Month: July 2019

While just about every popular mud run will have both genders running through, there are those designed for only women. We’ll go over 2 of the most popular races you can partake in if you’re a female! 

The first is the “Dirty Girl Mud Run”. 

It is likely that Dirty Girl is the most popular mud run for females. While only 5k and open to any female contestant over 14 years of age, it is still challenging enough for first timers who have never gone through these obstacle races before. 

There are 10 obstacles that will be challenging for first timers, but for those who are fit, it is likely that they may not be as interesting and while Dirty Girl is the most popular race, it is recommended that if you’re seeking a bigger challenge, to face one of the most longer and difficult races like these, where men also compete. 

Still, when it comes to THIS particular race, it is fun and just about anyone who doesn’t have any medical conditions should have a great time with their friends and family members on there. Here’s a link to Dirty Girl Mud Run.

The second is “Muderella”:

Originally, this was an even that was up to 7 miles long and full of obstacles as well, making it longer and possibly harder than Dirty Girl. Yet something has changed…

If you try to look up this race, it links to Tough Mudder for some reason. In fact, any pages that originally had this race, now point to the other race. It is possible that this race is no longer in business and it does happen, as with the case of BattleFrog which recently cancelled all of it’s races. 

But what it now points to more often is the “Tough Mudder Half” which is a 5+ mile race, but it is not just for women, but men too. 

There are a few other races for women available, but they are local ones you’d have to find, otherwise, Dirty Girl and the other (which may be unavailable) are the 2 mainstream choices.

What to wear?

Well anything I recommend men wear, I will recommend the same for women, namely these things. 

But for a quick list:

• Leggings. Protect your skin from the mud, just in case.

• Spandex shirt which covers the entire body and arms, up to the hands themselves. Again, the more skin that’s covered, the safer you’ll be.

• Great traction sneakers. The ones I wear are the Salomon SpeedCross and they also have a number of options for women too.

I would say those 3 things are the most important, but for the list above, you may also want to consider the other 7 things.

Also if you’re more experienced and enjoy wearing something “unorthodox”, consider costume ideas like these people come into these races with. Believe me, it can get pretty shocking as to what people can think of wearing to these things!

But overall, anything you wear, traditional or not will get dirty, and possibly even ripped a little bit if you’re not careful, so don’t worry about investing too much money into the clothing. If you get through the race without damaging it, that’s great, just wash it and have it ready for next time. If you’re careful enough, you can re-use the same clothing for at least 2 or more events.

How to train:

Again, every type of training regiment I have listed to get ready for mud runs applies to both men and women. Train harder for the more difficult races and a bit more liberally for the less difficult ones. 

For Dirty Girl, you probably won’t need much more than the ability to be able to jog 3 and a half miles and do some basic strength training regiments as well as scale monkey bars. If you can do all these 3 things, not only are you ready for Dirty Girl, but chances are, you’ll also be ready for just about every single 5k race there is, with the exception of the Spartan 5k which, while the same distance, is more intense in it’s terrain and obstacles. 

Keep in mind, you can always participate in ANY of these other races:

While I am a man who has done a bunch of these races, I have often seen teams of women doing them and having a great time. Here’s some of the obstacle events I’ve done:

• Spartan Race, twice.
• Tough Mudder.
• MudManX.
• Survival Race.

And in all of them, women were always participating as well. I will mention that the difficulty of something like Dirty Girl is not that different from the other races that feature both genders. You’ll still get similar obstacles and similar difficulty, unless you specifically do a more advanced race. 

So if you can’t find one of those female only races in your area, don’t worry about looking up one that has men in it too, as the obstacles are probably similar and you’ll have the same kind of fun.

If you want, you are free to make your own female only team and register as such on every race’s website. You can also make your own uniforms or enter under a specific team name and go through the event that way if you wish. Basically…

Even if the race you find isn’t just for women, there’s many areas made for you:

Many of the obstacles in most of the events have different sections for each gender. For example, in areas where you lift weights, women will get a slightly lighter weight to lift and carry. 

Just because both genders run through the same course doesn’t mean they have to go through the exact same version of the obstacle/s. So you don’t have to worry about having to face the same level of intensity if you don’t want to 🙂

While you’ll free to go through the men’s obstacles as well, just know that you can always pick out a different version if you’re not comfortable with it. Personally some of the weights I had to carry in something like the Spartan Race were too ridiculously heavy for even me and I would have preferred something lighter! 

Either way, if you find any more mud runs that are only made for women, let me know!

