Tough Guy 2009

Tough Guy

by Dwight Hartman

Race February 1, 2009

I know there is nothing more anti-climatic than a race report written months after the event. For that I apologize, but for those who might be interested, here it is. After 3 months to let it all sink in, I am finally getting to the Tough Guy Race Report. First and foremost, I have to give a huge thanks to my good friend Carl Schwartz who accompanied me on this trip, giving up his time and expense to do everything from coordinate travel plans to document via video and pictures to provide any level of support I needed. Without his presence, I can honestly say my experience would not have been nearly as enjoyable or memorable. Thank you Carl!

In scheduling the trip, Carl and I planned on arriving in England a couple of days before the race in order to adjust to the time difference and diminish any stresses from winter weather delays. At the last minute, we decided to spend these advance days in London before heading out to Wolverhampton and the race site. The decision was a good one as we got to see some of London’s highlights as I adjusted to the expected jet lag. This also helped me stay relaxed by keeping my mind off of the race. We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather in the mid forties during our time in London and I hoped this weather would hold for the race.

On Saturday January 31, we made our way to Wolverhampton, England via train enjoying the views of the English countryside as we went. Upon arriving and checking into our hotel, we took a taxi out to the race site to pick up my race number and walk the course. After looking at You Tube videos of the race for the past year, it was great to finally see the course in person. I was immediately struck by how expansive the farm and the course were. The whole site took on the feel of a war zone with smoke drifting across the fields, mud and obstacles everywhere you looked and the flags of over 20 countries flying throughout. We also found out that they increased the course length by 3km for this years’ race and the added loop around the farm seemed even longer as we walked it. Seeing the obstacles first hand was a little eye opening as the videos just didn’t do them justice. I came away from our walk-through feeling like the course was bigger and badder than I expected. As we left the farm, the sun was going down and a cold wind was starting to blow in. It didn’t feel like the warm weather was going to hold.

After a bit of a restless sleep, I woke and began a slow preparation for the race. The race did not start until 11:00 and I didn’t want to get there before 10:00. Overnight, the weather had definitely turned. It was overcast and cold with a strong wind and spitting snow. Our taxi driver to the race was a particularly colorful Brit who thought I was absolutely crazy for coming overseas to do this race. Once at the farm, the relative quiet from our walk-through the day before was gone. The farm had transformed into a carnival-like scene. There were 5,000+ racers and for every racer there were probably an average of 2-3 spectators. Add to this the television crews and press, the race staff and the emergency staff. There were people from over 20 different countries so as you walked around, the languages were constantly changing. Then there were the particularly crazy racers who dressed up in everything from full tuxes, to caveman costumes to my personal favorites, the thongs and Borat Mankinis. There was a great energy and spirit to the whole scene. After having my race number written on my forehead, I made my way to the changing barns to drop off my post race clothes. At one point I came across 3 rather muscular Scandinavian men wearing nothing but underwear who were lathering themselves up head to toe in goose fat. The hope was that the goose fat would help insulate them from the cold water. They asked me if I wanted to join them, and while the thought of stripping down to my undies and lathering my body in goose fat with three other men was quite tempting, I politely declined.

Before I knew it, it was time to start lining up for the race. As an overseas racer, who paid a little extra, I was able to obtain a relatively upfront position which would pay off later in avoiding back-ups at the obstacles. As my wave of racers lined up at the start, I met two other Americans. They were brothers, one from Vermont and the other from Tennessee. Like me, they had been planning this adventure for over a year. As we stood awaiting the start, the talk amongst the racers had turned to the weather and how cold it was. The wind chill was in the single digits and this was going to make for an epic Tough Guy race. Many of the racers had already become quite cold as they stood waiting and those in thongs were already shaking. As 11:00 approached, the energy level of the racers started to pick up. I was expecting some obvious sign to the start of the race, ie a gun, cannon or announcement but all of a sudden a loud roar went up and we were running.

