Toughest Mudder Chicago Recap Episode!
The sixth and final Toughest Mudder was held this past weekend in Chicago. Winning for the men was Ryan Atkins and for the women was Allison Tai. In addition to winning Toughest Chicago, Atkins and Tai both won the Toughest Series Championship by having the most milage over their three best Toughest races.
We spend some time talking about the men's and women's podiums and finally lock down where World's Toughest Mudder 2018 will be held. Spoiler Alert: We're not sure, but we're pretty sure.
Allison Tai joins us to talk about her win in Chicago and her Toughest Series win. She breaks down the race and talks about her plan and strategy as the race progressed. She also talks about her favorite type of mid-race fuel and why she needs to get sponsored by Kozy Shack.
If you'd like to join the World’s Toughest Mudder Winner’s List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number 4) Yes or No to the question "Would you like to receive updates from Merrell and World's Toughest Podcast
What do you think of the podcast? Who in the Tough Mudder community would you like to hear? Let us know on the WTM Community page, the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page at Facebook.com/worldstoughestpod, or call the listener voicemail line at (302) 786-9868.
If you would like to hear Will read your words on air, leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Will is back from his family vacation and has a lot of news to get caught up on before he talks Tough Mudder 5k with Jay Ruggiero.
Big items in the news we talk about are the new Toughest Mudder TV shows on CBS, the location of WTM 2018 and the new category this year at WTM: National Team. Will also does a little speculation on the future of co-ed teams at World's Toughest Mudder.
Jay Ruggerio is running this weekend in the first ever Tough Mudder 5k. We talk through the 3.1 miles and the 10 obstacles that many people will be facing for the first time ever.
Jay ran WTM for the first time in 2016 and completed 20 miles. He feels like he has unfinished business with the course and is looking to complete 50 miles in 2017. To help him and a small group of friends reach that goal of 50 miles he started a Facebook group called WTM 2017 50-Mile Team. The group now has over 200 members.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Yancy Culp stops by to talk about training for World's Toughest Mudder. Yancy trains many of the top athletes in OCR and Tough Mudder, including Morgan Mckay, Allison Tai, Glenn Racz, Matt Novakovich, and Rose Wetzel.
Yancy has reached 50 miles both times he ran World's Toughest Mudder and talks about how to train to reach that goal for yourself.
This is the first part of our conversation. The second half will get into the nitty-gritty details of training. It will air later this week.
Also big news: The first ever Tough Mudder X was this past weekend. We will have our official recap episode when the TV show airs on CBS. Tough Mudder X will air August 27 and September 3 on CBS.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Tough Mudder X preview with Morgan Mckay!
Morgan Mckay is competing this weekend at Tough Mudder X, the inaugural One Mile Tough Mudder course. Tough Mudder X is what would happen if Tough Mudder and CrossFit got together and had an adorable little competitive baby. And if that baby had a $25,000 prize for first place.
Morgan talks us through the course and tells us what to expect, and how she expects to do. Spoiler alert: She expects to do awesome. Or terrible. No in-between.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Toughest Mudder Canada Recap.
We're going guest free today. We're going to talk with the elites and the regular joes of Toughest Mudder Whistler in the next few episodes, but today is all about the stats, the results, and the numbers behind Canada's Toughest Mudder.
Here are your Canada's Toughest Mudder winners:
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Toughest Mudder Whistler Preview with PJ Catalano
Toughest Canada weather report is at 14:10.
If you want to get straight to PJ, skip to 20:35.
PJ and Will talk about Toughest Whistler at 47:55
Will opens the episode with news from the world of Tough Mudder including the release of the Holy Grail Leaderboard. All of your milage from the Tough Mudder competitive series is logged and you are ranked based on miles completed. Right now Sara Knight leads all people with 120 miles.
TMHQ announced a new obstacle exlusively for Toughest Mudder Canada: Bears. That is a true story. They’re concerned about bears on or near the course so they’re taking some safely precautions. We talk about them as we preview Whistler.
Of all the guys that run multiple laps at Tough Mudder courses, PJ Catalano is the multi-lappingingest. He’s the only guy Will knows that has run three laps in one day at a course.
PJ has run WTM three times, in 2014, 15, and 16. He’s hit 50 miles or more twice but still feels like those years weren’t completely successful races for him.
One of the things PJ and Will talk about is the emotional side of running World’s Toughest Mudder. You won't hear many people talk about it, but WTM will provide you with some highs and some LOWS.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number. WE'RE GIVING AWAY SHOES NEXT WEEK! Tell your friends.
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Heads up: Grown up language. Hide the kids.
Will Hicks talks about the big Tough Mudder X news and who he expects to see compete and who he does NOT expect to see out there. Do you realize 18 months ago you had two choices for a Tough Mudder event? You could run Tough Mudder or you could run World’s Toughest Mudder. Will talks about all seven of the current Tough Mudder events.