To me the though of wearing a nice or strange costume to an event where you’re going to get dirty is strange, but it’s really a thing and in this case, mud runs are the sport where lots of people who like to participate wear costumes and let me tell you, I’ve seen some that are quite out there…

Let’s get the basic outfits out of the way. The most common are uniforms.

It is very common for team members to wear similar uniforms and outfits to represent themselves. I have seen some incredible looking outfits being worn by men and women (oh I love the outfits they wear!), but here are the most ridiculous ones I’ve seen and I’ve got to say, they definitely made my eyes turn:

1) Kiss.

Yes, the rock band Kiss. In my most recent race a few months back, while my wave was waiting to start the race, we saw the previous wave passing by us and guess who comes out? 4 team members all dressed like Kiss. They walked up to our wave and gave us all a high five.

2) Moses.

Yes THAT Moses. In the same wave that had the Kiss team, a man dressed as Moses also made an appearance. There must have been something about that wave that attracted the costume fanatics…

Now the guy who wore this outfit went all out with it. He wore the robe, had the stick and beard, everything. But half of it was extremely dirty because of the mud he’d been going through.

3) A man wearing something that isn’t exactly traditional…

I am talking of course…about a thong. I kid you not, there was a man , on our wave who was going through the entire race in nothing but a thong and shoes. I do give him credit, he was doing this without a single care and even showing off! He did get a lot of attention from other competitors!

4) 2 men running in business suits.

Complete business suites mind you, WITH a briefcase. They were running on a track behind us, but when they crossed my team, they were completely wet and still keeping to their costume’s theme.

5) A man wearing a rat (or possum) outfit.

Now this wasn’t from my experience, but from watching a YouTube video of people going through what’s known as Electroshock Therapy. I was looking at that video for reference and as I examined it, BOOM, a man appeared in what looked like boxers, while wearing a rat outfit.

The surprise of seeing something so unusual (and after every costume I’ve seen so far!) made me laugh.

Unfortunately there is a lack of pictures to show all of these experiences because during the Tough Mudder race where I saw 3 out of the 5 costume examples, I didn’t have my Gopro on. The only time I did was when I was doing an obstacle, where Mr. Thong ran through.

I will tell you though, that people on every race that I’ve seen who see these things are very encouraging to those who do this. They applaud, clap and cheer them on so if you are the type whose shy but your friends are trying to get you to wear something, consider that:

• People are usually very nice on these races, especially towards those who have the guts to wear crazy things.
• You’re all going to get dirty anyway so it doesn’t matter how you dress up in the long run.

Here are ideas for mud run costumes if you’re into this:

Here’s a whole Pinterest page dedicated to this concept.

Is it wise to wear costumes to these races?

I like seeing unusual things, things that make me and other competitors laugh and seeing people wearing clothing that makes us smile is not something I’d ever be for making a rule against, but it is important to understand that the riskier your outfit, the more chances a simple slip, fall or injury can be worse if you’re not protected by a layer of traditional clothing that’s more suited for these races.

Let’s take our friend, the thong wearer, suppose that person were to fall or get cut somewhere. Just about his entire body is exposed to all the unclean elements of a mud run and if he were to get cut, there would be more chances that he could catch an infection.

And then there is also the outfits which make moving much more difficult. Take a person who puts on a full dress or robe, and imagine how difficult it would be for the to run through the obstacles of a these races when they can barely move around.

These types of clothing can be risky, especially for these activities because they can either impede your flexibility or they can worsen what would be a normal injury. 

Now this isn’t supposed to turn people away from wearing wild outfits and I would recommend them for more experienced runners who understand what’s necessary to get through these races without injuring yourself, but for beginners, it’s not worth the risk.

Wearing traditional mud clothing for these races is really the safest:

If you’re more for being wild and doing something that will catch eyes and make you more memorable, costumes will work, but if you’re more for safety, wear something traditional.

Now traditional mud run clothing varies, but here’s my 10 must wears. I think wearing those things maintains your flexibility and keeps you safe, including your muscles (which will kept warm). Here’s a sample of what I usually wear:

Are there any rules against wearing costumes to these races? 

No, although you are advised to wear certain kinds of clothing and generally they give you some good ideas for staying safe, they aren’t mandatory and you can go “crazy” with the costume ideas, but keep in mind the risks that go with wearing them as well.

If you are the type whose doing a mud run for the first time and really want to wear something unusual, at least do an easy 5K race first and be careful. At the very least, no matter how crazy you go with the outfit, at least make sure to wear some good sneakers so you reduce the risk of slipping.

