Spartan Race first introduced their Pro Team back in 2012. The idea for Spartan, was to help legitimize obstacle racing as a sport. Back then, OCR was still mainly looked at as something for weekend warriors and Couch to 5kers. This new pro team gave more visibility to the early am “elite heats”, and the athletes that ran them. The Pro Teamers (depending on athletic ability and the races’ budget) received money, travel/accommodations and/or swag from sponsors.
Shortly thereafter, races, gyms, and product brands began to announce their own pro teams. One event company that did not was Tough Mudder. TM did not have timed waves (outside of World’s Toughest Mudder) or a competitive atmosphere at all, so there was really no need. That changed with the announcements of the Tougher and Toughest series back in March.
Coach and E-Rock have been part of TM’s streaming content and on demand videos for a while now. In addition, earlier this year, OCR fans began to see online content with Hunter, Lindsay and Ryan, or Steph Bishop. Yesterday, TMHQ made it official and announced their first ever Tough Mudder Pro Team. ORM published this photo on Facebook last night of Ryan and Lindsay in their new Tough Mudder Pro Team threads.
Today we received the following from TMHQ:
Tough Mudder is officially announcing our Tough Mudder Pro Team that is composed of some of the biggest names in OCR and not only will they be competing in the Spartan World Championships but OCR World Championships (and of course World’s Toughest Mudder in November at Lake Las Vegas).
We are confident the Tough Mudder Pro Team could sweep the Championship season. The team includes top athletes Ryan Atkins, Lindsay Webster, Hunter McIntyre and Stefanie Bishop. All of who excel at different OCR and race formats.
The current roster of the Tough Mudder Pro Team was selected not only on their tremendous racing ability and elite status in the OCR community, but because they fully embrace the values that Tough Mudder Inc. stands for – Teamwork, camaraderie, pride, accountability… They race their hearts out at every event, but they never have lost sight of why they first started running and why they continue to push themselves and the boundaries of what a person can accomplish day-in and day-out. This team continuously places top of the pack, but they will still turnaround and help a fellow competitor, and they have shown nothing but class and grace throughout their pro racing years.
Ryan and Lindsay will be competing in all top 3 Championship events. Hunter will be competing at Spartan Worlds (BEAST) and OCR Worlds (as you know Hunter is not a long distance guy so he is not doing WTM) and Stef is focused being the first woman to hit/break the 100 Mile mark at WTM this year. They will all be adorned with TM Pro Team logo emblazoned on select gear throughout the Championship season.
In addition to repping Tough Mudder at these events, they also have and will continue to provide and participate in TMHQ content on training, nutrition, etc… across TM digital and social channels, as well as their own social platforms, as well as to continue to represent the brand via earned media interviews. As part of the the TM Pro Team they receive financial compensation (in addition to normal T&E, registration fees, etc… like others). TMHQ also wants this team to accomplish their other goals beyond TM events —and supports them on their journey and help spread the word.
Matt B. Davis
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