Tough Guy. Yes I am.

This weekend I went off to take on the Tough Guy challenge up in Wolverhampton.

The Tough Guy race is hideous cross-country adventure race in which competitors brave muddy water obstacles, crazy-high 40ft cargo nets, fire, ice, electricity (seriously!) and much more. Words can’t really explain how horrible this race is...

Check it out here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMbmlmaN3XA&feature=fvwrel

You can tell from the video it’s mean.

I’ve done this race a couple of times before and this year I took one of my friends/ enemies/ bootcampers Joe Bakey with me.

It’s fair to say Joe is young and foolish. He’s a bit like me just better looking and a bit slower. Joe has lots of good banter (and lots of bad banter too) which makes him the perfect partner in a race like this.

If there wasn’t already enough stuff for me to take the piss out of Joe for, he also brought his mum along with him (to hold onto his inhaler) and his girlfriend (to keep her company whilst she held onto his inhaler). Fortunately, I know Joe's mum, Claire, and Joe's girlfriend, Chloe, and they were great fun to have on the road trip too.

En route to Wolverhampton we enjoyed a gourmet cooked breakfast and I managed to convince Joe he needed to wear goggles for the race... This made for a great journey.



We arrived in plenty of time to recce the course and for Joe to realise the goggles were not essential. Shame. We kept them on anyway...

Soon enough the race started and Joe through caution to the wind...

(Ala Albert Brennerman throwing the inhaler in the film Hitch... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npy6SXS1LDA (17 seconds in...)

We set about our task with intensity and vigor. It’s difficult to do a race like this together because of the type of obstacles and within the first mile we were separated. So we went our separate ways...

I have done this race several times before, but never has it felt so cold. I’m not sure if I’m getting old or if the water obstacles were a bit deeper or perhaps I’m just a bit ‘softer’ but it was HARD.

The bitter coldness was mega. People were dropping like flies. But not Joe and I. We both ‘manned up’ and made it to the end. Fortunately our support crew (between hot chocolates...) were there to welcome us back with warm clothes and cheer and we were quickly back into a nice warm car and on our way home...

Not so quick that Joe’s mum couldn’t take this great video...



The Tough Guy Challenge is one of the hardest races I’ve ever done (...did I mention I’ve run six marathons in six days and Ironman??) but the satisfaction of finishing the race was AMAZING. Definitely worth the extortionate entry fee, long journey and listening to Joe’s boring stories about the wonders of barefoot running...

Thanks to everyone for the messages of support, Claire and Chloe for the warm clothes immediately after the race and to Joe for surviving. Same time next year? I think so.