The Inaugural Tougher Mudder NOLA 2017

New to the Tough Mudder family in 2017 is The "Tougher Mudder" which I will argue is not actually any tougher than the regular Tough Mudder that I also did at the season opener in New Orleans this past Saturday.  Sure, some things were tougher: 

• 100 of us had to pay an extra $30 and complete every obstacle (or they threatened to take our black wrist bands away)
• There were several uncomfortable extras that the Tougher had that the Tough didn't such as the back and forth swamp swim under barbed wire on the first Mud Crawl, a quarter mile race car tire carry with the last 15 yards under Devil's Beard, and the 50lb ice bag carry another quarter mile which actually I loved as it was starting to get Louisiana hot. 
• Also tougher was the extra submersion on Arctic Enema 2.0, Stage 5 Clinger (need to work on my muscle ups) and the other 2017 newbie Kong, which 2016 WTMers will remember fondly, except at the Tougher Mudder they moved the first ring 6 feet away from the platform so you had to dive for it--not fun for me as I lost grip 4 times and landed horribly wrong the first time neck first on the airbag!  I made it finally but gave up three places and several minutes off my time! Excuses, excuses!

Announcer Sean Corvelle ( TM Mayor Sean!) was at the start line to do his thing with a script in hand--as if Sean needs a script, right?  Perhaps it was to reiterate Tougher rules or something.  He was kind enough to reward us with three sets of push ups 10, 10, and 20 and then he did what he does best: he smiled and we smiled and he cheered and we cheered and chanted and we all felt the familiar goose bumps that reminded us of why we do Tough Mudders.  There aren't many things beside bagpipes that get me amped but Sean is one of them.  And off we went and it was game on. 

Within the first five minutes we were soon introduced to what the course would consist of: high grass and multiple swampy ditches with unknown, uneven depths.  The pack quickly dispersed into a trickle of front runners including the eventual male winner Mathew Kempson (1:34) who made some serious ground right from the start.   

Runner up was quite notably a 26 year old wirey, very humble up-and-comer FEMALE named Theresa Edwards (1:41:19) who went right into another lap finishing her second lap faster than most do one lap.  Just watch for her in the OCR world folks!  Third place went to gym owner Eddie Henry  (1:41:24) who I had only just met at check-in and who was doing his first Mudder.   I finished 14th in 2:18:47 and can proudly say I won the 50 and over category... Yeay! (of which I was the only one... Boo!)  I opted to not do EST (which always renders me unconscious and besides I didn't have to....and I'm a Legionnaire and wah wahhh!  Great seeing the Other TM Mayor Clinton at the finish line!  Love that guy too!

We "Tougher" finishers were awarded special T shirts (great new material with that familiar TM logo of a Mudder running through flames--which I have never actually done at a TM --maybe they should do one with us coming out of the murky depths of Mud Mile instead!) Most notably absent were the new "Ooh, ah" Tougher headbands which were not on hand and will apparently be sent in the mail--hopefully along with a free beer coupon!  Apologies accepted as that was probably the only disappointment next to the absence of the Star Spangled Banner at the start.

I didn't have to wait very long before I was allowed to get in to multi-lap  in the 11am Wave .  I don't know how many of us actually did two loops but I would imagine it was less than 50 people total.  Knowing Mudders, I bet a couple of guys or gals went three loops too but I wasn't one of them this time.  

TM New Orleans, or NOLA as those in the know call it, was one of the  muddiest  and scariest courses I've ever done. There were visible crocodiles in the nearby lake folks! We could see their magnificent little dark, beady eyes and distinct shapes peering at us as we ran past!  Kinda cool actually!

So why was the Tough Mudder more Tough than the Tougher Mudder? (Say that really fast, I dare you!) Ok in noticeable order:  

• no wait lines--at least not for me during the Tougher (in comparison to waiting ten minutes just to do the single Ladder From Hell on the Tough and longer at the Pyramid Scheme which the second time around was brutal).
•  Gone were the WTM style rope " helpers" where one could grab and solo up and over.  The Tough Pyramid Scheme demanded Team Work and I did my TM Ambassador best (BRAND222- please help me!!) to get in there and provide a base for at least a dozen Mudders to stack and crawl over me like a discarded wet sponge.  I think that's how I got so bruised and scratched up but it was great Mudder Fun!  
• Mud Mile was equally challenging and transformed from a series of easily traversed trenches and dirt piles to a slick impossible to do alone apocalypse of bodies writhing as best they could over hill and over Dale (and Jim and Bob and Jenny and Lisa etc!) This was probably the funnest part of the day for me as never have I gotten so head to toe covered in thick oozing crocodile poop mud in the 18 TM venues I've attended.  
• Both Tougher and Tough got to experience the new for 2017 "Snot Rocket" otherwise known as Augustus Gloop,  Stage 5 Clinger and the revitalized Funky Monkey.  You will love and hate these obstacles simultaneously. 

As I write this a day later I still feel the mud caked in my nose and ears! Only Mudders can appreciate this! There were 5 well spaced water stations on the course. One of them had chopped up bananas and another had a wide selection of Gu type packets and energy bars.  No sports drinks were served. But at the finish line--ah yes--there was beer, a local brew that was fantastic and served along with a bowl full of what Louisiana does best: Crayfish!

Grade for TM New Orleans Tougher and Tough: A

Note this is really my first Blog.  All new to me and seriously more difficult than doing TMs all day.  Thanks to my wife for setting me up.  I was going to include tons of pics but there are so many on the Facebook TM page right now I won't bore you with mine.    Hope to see all of you next week in San Bernardino for another Tougher, Tough and the Brand New Toughest which I will be competing in in my quest to do THE SIX PACK (all six Toughest Mudder races!)  Stay tuned!

Additional Links of Interest:

Proud to be featured on this podcast by Will Hicks: World's Toughest Podcast 007: Tougher Mudder New Orleans Recap (Also features Kailey Brodhacker)