Then Keith Allen and Will Hicks talk about Toughest Mudder Philly, Matt B. Davis, and all these other people.
Matty Gregg
Kris Mendoza
Cassie Harris
Jay Bode
Melissa Dugan
Pis and Cox Ambassador Program
Jason Rulo
The Toughest Philly volunteer at Stage 5 Clinger
The Toughest Philly volunteer at Skidmarked
Ryan Atkins
Jon Albon
Chad Trammell
Phineas and Ferb
The nice british lady at the beginning of the ORM Podcast
Keith’s boy Pat
Dr. Red Tights (Wesley Kerr)
Hunter McIntyre
Garfield Griffiths
Kelly Allen
Keith’s kids
Joshua Grant
Junyong Pak
Yancy Culp
Jeff the video guy
Gina Estrada
Keith and Will talk about Stage 5 clinger and the volunteer who was not allowing runners to help each other on the obstacle. Keith and Will talked before Will talked with Nolan and Eli of TMHQ last week. TMHQ told us that was a misunderstanding on the part of the volunteer and should not have been the case. They always want participants to help each other. It shouldn’t happen again.
Keith’s pit food for Toughest Philly? 3 water bottle filled with Tailwind, Strawberries, Blueberries, and Pretzel M&M’s.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
On this episode, news of Amelia Boone’s return to racing (Don’t call it a comeback) along with her rare beef jerky audio, and three different interviews.
First, Sandy Rhee, of the NE Spahtens Podcast joins us to talk Toughest Mudder Philly and give her take on the race from the “non-elite” side of things. Then we get a view of the race from the top of the podium as we talk to Trevor Cichosz. Trevor won Toughest Philly, as well as World’s Toughest Mudder 2016. We talk to him about both races.
Finally we check in with Nolan Kombol and Eli Hutchison of TMHQ. Nolan and Eli are the brains behind Toughest Mudder. They’re the ones to thank for that Mud Mile in Atlanta. We talk about that obstacle specifically. We also talk about Stage 5 Clinger in Philly, as well as lots of other Toughest and World’s Toughest information.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
The Mud Movement YouTube Channel
Amelia Boone for Oberto Beef Jerky
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Toughest Mudder Philly Recap!
Toughest Mudder Philly was this past weekend. Trevor Cichosz and Allison Tai came away with the first place wins and 208 runners out of 717 (29%) qualified as contenders.
Before we get into the Toughest Philly recap information Will talks about Ian Panter and the car accident he was in as he was leaving the Saturday morning Tough Mudder course. The local news station where Ian lives did a story on the accident and we listen to a clip from it. If you’d like to help Ian and his family with their medical expenses, a GoFundMe page has been set up. You can find a link to it at facebook.com/worldstoughestpod
Kris Mendoza borrowed the World’s Toughest Microphone and talked to several people in Philly, pre-race. He spends some time talking with Trevor Cichosz, Lou Fisher, Stefanie Bishop, John Fagan, Jim “Da Goat” Campbell, Keith Allen, Joel Forsyth, and Melissa “Sharkbait” Dugan. Da Goat and Sharkbait are on this podcast as often as Will Hicks lately.
As we start talking about Philly, we talk about the Philly results and stats, as well as discussing the Toughest Mudder series as a whole. Philly had 29% of the field qualify as contenders, Europe had 33%, Atlanta had 61%, and LA had 46%. Total contender numbers so far: 2,272 people have run Toughest Mudder. 885 have completed 25 miles. 39% have become contenders.
Will then reads a few iTunes reviews (Have you left your review yet?) and reminds everyone how to enter to win a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex trail running shoes from the World’s Toughest Podcast. If you want better odds, you can also win of a pair of the shoes from Amazon, but the entry fee is about $130.
Once we go to the phones, we don’t come back. We have a conversation with Allison Tai, Kevin Given, Alex “Chikorita” Roudayna, Kevin “Bubbles” Gregory, Sara Knight, Jordan McDougal, and Stefanie Bishop.
Allison Tai won first place at Toughest Philly. If you’d like to hear more from Allison, check out episode 17 of the World’s Toughest Podcast.
Kevin Given ran Toughest Philly this weekend. You’ll recognize him on course in his straw cowboy hat.
Chikorita won third place at Toughest Philly and has qualified as an Elite Contender three times. She will make some noise this year at World’s Toughest Mudder.
Kevin Gregory has the nickname “Bubbles”. If you listen to his whole call with Will you’ll find out why.
Sara Knight is one of two women (with Sharkbait) who have run every Toughest Mudder so far. She and Chad Trammell are the only two people to qualify as an Elite Contender in more than one country.
Jordan McDougal won second place at Toughest Mudder Philly. He has a background in ultra-running. This is his first Toughest Mudder event.
