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Is the Tough Mudder worth it (semi-vent)
I just realized that the Tough Mudder was close by me..and I was considering signing up.
I don't mean to be a debbie downer about this thing..and I completely understand having to up your fees as things get closer--so..okay I was all into eating the $150 fee to sign up this late in the game.
But then--as I started reading more about the damn thing I just felt like it was a racket...
MH wants to come watch and..oh I don't know, hold my bags and support me..Yep $40--but hey they give you $20 off!
Oh--they provide you food at the finish: you have to buy it and NO you cannot bring your own food in.
I'd be willing to bet they charge for parking.
All the sudden I was imagining me paying close to $300 for this thing after driving 90 miles to it...is the "experience" worth that?
I'm also battling if I'm completely turned off by the above. I sort of (okay no really) feel mh should be able to watch a bunch of amateurs squirm in the mud for free...why charge people for that?
Any other race I've been to at the very least provides a post race apple and bagel and if not LETS you bring your post race apple and bagel you know...why the upcharge on everything--I see their sponsors right there--and it makes me wonder if every penny is going to Wounded Warriors (it better you know)
I guess I'm leaning towards not doing it...I think it might be an actual racket...but I would like to know if this is my impression vs. if someone actually experienced these things and felt it was a racket.
Re: Is the Tough Mudder worth it (semi-vent)
I recently signed up for a Warrior Dash and there's some similar rules... you have to pay for parking, you can't bring outside food or water into the finish party area, but you do get some free food at the finish (a cup of beer but actually I'm not sure about actual food now that I think about it), and spectators don't have to pay.
I think it's all a little bit silly, but Warrior Dash is only ~3 miles so I'm not too concerned about needing food right after I finish. I'm guessing you have to pay for parking because it's in at a park (rather than in a neighborhood/city street like a regular race may be). As far as the food after the race, I'm just going to have some stuff in my car to eat/drink after I hose off and change.
But then again, Warrior Dash is only $65.
eta: I'm doing it mainly for the mud run experience. I'll do it once, that's it probably.
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Lol I said that!?
Show me the quote hor!
Haha..I want to do one...they seem like they take up 3x the training time of running though...I tried training for one a couple years ago and I was all antsy about how I wasn't running enough. I mean you drop the mileage of running right? I guess I just didn't feel fully in shape for any of the events. The whole damn thing was confusing!
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Ditto the fees associated w/ this race seem outrageous.
Okay--thanks for the reassurance--and Stinky for her little bit about paying for parking...I guess I just wanted to check-in and make sure I wasn't being a total grinch or something!
And Joe for pointing out that I should be spending 2012 as the year of the triathlon not the year of the mudrun
The high fee and extra costs for everything else are the main reasons I'll probably never do one. Warrior Dash maybe, but not a Tough Mudder.
Here's some extra costs for ya-my friend is doing the one in AZ tomorrow and then the Rock and Roll Phoenix half on Sunday. flight+hotel for at least two nights+food/drink+TM and RnR race fees+incidentals=yikes! Maybe I'm a cheapskate but no thank you
I thought we were all doing a team relay triathlon!
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I dunno, I guess I had a much different experience with the TM that I did.
I signed up with a team 6 months in advance. IIRC I paid $80.
We stayed at the resort venue for the weekend (and got a really sweet discount), brought our own food, and because we stayed there we parked for free and DH spectated for free. Our friends that didn't stay at the resort also parked for free.
They didn't have free food at the end of the race, short of bananas, gels, water, etc. (oh and BEER). But I don't expect that at any other race that I run either. Hell, I ran RnR Providence, paid MORE for my entry fee, and they were out of fscking bananas and bagels when I finished. THAT, and there was waaaaaaay more water, powerade, SHOT BLOCKS, GU, BANANAS on the TM course than I had ever seen at any other race, like, ever. I think I consumed at least $10 worth of stuff on the course during the day.
I can see if you're making a last minute decision to do the TM and then it's like whoa, but for us putting in the time to train for it and get prepared to do it left us with a much more positive experience.
H and I did a TM and paid $135 for it. Granted, we had no spectators and parked nearby at $5/car. It was totally worth it and we're thinking about doing 2 this year.
I guess it's all about your priorities, which are different per person obviously.
The key is signing up early I think, and making peace with the extras, if you decide to do it.
Granted, I've never done a Tough Mudder, but that seems like a racket to me. I've never heard of a race charging people to spectate, and then they don't offer any food? Sounds crazy expensive IMO.
I did a 10k Mud Run in Philly two summers ago, and there was a set entry fee (I can't remember what it was but in was nowhere near what a tough mudder costs) and you had to raise at least $100 (it benefitted Multiple Sclerosis) but there was no parking fee, spectators were welcome (at no charge) and the food was awesome, it was like a full blown lunch, not just a banana and water.