My early game plan was to keep a strong pace and stay as upfront as possible. This was made difficult by the large numbers of runners and the narrow course they had set early in the race. The beginning of the race is known as the “Country Miles” which is designed to fatigue you out before you hit the “Killing Fields” (the obstacles for which the race is known). Throughout the Country Miles were several obstacles designed to not only get you tired but also get you wet and muddy. The first of these was the Steeplechase, a series of earthen mounds separated by muddy trenches. Because I was fresh when I hit these, they were relatively easy. This was followed by a long run through the fields of the farm. As the course came back in towards the Killing Fields, they surprisingly led us through one of the Killing Field Obstacles, The Tiger. The Tiger involves climbing up and over two forty foot A-frame structures which are covered in cargo netting. In between the two A-frames is a 20 yard stretch of hanging charged wires, charged with enough electricity to knock you down. Having read a blog from last years race, I learned that you should avoid touching two wires at once. I made my way through the tentacle of wires by batting them away with one arm at a time. I got through without a shock while hearing the screams of those who weren’t so lucky.

We were then led back out into the fields for more running. The next section was known as the Bracken Maze which was a section of hillside covered in nettles (prickly bushes) and hidden sink holes. These sink holes were impossible to see as they were covered in long grass. I rolled my ankle badly in one of these holes and it took a good 10 minutes of running to shake that off. This was followed by the Slalom, a large 45 degree hillside that you had to go up and down 10 times as you slalomed across it. A funny thing happened just as I approached the Slalom, the sun came out in full force. All of a sudden I was sweating profusely. Having done a lot of hill training though, I felt pretty strong here and passed many racers during this section. As if planned by the race organizers, just as I finished the hills, the sun went away and the cold and wind came back in. The Slalom was followed by the Bear Woods, a run through the woods with a series of 5 foot high hay bales blocking your path. Each set of hay bales was followed by a 20 yard section of low cargo netting that you had to crawl under. This was repeated about 8 times through the woods. As I came out of the Bear Woods, I saw Carl for the first time and he managed to get me a Hammer Gel. The timing was good as I approached one of the more sadistic parts of the course, The Ghurka Grand National. This involved crossing a 15 foot wide and 6 foot deep trench filled with waist deep cold water. The vertical, muddy banks of the trench made it extremely difficult to get out. Having to cross this trench once didn’t seem too bad but the course weaved across this 100 yard long trench 20 times. Coming out of the Ghurka, you are cold, wet and tired. This was followed by another series of 4-5 water filled trenches and cargo net-covered hills known as the Jungle Obstacles.

From this point we entered the Killing Fields, the obstacles designed to address every fear you have and the most heavily spectated part of the course. First, this meant another trip through The Tiger. Again, I made it through without a shock using my one arm technique as I could hear those around me who were getting hit by the charge. The next obstacle was called the Colditz which was a series of 3 progressively higher walls that you had to get up and over using a rope. While the last wall was rather high, I completed this obstacle fairly easily. The next obstacle was The Behemoth. As its’ name implies, this was a huge wooden obstacle consisting of 4 towers with ropes running between them. The idea was to climb up the first tower and use the series of ropes to get across to the last tower. I found this rather fun but I was glad that I don’t suffer from a fear of heights. As you come down the last tower, you are led right into more waist deep, cold, muddy water. At this point I am approximately an hour into the race, and while I was cold and wet, my body was still functioning well.

The next obstacle, The Fiery Holes, provides one of the more dramatic spectacles of the race. This involved a series of deep trenches filled with waist to chest deep water alternating with a stretch of fiery, kerosene soaked hay bales that you must run through. There were 4-5 of these alternating stretches of fire and water. While the fire provided a very dramatic looking landscape, it was not very difficult to run through. What made this obstacle very hard for me was the smoke. The wind was blowing the smoke from all of the fiery sections right into the runners and there was no way to escape it. I had never experienced smoke inhalation until then. I could literally feel every inch of my lungs burning with the inhaled smoke. I had a brief moment of worry when I thought I wouldn’t be able to catch my breath. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally cleared the last fiery section, caught my breath and made my way to The Tyre Crawl.

