The Argument for Electric Obstacles

An article posted today on Today.com has reignited the debate over Tough Mudder's electric obstacles.

Tough Mudder gained fame due in no small part to its electrically-charged obstacles -- such as Electroshock Therapy and Electric Eel -- in which participants brave being zapped by electric wires while wet or actually in water. The article on Today.com interviewed emergency room doctors, who saw a rash of Tough Mudder participants, most with injuries related to electric obstacles, following a Tough Mudder in Pennsylvania last spring. The doctors in the article state the obvious: Getting zapped by electricity can be dangerous.

For some obstacle racers, the article was the latest excuse to take to message boards and complain about TM's electric obstacles, with some calling them too dangerous, while other opponents dismiss them as little more than a gimmick.

The Struggle to Define "Success" (A Recap of the 2013 World's Toughest Mudder)

It's hard to measure success when that line is constantly shifting.

Shortly after my first obstacle race in 2010 -- a Warrior Dash at a ski resort in New York, where I felt like I was going to die after making the mistake of sprinting the beginning and gassing out -- a friend said I should do something called a Tough Mudder in Vermont. I laughed and dismissed it. I was approaching 39, and even in my best days, there was no way I could have ever run a 10-mile race, never mind full of obstacles on a mountain.

But when friends said they were signing up for it, I figured if they could do it, I could. The idea of a Tough Mudder scared the hell out of me, and, fueled by fear, I trained my ass off. I came in a little over three hours, but I walked away with a nagging feeling that I could do better. I resolved to return the next year with new goals -- to qualify for World's Toughest Mudder (at the time, you had to qualify for WTM by being in the Top 5 percent of finishers) and to complete the Mount Snow, Vermont course twice in one day.

Tao of Obstacle Racing

In the week leading up to the 24-hour 2013 World's Toughest Mudder, I remembered the quote above from Bruce Lee: "Be like water." It resonated. With just days to go before the race, Tough Mudder announced fairly dramatic changes to the course -- the 2013 version of WTM would feature a 5-mile course instead of the previous 10-mile course. It also wouldn't feature long, cold swims as an obstacle; competitors had a chance to stay "relatively dry," provided they completed each obstacle perfectly.

These changes caused strong reactions on messageboards. Many complained, saying the course would resemble a Warrior Dash, that the 5-mile course would make it easier. Others wondered how the focus on making the race obstacle-heavy would play out. I thought of Lee's quote.