Block Ness Monster is frankly, one of the easier obstacles I experienced on Tough Mudder. Maybe it was because my team and I worked pretty well together or maybe it was because the challenge itself was easy, but aside from it being pretty obvious on how to bypass, lots of people do it different ways. 

The way I want to show you that my team and I did it is one I feel is the easier one, saves energy and helps you stay fresh for the remainder of the race. Considering that the blockness monster is somewhere around the middle of a Tough Mudder event (it could shift depending on how they organize the obstacles), it never hurts to have extra energy, and outputting too much on this one is just unnecessary. 

I once wrote about this challenge in a topic covering all of Tough Mudder’s obstacles, and I was halfway right about passing it, but the way here is far easier.

Anyway, here is how you should consider going through it:

First, know that you’re going to be jumping in COLD water. When we ran up to it, I got excited because of all the things I saw on it and jumped right in without thinking anything. Well I almost jumped out just as quickly due to how cold it was so be prepared to experienced that. It’s about 3 feet deep.

The next thing depends on how many people are there. Chances are, you and your team are not going to be alone when you do this, so besides working together, it’s ideal that half of you aim to go on the other side, then help the other half get there. So communicate with people, otherwise, it’s going to be annoying for unequal weights to be pushing the block. 

Now we get to the specific technique for passing this challenge.

Let’s consider this:

1) The block is a long rectangle and obviously it has 4 sides. Let’s name each side with a letter, A-D. The object is to turn the sides of the rectangle so everyone gets over. 

You, your team and whoever is on the same side of the rectangle is on side A and you’re trying to get to side C. You need to rotate that thing counter clockwise (in this case).

2) Ok so remember the part I said about half the people jumping over to carry the other half over. We’ll keep it simple and only use 2 people, person 1 and 2.

Person 1 jumps on the edge of side B and person 2 is going to lift/push side A counter clock wise. As soon as the block moves a little to the side, person 1 should use that moment to scramble to the his whole body to the edge of B. Before he was holding on with his hands, and now his whole body is locked in that area:

3) Now as person 2 continues to push the block, eventually, it’ll shift sides completely so what was originally B at the top (part 1) will now be A and person 1 will be at the top of it. Now this is where the technique begins. 

Most people just jump over to the other side and continue to push the rectangle from that side, which works, but what we accidentally did that turned out to be a little easier was that when person 1 was at the top of the rectangle, instead of jumping over, he needs to rotate 180 degrees and hold onto the corner of A (this will now be the area person 2 was originally pushing). 

You’ll see why this turn will make it easier in a moment…

4) Now when the block starts to shift into a diagonal position again, NOW person 2 can either hop on the corner of A (where person 1 is holding) or they can hold onto the corner of D, the next corner. I prefer the the first one which person 1 hangs onto, so it gets done faster.

The job shifts to person 1 now to use the momentum of the rectangle moving to add their weight to it to make it go faster and basically lift person 2 as it happens. They push counter clockwise (same direction).

You see the technique is an energy saver because person 1 doesn’t have to push the other side and get their arms tired, they just naturally use their weight with the swing of the rectangle to carry over person 2:

And from there, it’s simple because the momentum is going to continue until person 2 goes over. And from there, you will need to repeat this on another block or 2, but the technique will be the same. 

But that’s all it takes to make this obstacle easy to bypass. I will now show you photos of us doing it, but I used those illustrations because the photos just don’t catch all the details of the technique like the illustrations above do.

For example, here is me doing part 2, where I was the first to jump up and hold onto the side of the rectangle:

Then I did the switch to the other side (part 3):

And when the turn was done, I held onto the other side and pushed it with my weight. Here it’s hard to see the whole thing, but the reflection on the block shows me holding on and pushing:

Then as the momentum was happening, I slipped and fell, but luckily it was already at a point where the rest of my team was getting carried over. And one guy to my left was still pulling with his weight down:

As you can see from those series of pictures, it would be VERY hard for me to explain this technique with them.

It wasn’t easy to film this “professionally” with my GoPro so you can see why I had to go with the other cheap illustration as the example. 

The first block we went through, we did it the regular way most people do it and you can certainly complete this obstacle that way, but if you’re well into the race and tired, our way may be a little bit easier and saves just that needed amount of energy to carry you through the other obstacles! 

Update: Blockness monster is tough only when…

There’s too many people trying to do it who don’t know how. This is what happened when I did a second Tough Mudder event a year later and this time around, when I ran into this obstacle, there were many more people, all trying their own ways to complete it, and this naturally caused confusion, disorganization and a longer time to complete it.

Luckily, a majority of the people doing it figured it out quickly allowing them to help even those who didn’t understand it, to also complete it and it involved using the same strategy I talked about that I used to complete the first one.