I'd say if you want to do a mud race, there are other less expensive options that are just as fun and challenging as a Tough Mudder.
Eh. I'll say outright that it's not exactly costs--it's principles behind costs that matter to me.
I said outright that I realize I'm signing up late and didn't realize it was going on so principle of paying more for that is fine with me.
But charging MH to support me? Yeah--that's NOT the norm. At all for amateur running events.
Charging your participants for food and drinks from your sponsors? No. that's not the norm.
I don't mean to be snarky and it's great that TM was a focus event for you, but it's kind of an assumption that I wouldn't be "prepared" to do it and that's why I think the upcharges are BS. Preparedness doesn't have anything to do with whether or not something is a rip off.
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I did the one in Tampa and yes they charge for everything, but I guess I was OK with it because they do donate to the Wounded Warrior Project. I know they don't donate everything, but they still need to make a profit. They have donated over 2.5 million to WWP. I may be the wrong person to ask because I actually paid to fly from DC to Tampa to do the event and paid all the fees. I was really excited because the event is very military based and my team was military. I guess I would have paid whatever they were asking. To me, it was a great cause and a lot of fun. We are also doing two more this year in VA and FL, so no the cost doesn't affect me.
ETA: this was my first event, I have never done anything else, so I don't know if giving to charities/projects is the norm.
That's a good point, and I also had no problem donating to WWP. If I knew that every cost was going to them, I might be more "eh" about it--but if the parking is going to the venue and the food cost is going to the sponsor (who already pays to be a sponsor)..then yep. No.
I also work with the military and WTU's so that's one reason I liked this race
.
Once you get past the money, the event really is amazing. Again, I have never done full or half marathons, so I have no experience with how the other events are, but the camaraderie is amazing. It's tough but also very humbling. I would say over half of ours was running through swamps and everytime you saw someone slip in a hole, people from other teams were grabbing their shirts lifting them up saying something nice and continuing on. I had an issue with some bales of hay because they were so tall and I am short, I jumped twice and couldn't make it over the hay and then I heard "help her up, help her up" and then I felt someone lift me up and put me on the hay. lol. It's really amazing that everyone is there to help everyone else, it's not about time or finishing first.
Oh, and this video was from the Tampa event. It gets me everytime, and this is why I am totally OK with paying the cost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8frxQQBTZ9M
I completely agree with the comaraderie statement. I have never in my life been so happy to have people touch my butt. A la-let me help you over this GIANT thing. Or up this hill made of mud. I was saying "thank you" all day long. It was truly amazing.
Yep, we carpooled to save money. We signed up early but still paid like $90 each (husband did it too) and I was really disapointed with the event. At quite a few obstacles (at least 5) we had to wait anywhere from 20-30+ minutes to just do the obstacle which added some serious time to our overall time. I also didn't think the obstacles were as tough as I thought they would be, yeah some of them are but some are super easy. I also hurt my knee and had to take 2+ weeks off of running...was not worth it.
I did Tough Mudder VT last year.
Our group chose to stay overnight in a slope side condo because it was a 4+ hour drive from home. I don't *believe* people had to pay for parking but since we walked over I'm not entirely sure.
The spectator charge is a *complete* racket. I bet it would be pretty easy to "sneak in" though.
There was bananas, beer & builder bars for 'free' at the finish. there was also bananas at one spot along the 12 mile course, and a couple of water stops.
FWIW, I hated the experience anyways. I will not do another TM (even if I was offered free entry). Our team was split 50/50 in this regard (half won't do another, half already signed up for 2012)
WWP is a great charity. But I don't know how much of the race fee actually goes to them....
My husband did the Tough Mudder in NJ and we both did it in Pennsylvania. It is so worth it. We parked for free in PA but paid $8 in NJ. The courses were both challenging, fun and exhausting. Like nothing I've done before.
It took is about 10 minutes to get our bags at the end and the food was plentiful and tasted fine. Yes, we had to pay for it, it was like State Fair type food. I wasn't looking for fine cuisine, I just needed to eat.
The company is transparent so you can inquire as to where every dime goes. It's not like the March of Dimes where the Executive Director makes millions of dollars a year or United Way, American Red Cross, you name it. They all take more than their fair share for themselves and leave very little behind for the people they are supposed to help. That is also a matter of public record.
The Tough Mudder is costly but the bulk of the money does go to the Wounded Warrior Project. If you want to challenge yourself physically and mentally sign up, I plan to do it again.
Oh I do have a complaint about one thing. They have photographers all over the place taking pictures at many of the obstacles. For some, this is the only way to get any images of themselves participating. The cost per picture is astronomical. Brightroom.com is the company they use. I don't know where all of that money goes.