Tough Mudder returned to scenic Lake Tahoe this past weekend. The event was once again located at the beautiful North Star ski resort. This is one of TM’s true “destination” events, that consistently pulls participants in from all over the country.
Attendance for this event is always high, and for the second year in a row early check-in was available on Friday afternoon.
The early check-in coupled with TM’s bar code scanner check-in system, kept the lines moving quickly and efficiently on both Saturday and Sunday morning. General parking for this event required a shuttle ride to get you to the Mudder village. Those willing to shell out $50 for a premium parking pass, were able to reduce that distance to a very short walk.
The Tahoe location always promises to provide a fun and challenging course, and this year was no exception.
With a distance of 10.9 miles and a total of 2180 feet of elevation gain, this course definitely had your legs burning. Couple that with a starting altitude was 6330 feet, and your lungs were feeling the burn as well. Rather than ramble through a review of every inch of the course, here are a few of the things that stood out.
A new MC: New to Tahoe (and Tough Mudder in general) was start line MC Will Gill, a professional DJ from Los Angeles. This was Will’s second event with TM, and at times, it showed a little. While he has yet to capture that same “makes me want to run through a wall” type motivation that a Sean Corvelle provides, he certainly brings his own style. I’m sure as he gets more reps under his belt, he will find his groove.
The March of Doom: Of the 2180 feet of elevation gain that this course had, a majority of it was covered in two BIG climbs. The first of which was right out of the start chute, where participants were sent about a mile straight up a very steep slope. Start waves were filled with over achievers who blasted out of the gates…only to be swallowed up by the main pack of participants about 100 yards later. The second calf busting climb was at about the 4-mile mark, and also lasted about a mile. You can always expect some good climbing at this venue, but these two were particularly brutal.
King of Swingers goes to the apes: Much like they did with Captain America: Civil War at TM LA, there was heavy promotion for the upcoming “Legend of Tarzan” movie. This included renaming KoS to “King of the Jungle” for the day. The support structure of the obstacle was decorated with jungle vines and large photo advertisements.
There was also a special 10am Legend of Tarzan start wave on Saturday, in which 250 participants were given special promotional shirts and got to run alongside WWE performer David Otunga.
Mother Nature delivers her own obstacle: Late Saturday afternoon a storm moved into the area, bringing lightning within a 5-mile radius of the course. This forced TMHQ to shut down all of the water obstacles on the course. Participants were rerouted to assist them in getting off the mountain quicker. Vehicle transportation was provided to those who wanted to get down immediately. All participants who were unable to complete the course were allowed to run on Sunday, free of charge.
Um, where’s the mud? As much as I enjoyed this course, there was very little mud to speak of. Only two of the obstacles (Mud Mile 2.0 and Electroshock Therapy) offered any serious potential for getting muddy, and they were at opposite ends of the course. Maybe I’m splitting hairs here, but if you’re going to have the word mud in your title…please bring the mud.
All in all, Tough Mudder Tahoe was a great event. This is the 5th year that North Star has hosted, and TMHQ continues to do an excellent job of making each year unique. I always look forward to attending this particular event each year. Not only is it the closest one to me geographically, but it never seems to disappoint…and it certainly didn’t this year.
Photo Credits: Gameface Media and David Otunga’s Twitter account.
Carlo Piscitello
Carlo is one half of the not yet world famous YouTube duo known as "The Pis-N-Cox Show".
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