once of the weekend helped!
The placement of Mudder Squeeze was a mistake, with huge queues building up for what is commonly known as a “filler” obstacle.
All seasons in one day on course, loved the atmosphere (due to pulling all the participants in to one day, rather than over the weekend)
Looking forward to returning once again in 2024.
Scores on the doors
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