We are
approaching two and a half years of challenges, something I didn’t think would
be possible when I first started. Completing two and a half challenges would
have been a decent effort but I’ve managed to surprise myself (and probably a
few others as well).
CHALLENGE #29 (OCR #17)
Tough Mudder NW
11-12 mile
OCR
September
12th 2015
Cholmondley
Estate
If I
mention to any “regular” person that I do OCRs then the first question is often
something along the lines of, “Oh, you mean like Tough Mudder?”. Love them or
hate them (and there are people firmly at both ends of the spectrum), Tough
Mudder did help to put OCR on the map. True, they are now getting prohibitively
expensive and not overly conducive to a day out the way some of the others are
(£12 to park, £12 just to watch). But they helped to kickstart this OCR
revolution in many people’s eyes and they still have a part to play for me.
Pre-Race
Day Organisation
Pretty good. I managed to get an entry for about
£50-60 as a result of doing the survey after last year’s one so the cost was
kept down a bit. I got one of those “general entries” which requires conversion
into a specific race when the dates are known. To be fair to TM, it was slick
and easy to change and they provided everything you need well ahead of time.
Now about that price…..
8 – Very
Good
Event
Facilities
Decent facilities including plenty of toilets, a
merchandise tent, beer tent and a Mini-Mudder for the little ones. The problems
I have are (a) £12 for parking and a pretty big queue to get everyone in and
(b) £3 for a bag drop. Yes it is for charity, and anyone who reads this blog
regularly knows how much I like to do for charity, but £3 is a bit steep in my
eyes.
7 - Good
Registration
and Race Day Organisation
Slick and easy registration, very pleasantly
surprised by this in fact. Was well organised and plenty of staff on hand to
keep people moving. Race Day Organisation was a bit rubbish though, we turned
up at the warm-up area at 1030 for our 1040 wave only to be told that 1040 was
already in the second warm-up pen and the 1100 wave were being pre-warmed up!
Doesn’t really matter with TM as no-one checks your wave but an announcement or
two wouldn’t have gone amiss.
7 –Good
Location
and Watchability
Only an hour from Manchester and pretty good
(judging by the accents I heard on the way round) for the Merseyside and
Midlands crowds. Three well marked out spectator routes for those who want to
come and cheer you on, along with signposts to all the main obstacles.
9 – Excellent
On Course
Facilities
Plenty of well-spaced water stations dotted around
(I think I counted four or five) although only a couple of them had any
refreshments beyond the “sponsored” water. Mile markers dotted around always
cheers me up too (especially when it tells you that you are close to the end)!
Lots of marshals around the major obstacles too.
7 – Good
Warm-up and Briefings
Despite the problem with the wave timings, the
warm-up and briefings did the job satisfactorily, if not greatly. The
pre-warm-up crowd surf was a new one on me and did plenty to raise everyone’s
camaraderie and sense of togetherness beforehand. But like so many other races,
the warm-up area was too small and the warm-up too far in advance of starting
to be really useful. Briefing was fun as always and you never cross the start
line at TM without feeling pumped up.
7 – Good
Variety
of Obstacles
Pretty standard really, despite TM promotional
adverts showing all kinds of funky stuff for us to take on. They had updated a
few of the obstacles (arctic enema, mud mile etc..) from last year but nothing
really jumped out and said “wow”. Bit disappointed with the lack of a
Legionnaire’s Loop too.
7 – Good
Obstacle-to-run
Mix
Plenty of running, but at 11-and-a-bit miles that is
not unexpected. Only really had the one major queue so the balance must have
been reasonable when you consider that people are starting every twenty
minutes. Never really got bored during the running phases either so all-in-all,
not too shabby,
7 - Good
Usage of
Terrain and Nature
Not the hilliest place to stage an OCR but they
still managed to introduce a few ups-and-downs. Most of the major obstacles
were man-made but a decent fist was made of incorporating the available
features and terrain.
7 – Good
Post-Race
Pack
Tough Mudder don’t do medals, and for a while this
year they didn’t plan to do T-Shirts either! A post-race bottle of cider and a
non-tech T-Shirt felt like a pretty poor return, considering the phenomenal
expense some people encountered for their tickets. Yes, you get a very funky TM
headband to sport in work (or in my case two as I got my green 2xTM) but I’d
like to see something a bit more lasting please.
6 – Above
Average
Course
Difficulty: 7
Obstacle
Difficulty: 7
Not the
most difficult course on the legs, though the sheer distance knocks up the
difficulty a notch or two compared to your “typical” `10km courses. Obstacle
wise there wasn’t much here that a seasoned OCRer would struggle with – I had
the usual go at everything, with my equally usual fall off some things. It’s
not a tough event in the grand scheme of things and most newbies would
certainly be able to have a go at most of the obstacles, if not all.
Overall
Thoughts
Just the
two of us this time, and the second half of the race was spent minus Rick as I
was running so slow that his knee was beginning to hurt from lack of pace! I
really enjoyed the first 6-7 miles but struggled massively in the last few to
keep going. Strange atmosphere on the course too considering the number of
people watching, I didn’t hear as many people shouting encouragement as I have
at other events. Overall I enjoyed it however, though it might be my last TM
until the prices come down.
Overall Score
7.0 – As mentioned
before I got this cheap, but for £100+ I don’t feel you get the greatest value
for money. Some of the new obstacles being advertised weren’t around and it was
missing that little something for me. TM events are well put on and professionally
run though, so you will definitely have a good time if you take part. My
advice: grab a bunch of you (6 to 8) and go for the banter and the memories!
A reminder of the system
10.0 Nothing will ever get 10.0, you should always strive for better
9.5 Sell organs AND children. And everything you own. About as good as it
gets
9.0 Sell organs and/or children to do this event every single time
8.5 Highly recommended indeed, this gets booked as soon as it is released
8.0 A very good event, only money or illness would stop this being a
yearly thing
7.5 Definitely one to recommend. Not much would keep me away
7.0 On the list for another go, though not necessarily an automatic
selection
6.5 Would do this one again if the stars aligned, but wouldn’t break
the bank for it
6.0 Was fun but only a very cheap deal and a free weekend would tempt
me again
below 6.0 Not for me for one reason or another.
EVENT REVIEWS SO FAR
8.0 Tough Guy
7.5 Reaper Day Race
7.5 Dirty Weekend
7.5 Mudnificent 7
7.5 Yorkshire Warrior (Year 1)
7.0 TOUGH MUDDER NORTH WEST (YEARs 1 and 2)
7.0 Iron Run
7.0 Survival of the Fittest Manchester (Years 1 and 2)
7.0 Spartan Sprint Yorkshire
7.0 Total Warrior Lake District
7.0 Spartan Sprint Manchester
7.0 Yorkshire Warrior (Year 2)
7.0 Avalanche - Chase the Yeti
7.0 Deerstalker
6.5 Mighty Deerstalker
6.5 Pandemonium Iced
6.5 Stockton River Rat Race
6.0 Ram Run
Next up was supposed to be a repeat of one of my favourite events so
far, Reaper. But shoulder damage
incurred during a nasty fall off a wall at TM means I’m probably not going to
be fit in time for that one.
So the honour of marking 30 challenges will go to Manchester Survival of the Fittest, the first three-peat OCR I’ve
done and, interestingly, the first OCR I ever attempted way back in November
2013.
The sport has come a long way since then, as have I.
Till next
time,
DT
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