One of the biggest surprises to me when I did Tough Mudder was how much more difficult the obstacles turned out to be vs when I researched them. The ones I though would be easiest, particularly the wall climbing challenges, all ended up being much more difficult than I though, specifically the liberator.

Looking back at it, I learned that in the future I will need to research any new mud runs I do and their obstacles and as for the ones on Tough Mudder, the next time I do it, at least I won’t make the same mistakes. 

When it came to the liberator, from a distance and from looking at it on videos, it didn’t seem like it would be a problem (don’t know what the liberator is?). After all, what’s so difficult about taking sticks (blunt stakes), sticking them into the holes located all over the wall and just climbing it? 

Well when my team and I ran up to it, I was looking at people who were climbing the wall and most of them just couldn’t seem to do it quickly or comfortably. I honestly though it’s because most of them weren’t prepared, but it wasn’t until I got closer that I noticed how deceptive the obstacle really was…

Apparently, the holes they have on the wall don’t all fit the sticks you get and not all of them are the same size, so while you’re attempting to climb this wall, not only are you guessing where the sticks will fit, but as you’re already on the wall itself, your strength is getting zapped from testing which holes fit.

As I was climbing the liberator, I had to improvise my climb and after I got to the top, and started analyzing how next time, I could make it easier, 5 ideas arose. 

The 5 ways to climb the liberator:

1) Ask the people who are climbing before you to leave whichever stakes stick well inside the holes so you can have an easier time when it’s your turn.

Technically, you’re supposed to start with your own and figure out which ones fit, but if you meet people before you who are nice enough to leave the good ones inside the wall, you’ll climb the liberator a lot faster.

2) If you don’t want to or can’t “cheat” the challenge and have to figure out which blunt stakes fit, then use the following for leverage:

The liberator wall itself is divided into about 4-5 sections so that many people can climb it at once. The area which divides each section is a wooden pillar and inside each are triangular openings on several areas designed so you can fit your feet in there.

They aren’t that big in size so don’t think you can hold on for long, but they are a little bit bigger than an adult toe and when you wear sneakers, it’ll be even more difficult to fit them inside, but still, if you can get a foot in, you will be able to alleviate your upper body from always having to hold onto your weight and it’ll also give you a little bit of time to test out which holes fit the stake you have.

If you have the strength, you can also use your hands along these walls and push against them to basically keep you held against the wall without falling. I only recommend this if your stakes don’t work long enough for you to hold on. 

3) If the stakes don’t fit (which often happens) try to find at least one hole where it does, use that hole to “fall” back on if you can’t get any higher. 

Just getting one to fit and using your feet in those triangular openings is enough to keep you at whatever level you’re in at the time for a bit while you figure out how to get higher.

4) You can technically still use the stakes that don’t work and see which holes worked for the people that went before you.

This is kind of what I was using. There aren’t that many options of holes as you’re climbing in your section so it’s not difficult to forget a few areas where the stakes fit in. You can use that to help you get through better, but when it’s your turn, always make sure the ones you use fit perfectly before moving upward as some of the stakes aren’t of the same size. 

5) If the holes which worked were in a different section of the wall, if they are close enough, use them. 

In my situation, I had a person to my right who managed to find a few firm areas that were able to climb through. Because I was running out of strength, I actually was able to reach the ones in the other section and use them for leverage. 

Obviously this happened after they made it to the top so I wasn’t interrupting anyone’s climb as I was doing it.

Do you really need to use all these suggestions on just 1 obstacle?

No, some people may find that they naturally get over the liberator fairly quickly, but there will be the type of people who will be surprised by how slippery and difficult it is to fit the stakes in and use them to climb. Another example of a surprisingly slippery obstacle on Tough Mudder is balls to the wall.

You don’t have to memorize each tip to be prepared for this obstacle, but if you remember a few tips when you get to it, should you get stuck and remember them, you’ll have more ways to get through it and not panic.

And speaking of panicking, while you should be careful when climbing, the liberator isn’t a scary obstacle in my opinion, it is just more technically challenging because of it’s design. 

When you do it, don’t try to scale it quickly, be careful with each step you take upward and make sure you have a firm balance with both your feet and hands before moving further up. 

I have also heard that Tough Mudder is no longer using this obstacle in 2017, but if it is, at least now, you’re more ready!

Note: I did a second Tough Mudder in 2017 and the Liberator was not there, but there were other cool, new obstacles.

Everest is an obstacle on Tough Mudder that I personally found to be deceptive in that it looks scary but is actually easier to conquer than most people think.

