Tough Guy

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Discussion

K87

Original Poster:

2,111 posts

186 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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Anyone ever done the toughguy challenge? Been looking at it today, tempted to give it a whirl in 2013 so would be great to hear from anyone that's done it.

www.toughguy.co.uk

The jiffle king

6,894 posts

257 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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yes.... do the winter one and it's very tough. Enter early for a better starting place.
The year I did it, there were 7 broken legs, more than 800 cases of hyperthermia (me included) and it's the waiting at the obstacles which gets you, not the course. It's a cracking event, if not a little pricey, but do it whilst you have the chance.... oh and wear clothes that will help you, not a costume

K87

Original Poster:

2,111 posts

186 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
Sounds good! I'll get an entry in as soon as the 2013 winter one goes up. How far is the actual distance? Obviously the obstacles make it a completely different ball game.

kieranjholland

3,572 posts

169 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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That looks mental!!

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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I have done a few similar events, commando challenge, hell runner etc. in general they are very enjoyable and a lot of fun and you can really push yourself physically but queueing for the obstacles was a complete pain in the backside and the first hour or so was spent overtaking people who were far too close to the front but had too big an ego to start at the back.

if you like the obstacles, go for it, if you just like long trail runs with mud, there are far cheaper races to enter all over the place.

The jiffle king

6,894 posts

257 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
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They claim the run is 10k, but it's generally shorter than that, but there are a few obstacles to catch you out including the climbs which are very steep and very much like hard work. It's when you get to the killing fields that the pain begins. It depends on the temperature, but you are in cold water for an minimum of an hour which as you progress around the course, gets higher up your body until you get fully dunked.... Wear a swimming hat or have one in your pocket. Wear some gloves for the obstacles, they are hard work and because of the queues, you will be on them for some time. (I'm a sub 1:20 half marathon runner and I did ok on the run, but was held up by the mass of people on the obstacles. The vietcong tunnels are tough on the legs and the firerun is ok. It's the big aframes which get you tired and the constant cold. You'll need good shoes for sure and be prepared to throw everything you wear away afterwards. I've never seen so many grown-ups crying but it is worth it

K87

Original Poster:

2,111 posts

186 months

Wednesday 4th January 2012
quotequote all
The jiffle king said:
They claim the run is 10k, but it's generally shorter than that, but there are a few obstacles to catch you out including the climbs which are very steep and very much like hard work. It's when you get to the killing fields that the pain begins. It depends on the temperature, but you are in cold water for an minimum of an hour which as you progress around the course, gets higher up your body until you get fully dunked.... Wear a swimming hat or have one in your pocket. Wear some gloves for the obstacles, they are hard work and because of the queues, you will be on them for some time. (I'm a sub 1:20 half marathon runner and I did ok on the run, but was held up by the mass of people on the obstacles. The vietcong tunnels are tough on the legs and the firerun is ok. It's the big aframes which get you tired and the constant cold. You'll need good shoes for sure and be prepared to throw everything you wear away afterwards. I've never seen so many grown-ups crying but it is worth it
Sounds great fun! So what was your time overall then? I did the mens health survival of the fittest a few years back which was probably a bit tame compared to this but still fun, and also the saab turbo x trails which was about 12 miles cross country. Need to get my fitness back to that ability now.

JontyR

1,915 posts

166 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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Ive just put a repeat entry in for 2013. It was great fun this year.....although I still ache!

Going to enter the Para 10 as well in September, so lots of training ahead of me smile

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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The idea of the tunnels has honesty been putting me off more than anything else. The cold, dark water to go with the doubly so. The rest i think I can deal with. A friend completed last weekend. All he said was he has never been so cold in his life.

Phil Dicky

7,162 posts

262 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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I did it 10 years ago when i was considerably fitter....god it was cold, run pretty easy but the obsticles and the waiting were terrible...they had to break the ice around the lake when i did it....at the end they were handing out hot chocolates spilt all mine couldnt keep my hands still....would i do it again? Hell yeah wink

JontyR

1,915 posts

166 months

Wednesday 1st February 2012
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m444ttb said:
The idea of the tunnels has honesty been putting me off more than anything else. The cold, dark water to go with the doubly so. The rest i think I can deal with. A friend completed last weekend. All he said was he has never been so cold in his life.
Don't let these put you off...they weren't too bad. I had my fears to conquer, the high sections weren't my cup of tea....but managed it.

The water is cold though.....very cold! I almost collapsed having put my head under the water, but you soon pull yourself together and crack on!

gmh23

252 posts

179 months

Thursday 2nd February 2012
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Looks good fun.

Has anyone done this and the MH survival of the fittest? and how do they compare?

Taita

7,590 posts

202 months

Thursday 2nd February 2012
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JontyR said:
Ive just put a repeat entry in for 2013. It was great fun this year.....although I still ache!

Going to enter the Para 10 as well in September, so lots of training ahead of me smile
Fancy teaming up for Paras 10?

JontyR

1,915 posts

166 months

Thursday 2nd February 2012
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Taita said:
Fancy teaming up for Paras 10?
Where do you live? We are looking to do the optional run in full gear, boots and camo trousers, whilst wearing a 30lb bag. We do need 1 other person!

How fit are you? We need to be able to do the run in under 1:50 redface


Taita

7,590 posts

202 months

Thursday 2nd February 2012
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JontyR said:
Where do you live? We are looking to do the optional run in full gear, boots and camo trousers, whilst wearing a 30lb bag. We do need 1 other person!

How fit are you? We need to be able to do the run in under 1:50 redface
Im serving Army at the moment - under 1.50 won't be a problem as I might be doing P Company properly in April!

JontyR

1,915 posts

166 months

Thursday 2nd February 2012
quotequote all
Taita said:
Im serving Army at the moment - under 1.50 won't be a problem as I might be doing P Company properly in April!
We have something to live up to then!

Where are you based at the moment? Certainly would be happy for you to enter with us

drop me an email, and we can chat further.

deadmau5

3,197 posts

179 months

Friday 3rd February 2012
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gmh23 said:
Looks good fun.

Has anyone done this and the MH survival of the fittest? and how do they compare?
I've done SOTF and it was very tame compared to how this looks. The obstacles on SOTF are very easy, the only tough one is the Wall of Fame at the end but if you struggle there are people there to help you.

gmh23

252 posts

179 months

Friday 3rd February 2012
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deadmau5 said:
I've done SOTF and it was very tame compared to how this looks. The obstacles on SOTF are very easy, the only tough one is the Wall of Fame at the end but if you struggle there are people there to help you.
Yeah I did SOTF last year, thats why I was wondering if anyone had done both, to give a comparison, but yes, tough buy certainly looks harder.

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Saturday 4th February 2012
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Wanted to do something like this for years.
Do you have to out your head under water at any time?

The jiffle king

6,894 posts

257 months

Saturday 4th February 2012
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Halb said:
Wanted to do something like this for years.
Do you have to out your head under water at any time?
Oh yes, just once, but you've been cold and wet for about an hour at this time. It's sometimes more when you jump in off a couple of the jumps and if you fall off anything... which does happen.
It's hard work, hurts a lot from the cold and you need to throw 90% of your clothes away afterwards