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Hello friends!  How are you?
I’m feeling extra tough!
I recently participated in an event that has left me feeling capable of doing anything!  Got a problem you need help with (said in my deepest superhero voice)??…dant-da-da-daaa…Stand Back, I will take care of it for you!!

A week and a half ago, on April 14, 2012, I completed the Tough Mudder event held at the South Amherst Sandstone Quarry in Ohio.  It was a 12mile long  all-terrain obstacle course designed by British Special Forces, that included 27 challenging obstacles (picture a masochistic playground made for adults!).  The event is not timed, because it’s not about time.  It was designed to be “a test of all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie”.  If interested, here’s a link to the official web site, which has a short video to give you some idea of what the course is like…http://toughmudder.com/

Looks pretty fantastic doesn’t it?!!  Yeah, I think so too!:)  And it was every bit as amazing as I hoped it would be.  What made it so memorable?  A few things stand out in my mind.  For one, I appreciated all the unique challenges that the course presented…it highlighted the fact that the human mind/body, when motivated, can accomplish some really amazing things.  More than anything else, the thing I appreciated most from this event was the fact that the course forced you to work together.  And like with so many things in life, great things can be accomplished when working as a team.

I viewed my team as one consisting of every person on the course that day.  Two members of this team, my running partners Marcus and Matt, had an exceptionally big and wonderful influence on me.  These two guys were a huge factor in me even signing up for the event.  I had an interest in doing it from the start, but I likely would not have registered had it not been for their encouragement and support.  So a Big THANK YOU goes out to Marcus and Matt for inviting me to join them that day.

 

I also had two other running partners close to my heart that day, and I put their initials on my race shoes to remind me of their constant presence (for more on this, see the Memorial chapter in my book, Ch.6)

 

My son David often comes with me to running events, but because this course was not jogging stroller friendly(!), and because it typically takes over three hours to complete, I decided that this wasn’t the most kid friendly race, so I made other arrangements for him.  I was happy to have a special piece of him with me though.  Last year, in Sept of 2011, he used permanent markers and made me the coolest t-shirt for another obstacle filled race called the Warrior Dash (see the end of Ch9 for my Warrior Dash pic).

He drew each of the obstacles from that race onto a white t-shirt, then added a “check off box” — so that I could later put a check mark indicating that I had conquered each obstacle.  I had saved his very special homemade shirt, and excitedly dug it out to wear to Tough Mudder.  Wearing it that day made me feel like I had on an invincible coat of armor.

 

We arrived at Tough Mudder to find long lines and a huge crowd (over 13,000 participated in the two day event!).  We parked our cars in a nearby lot, and waited in line to board one of the many buses that were taking people to the course.  Excitement levels were high, and we all had little kid grins on our faces!

We eventually got our race bib, which we pinned to our shirts like we had done in so many other races that we ran in – but this event was a little different — and they wrote our identifying numbers in permanent marker all over our bodies as well (forehead, arm, and leg).

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The event itself represented to me everything that life should be…it was challenging, rewarding, satisfying, and shared with good friends.  It will forever remain one of my most treasured memories.
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Marcus (yellow shirt in pic above) helping me (middle of pic) up the Half Pipe.  This obstacle was my favorite on the course.  It required such teamwork and trust.  If you fell (as participants waiting in line got to witness was something that happened often) you typically would land very hard on the rough wooden board, and would get banged up as you slid to the bottom.  After feeling very grateful for being helped safely to the top, I then took a turn helping up a bunch of fellow mudders.  I’ll Never forget the experience of looking down and locking eyes with individual members of the crowd…that brief but intimate and intense moment shared with a stranger (who felt like anything but)…who was letting you know “I’m about to run and jump…and reach for your hand.  I need you.  Be there for me”.  I felt such love for these people that I didn’t even know, and it was a great reminder to me to treat anyone I come in contact with as if they were my brother, son, or mother…because in so many ways, I believe that’s exactly what we are to each other — Family.

 

 

Thank You for reading and for sharing in my exciting day!!

Eric V

an invitation to you…
What makes you feel capable of doing anything?

And, do you have any stories to share involving a team accomplishment — BIG or small — that you witnessed or were a part of?…some life event that would have been much more difficult without a team effort?

(responses can be left below.  Thanks!)

 

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