Stefanie Bishop is the reigning World’s Toughest Mudder. She needs no introduction. You introduce yourself to her. That’s not her job.
This episode is almost two hours long. What do you think about that? Next time should we split it into two or three different episodes and put out a shorter episode each week? Or would you prefer to get as much information as you can, as soon as you can? Let us know in a review on iTunes. We would sincerely appreciate it.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Toughest Mudder Philly Preview!
Philadelphia is the site of the fourth of six Toughest Mudder races. Races in Whistler and Chicago will take place later this year.
After a bit of Tough Mudder news and a plug for friends-of-the-show Pis n' Cox, we talk to Kris Mendoza.
Kris competed in Toughest L.A. and missed qualifying as an Elite Contender by less than two minutes. He talks about the disappointment he felt in L.A. and his plans for Toughest Mudder Philly.
We also talk about his performance at World's Toughest Mudder. His first year was 2014 where he completed 50 miles. In 2015 he completed 80 miles, and in 2016 he became one of only six people to complete 100 miles at World's Toughest Mudder.
Kris talks about how he went from zero running background to 50 miles, to 75+, all the way up to 100 miles. If you hit 50 miles at WTM last year and are chasing 75 this year you'll want to hear his advice.
If you'd like to join the World's Toughest Podcast Winner's List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know in a comment on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
Toughest Mudder Europe Recap!
On this episode we talk results, statistics, and interviews from Toughest Mudder Europe. We’ve got audio from the podium and you get a taste of Tough Mudder UK’s start line man, Gil Kolirin.
We talk about the list of all the 13 different men and 11 different women who have qualified as Elite Contenders for World’s Toughest Mudder 2017, as well as how many people have run each of the three Toughest Mudder and how many people completed 25 miles to qualify as a Contender at each location. If you don’t have time to listen right now, you can find this information on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, facebook.com/worldstoughestpod
Will talks to four different people who ran Toughest Mudder Europe for a few minutes each. Phil Renton, Emma Ray, Robbie Brown, and Nye Davies all had totally different, yet similar experiences at the race this weekend.
The episode wraps up with a talk with the men’s winner of Toughest Mudder Europe, Jon Albon. Jon talks about how the race went for him and gets into the mental side of long endurance racing.
If you'd like to join the World’s Toughest Podcast Winner’s List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know on the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every week.
LAST MINUTE NEWS: After the audio was locked for this episode we saw a video on MudRunGuide.com with Tough Mudder CEO Will Dean talking about the plans for Toughest Europe next year. Current plans are to hold a Toughest Mudder in both the UK and Germany in 2018.
Toughest Mudder Europe Preview episode!
If you can’t listen right now, download for later and read this now:
The elevation at Toughest Mudder Europe will be similar to Toughest Mudder Atlanta. Expect hills, but not “Toughest L.A. Hills”. Weather is expected to be cold; 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (5 to 10 degrees Celsius) and a 50% chance of rain. 10 to 15 mph winds for most of the night. Wear your wetsuit and windbreaker.
Congratulations to our three winners of the Merrell Agility Peak Flex trail running shoes! If you’d like to join the Winner’s List for a chance to win a pair for yourself email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Subscribe in the subject line and three things in the email body: 1) Your name 2) Your email address and 3) Your phone number. If you’re already on the list you’re automatically entered to win next month. No need to rejoin.
In this episode we talk about the elites that we know will and will not be at Toughest Mudder Europe and give you some athletes to watch this weekend. We also talk with Will Chung and Daniel Stephens. Wil and Daniel are both from England and have both run regular Tough Mudders at Grantham, site of Toughest Mudder Europe.
Wil Chung ran in the first ever international edition of Tougher Mudder last weekend at Midlands UK and he walks us through how it went. Wil will be running Toughest Mudder this weekend and we talk about what he expects from the event.
Daniel Stephens ran the first Tough Mudder of the UK season last Saturday morning. Then he got on a plane and flew to America where he ran Toughest Mudder Atlanta that night and put up 25 miles. Daniel tells us about that whole experience and how it went for him. We also talk about his experience at World’s Toughest Mudder. Daniel was not happy with his performance at his first WTM in 2015. He talks about how he dealt with that and came back stronger in 2016 to finish 50 miles.
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know on the WTM Community page, the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every Tuesday.
Allison Tai joins us to talk about Toughest Mudder Atlanta and her second place finish among the women and 7th place overall. You can find out more about her new gym opening June 1 at vancityocr.com.
Before we talk to Allison, Will talks about Toughest Atlanta and shares a few stories about the course. He loved it.
We also try out something new, with some short quick phone calls to members of the community that ran Toughest Atlanta. It's interesting to get a quick insight into what others thought about the event.