The Tyre Crawl is simply a tunnel of old tires that you have to crawl through. The hard rubber was definitely painful as your cold body scraped against it, and my back paid the price. The tunnel led out into, you guessed it, more cold, muddy water. From the Tyre Crawl, we were led into The Swamp, an appropriately named obstacle involving a long section of water and slippery mud which was good for a few falls. It was then into The Vietcong Tunnels, a series of cement sewer pipes running into the hillside and emerging on the other side of the hill. I was very glad to be average size as the tunnels were fairly tight. The cold cement tunnels were lined with mud and water. While I don’t suffer from claustrophobia, I did get a little antsy when the racer in front of me cramped up and was literally stuck, unable to move for about 2 minutes. Once out the tunnel, it was on to The Paradise Climb. This was another large wooden structure which you climbed up and along the top via cargo netting. To get down you had to descend via two ropes over a pond. One rope was under your feet and the other over your head. The tricky part was that multiple people were on the ropes making it very difficult to hold on. I saw several racers fall into the pond but I was able to hold on and make it across (I wouldn’t be so lucky later).

As I came off the Paradise Climb a sense of dread was building as I knew the next 2-3 obstacles would be the hardest. I was headed for the Underwater Tunnels, perhaps the most feared obstacle on the course. Today’s weather made it downright nasty. The obstacle starts by wading chest deep into a pond. The pond water was so cold. Lying across the surface of the pond were several telephone poles which you had to go under to do the obstacle correctly. This was my first full submersion of the race. Going under was mind numbing. It was so cold, I saw many racers give up and climb over the poles instead of going under. I stayed true to the race and stuck it out. Then you came to the tunnels, a series of wooden planks lying across the pond which you had to go under to get through. There were airholes to pop up into and take a quick breath before going back under. I tried to get through as quickly as possible and it is all a blur to me now. I think I have blocked out the memory to prevent post traumatic stress. I do remember coming out of the pond feeling completely numb. Little did I know the worst was yet to come.

The course then snaked over to The Lake and the Walking the Plank obstacle. This is when I started to see the casualties of the race. Racers were starting to drop either from cramps or severe cold, some curled up in the fetal position shaking vigorously. It was then that I realized I could hear a steady stream of ambulances racing around the course. Things started to take on a surreal quality. Before getting to the Lake, we had to get up and over the Brandenberg Wall, another high cargo net climb with rope assisted descent. Normally this obstacle would not present too much of a challenge but with the fatiguing cold taking a grip, I had to be careful not to make a mistake at the top. After the Wall, came the lake, where we had to climb up a 15 foot tower out from which several long wet planks extended out over the lake. One by one we had to walk the plank and take the plunge. Again, this is a bit of a blur, but I remember the cold taking my breath away as I hit the water and went under, my feet never touching the bottom. It was then a frantic swim to the first island. From that island it was a chest deep wade to a second island and then another wade to the far shore. Coming out, I could no longer feel my feet and my head felt a little foggy. But, there were no more full water submersion obstacles, or so I thought.

Once out of the lake, the next obstacle was called Dans Deceiver, a vertical cargo net wall followed by a cargo net decline to a drop into a water-filled trench. While not too technical, the cold has sapped the life out of you at this point and everything feels hard. From here it was over to the Dragon Pools which involved crossing another pond via ropes. Like the earlier Paradise Climb descent, there was a rope under your feet and a rope above you to grip with your hands. I was successful in making it down the Paradise obstacle so I felt confident that I would get across the pond “dry”. Only a quarter of the way across, the five racers in front of me sharing the same ropes all swung back forcefully at the same time driving the upper rope down and back and the lower rope up and forward. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t hold on and down I fell into another icy pond. When I hit the water, I thought I would be able to stand but when I put my feet down there was nothing and I went under. I took in a huge mouthful of muddy farm water and ended up swallowing most of it. I came up spitting out left over water and coughing to catch my breath. Then I realized I had to swim for the opposite side of the pond. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a far swim but as I struggled against the cold I looked around to make sure there were rescue divers nearby. This was my one moment of doubt where I thought for just a second I might not make it across without help. Finally pulling myself out of the water, I was as cold as I have ever been and the rest of the race seemed to take on a feel of slow motion.