Here is an awesome picture of my uncle making his first attempt at passing it:

And he did it. Then it was my turn.

Now he weights more than me. I am also faster than him and have a stronger spring when I jump.

So it would be no problem right? Well here’s a great picture he snapped from his Gopro:

In fact, this would become the BEST picture out of all the videos and pictures we took while on Tough Mudder.

However, if I told you that in that moment he captured, that I actually missed the top and fell, and then fell 4 more times, it wouldn’t make this picture that good, but unfortunately that’s what happened, despite my “superior” attributes.

How was it that I failed? And why do so many others fail Everest?

Well after beating it after the 5th or 6th time I tried it, I can finally give you a few tips.

 5 tips that will guarantee you beat Everest:

1) The most obvious tip to this obstacle is the speed you gain while running towards this obstacle and then upwards. It is very important that you not doubt yourself while running towards the wall.

A lot of people I noticed become very intimidated by it because they think they’ll slip and/or the height of it gets to them, so their instincts make them slow down just before they start to run up. Basically the same tips I gave to scale walls apply to Everest as well.

But this is where you need to actually exert all the energy even more. In other words, you have to push even harder on that run leading up to the wall and then get one more push to try and run up as far as you can because the higher you can reach, the easier then next tip will be:

2) Depending on how far up the wall you reach before you naturally start to slip down, you’ll have to spring up. If you’re close enough to the top, you can reach it yourself, if not, there will be people who will grab you. But the spring is something you need to practice at home to get used to the sensation. Maybe run towards a bench at a jogging pace, then step with one foot forward on it, then spring up to practice the motion itself.

3) Do not be afraid to fall along this wall. Remember, I said this wall is deceptive because it’s so high, but after falling multiple times on it, I can tell you that it doesn’t hurt and that you’ll be fine. The arch of the wall makes it so that you fall either on your stomach, back or your side and slide back down. 

Just in case you’re not wearing good shoes, when you start to run up the wall, keep your arms in front of you just in case you slip to avoid hitting your face. But based on all the people I saw go on Everest and slip, none of them had that problem.

4) If you fall once, take a minute before running back up again. I made the mistake to continually try and run up the wall over and over. It’s amazing how quickly Everest 2.0 can exhaust you.

I had to take a break and let other people because I just got tired of exploding up the wall and then falling back down over and over.

5) Make sure if you have ANY weights, to leave them on the side of the wall or give them to a team member who passed this challenge.

If you’ve been wondering why exactly I fell so many times along this obstacle, this was the main reason why.

You see, all along this race, I was carrying my hydration pack with most of our supplies there and it was also filled with water. Overall, there were a few pounds of extra weight that I had to carry and until I reached Everest, I didn’t worry that it would impede me, but each time I ran up the wall and fell, I always though that there was something pulling me back the entire time I was trying to run up as fast as possible.

The funny thing is that the backpack I was carrying was not something that crossed my mind as being the reason because I became so used to carrying it that I forgot it was even on me. You can see in that picture that I had it on me.

Well after catching my breath, after all the falls, I decided it couldn’t hurt if I tried to take it off, so I did and put it on the side, then made my next attempt at scaling Everest.

And wow, what a difference. I ran up that wall so fast that I honestly felt I could have done it without anyone helping me. It was amazing to see how a few pounds of weight made passing this so much harder than it had to be.

So if you’re carrying anything that weights over a pound, give it to someone and you will see a remarkable difference in lightness and weight and it will only add to your spring/speed. 

Now I do want to add that I kept my hydration pack on me for the remainder of the race, but some of the obstacles I had to go over made it tougher to do with the backpack on me. On Tough Mudder specifically, I would say the bag came in handy half the time, but it was still necessary as it held some very important supplies.

On something like the Spartan Race, the bag came in handy 90% of the time. So I do still recommend you keep it on you, but take it off and/or give to someone according to the obstacle/s you have to face. 

Overall Everest can be beaten easily if you practice the motions necessary to run up it, without the fear of falling on it and also without any extra weight on you! 

Even though these tips work, practice beforehand.

It can be easy to read a tutorial on Everest, but it’s more than likely that when you go on your first Tough Mudder and see it, that it can become intimidating and all these tips I gave can be forgotten which is why I am going to give you a practice tip before you attempt it:

You can try to practice wall jumps in areas where its legal and the wall itself doesn’t have to be arched like Everest. Just practice running up to, jumping on a wall to get your body and mind used to the sensation of doing it and if you want to try and recreate the Everest feeling, find a skate board park and try running up the obstacle courses there as it’s pretty close to the one on Tough Mudder.