Will announced in this episode that he's giving away his personal tickets to Toughest Europe and Toughest Philly. He says if you want his ticket though, you're going to have to work for it while you're at the event. Will is looking for audio content for the podcast in exchange for his ticket. If you're interested, email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Toughest Europe or Toughest Philly in the subject line and in the body of the email, your name, email address, and cell number, along with what type of audio content you feel you'll be able to provide the podcast from the event. This is not a contest. Will is selecting who he's giving his tickets to. The whole audience is counting on you!
Also, Merrell and World's Toughest Podcast are giving away three pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes on next weeks episode! If you'd like a chance to win a pair, email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and your name, email address, and cell phone number in the body. That will subscribe you to our Winners List to hear about World's Toughest Podcast news and events, as well as contests like this.
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know on the WTM Community page, the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every Tuesday.
Bonus episode of World’s Toughest Podcast! Last Minute Toughest Mudder Atlanta Edition!
We start with a weather report for Toughest Mudder Atlanta. It’s going to be hot. 69 degrees at 12:00 midnight. The coldest it will get during the race is 60 degrees at 6:00am. No rain in the forecast but humidity will be between 20 and 25 percent for the eight hours.
Jim Campbell ran Tougher Mudder this morning and talks about the course. Block Ness Monster is DEEP this time. Be careful guys. After we talk about the course we talk about the elite athletes running tonight and who to watch.
Sean Corvelle was working the start line and was outstanding as always. We heard through the grapevine that TMHQ has added four additional dates to Sean’s schedule for 2017. Sean had a great line he doesn’t use all the time: “Tough Mudder does not build obstacles to hurt you. Any fool can do that. We create a course to challenge you.”
We also talk to David Thanos about the course. He ran Tougher Mudder this morning. He also talks about the water depth at Block Ness Monster and the rule changes to Tougher Mudder. TMHQ has added penalty loops to Funky Monkey and Kong. If you fail either of those two obstacles you no longer have the option to retry the obstacle. You must take the penalty loop. However, even if you fail them, as long as you complete the penalty loop you will qualify for the Tougher Mudder headband.
If you finish on the podium tonight at Toughest Mudder Atlanta be sure to find Will Hicks afterward for the World’s Toughest Continental Breakfast. We’ll talk about the race while you enjoy some fruit, carbs, and a chilled Starbucks Carmel Macchiato or a Throwback Mt. Dew (with Real Sugar!)
If you'd like to join the World’s Toughest Podcast Winners List and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your Name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number 4) Yes or No to the question "Would you like to receive updates from Merrell and World's Toughest Podcast?"
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know on the WTM Community page, the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every Tuesday.
Jay and Heather Bode join me to talk about their experience at Toughest Mudder Los Angeles and to talk through the course map for this weekend at Toughest Mudder Atlanta.
Jay and Heather host the Overcome and Run podcast, as well as writing for their site, OvercomeAndRun.com
Jay and Heather talk about the details of their Toughest race in L.A. and how you can use that info as you finalize preparation for Toughest Atlanta, including what gear they wore, what food they brought, and how they handled cramping on course. We also go through the course map and talk about each obstacle at Toughest Atlanta and how to complete each one.
Congratulations to Alexandria Badenhop! She's the lucky winner of an entry to Toughest Mudder Atlanta and a pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex trail running shoes. She won because she is subscribed to the World's Toughest Podcast email list so she heard about the 48 hour "Flash Contest" held this past weekend. We're in the middle of a big Merrell giveaway. Now is a good time to get on the list.
If you'd like to join the list and enter the contest for a free pair of Merrell Agility Peak Flex shoes email WorldsToughestPodcast@gmail.com with Merrell in the subject line and the following in the body: 1) Your name 2) Your email address 3) Your cell phone number 4) Yes or No to the question "Would you like to receive updates from Merrell and World's Toughest Podcast?"
Who would you like to hear on the podcast? Let us know on the WTM Community page, the World’s Toughest Podcast Facebook page, or leave us a review on iTunes. Don't forget to subscribe and listen for new episodes every Tuesday.
Tiffany Aab is my guest this week. You know Tiffany as the international TV Star of "Road to World's Toughest Mudder" on CBS Sports last December. Tiffany is very honest about her struggles with a bad marriage and cancer. She competed in her first WTM in 2016 exactly one year after being declared cancer free.
The connection and friendship formed though Tough Mudder is important to her. “The community has helped me be a better version of myself than I was last year” She says people don’t need to be intimidated by WTM. For most people, “It’s all about our own race”.
WE GOT A SHOE DEAL! WITH MERRELL!
Merrell and World's Toughest Podcast will be giving away a FREE pair of shoes this month and every month leading up to WTM 2017. We're kicking it off with THREE PAIR of the Merrell Agility Peak Flex.
Be sure to visit the World's Toughest Podcast Facebook page at Facebook.com/WorldsToughestPod to find out how to enter.