At this point there were only 5 more obstacles to complete the race. The next was The Bridge, a series of narrow planks zig-zagging across yet another pond. Again, under normal circumstances a fairly easy task but on the verge of hypothermia, another story. The last thing I wanted to do at this point was fall back in the water and so I really focused to maintain my balance and I made it across. From there it was on to the Stalag Escape, a 30 yard army crawl through mud and water under a very low lying barbed wire ceiling. Coming out of this, I could taste the finish line. By now there are a steady stream of casualties along the course including one guy with a large gash in his head I assume from hitting the barbed wire on the Stalag Escape. Now I entered the Tyre Torture, a 100 yard long stretch of old tires piled 1-3 high that you had to navigate through. This was a true ankle breaker if you weren’t careful. From there it was over to The Anaconda, a series of six, large 4-5 foot high sewer pipes lying across the path. The idea is to simply get up and over each one. A funny thing happened as I approached The Anaconda, I could see many racers lying on the ground holding their legs in apparent agony. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I got closer. As runners were trying to jump up and over the pipes, their calves and quads were going into severe cramps, dropping them to the ground. By this point in the race, the cold and fatigue were taking a huge toll and literally every runner was cramping, some severe, some mild as they made the leap to get up and over the pipes. While I did cramp, I was able to generate enough power to get up and over each pipe without stopping. After the Anaconda it was down The Viagra Slide, a large sheet of rubber forming a slide down a hill into a small pond. The idea was to slide down on your bum into the pond and wade out. An easy obstacle until you see the powerful fire hoses hosing you down as you slide. Needless to say, you remain very wet leaving this obstacle but now there is just one last steep hill to climb after which you here the PA blaring out your number as you cross the finish line.

Crossing the finish line was a great feeling but I only had one thing on my mind which was to get warm. After draping you with your ToughGuy medal, they immediately wrap you in a solar blanket and give you hot chocolate. As I walked through the large crowd of racer’s, I noticed that everyone including myself was shaking uncontrollably. After meeting Carl, I knew I had to get dry and warm quickly as felt my body sinking into a deeper cold. The winds were still blowing and there was a steady spit of snow at this point. I went to the horse showers in the hopes of finding hot water but all I found were half naked racers standing under drizzling tepid water. This did not look appealing at all. I went back to the changing barn and with a hundred other racers tried to strip my wet and muddy clothes off and get into dry warm clothes. Due to the uncontrollable shakes, it took me 30 minutes to get my wet clothes off and dry clothes on. Once in dry clothes, I was still cold to my very core and drank 2 big cups of hot chocolate which only upset my stomach. At this point, I couldn’t muster the energy to stick around and watch other racers come in, and Carl and I grabbed a taxi back to the hotel where I took the longest, sweetest hot shower of my life. Other than some stomach cramping (maybe from swallowing so much farm pond water) and a few bruises and scratches, I survived the 2009 ToughGuy in pretty good shape. Our adventure would continue the next day as a freak winter blizzard paralyzed England as we tried to get home. Somehow we made it out of London very late on one of only 10 flights that got out all day.

Here are some of the final stats: There were 5,000+ racers. Only 2900 finished the race and I finished 490. Over 600 cases of treated hypothermia.

Here is the e-mail I received days after the race:

ALL who aspired to be a Tough Guy™ can now feel achieved in the harshest test ever imagined, on a day of extreme weather.

From freezing fog to minus 8o windchill, brilliant sunshine came to the rescue for an hour to warm us, then the snow came to cheer us all home.

What a fantastic achievement, the hundreds of ATC cadets, Scouts, Rangers, Young Firefighters are heaped with praise for a fine achievement in the worst of weathers.

St John Ambulance were absolutely marvellous. 10 ambulances non stop ferrying the injured out of the Killing Fields and some to Accident and Emergency.

The divers in the lakes were frozen to their bones but determined to get everyone through the Underwater Cavern.

Lots of broken legs and limbs. But Tough Guy™ didn’t kill anyone.

The pain of extreme Arctic cold bodies brought unashamed sobbing.

The atmosphere of electric good natured happiness is Tough Guy™ rare commodity ‘The Family Of Man’.

The remembrance of World War I and II vividly experienced by thousands of Tough Guy™ competitors was an experience that will be talked about all over the world.

A truly great adventure. Now it’s on to the Death Race in June.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI-HrvBARSY

View the entire picture set <<HERE>>