Photo By Brandon Hubbard | Spc. Yamil Nasser (right in green knit cap), assigned to the 474th Engineering...... read more read more
PALM BAY, Fla. — At the sixth-mile obstacle a runner fell face down into the water with his hands clutching his right leg in agonizing cramps. It was a tense moment with the man in waist-deep water, leaving other race participants crossing their forearms in an x-formation — know to all Tough Mudder participants as the symbol to call for a medic.
Like the cartoon heroes they portrayed, five men dressed in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes in a second were pulling the runner out of the water.
“We didn’t really think about it,” said Spc. Yamil Nasser, assigned to the 474th Engineer Platoon in Orlando and a Miami resident. “I guess that is what happens (with Army training). He went down, and our group was just making sure he got up, then called the medics over right away.”
Three of the five “heroes on a half shell” are Army Reserve Soldiers from Florida units, running together in Army Reserve-cosponsored Tough Mudder run for the second year. The Soldiers are both runners and volunteers with Army Reserve Marketing and Research Group showcasing the opportunities available through the Army during the two-day event.
Tough Mudder combines extreme obstacles with a more than 10-mile running course. Among the challenges is a menthol-filled gas chamber called “Cry Baby,” an ice-water plunge called “Artic Enema” and a swinging pendulum — called “King of the Swingers” — that launches runners from a 12-foot platform.
Tackling the military-style obstacles with friends and civilian mudders is a chance for Soldiers to practice their physical fitness in a group challenge, while interacting with many people trying the aggressive climbing and low-crawling skills the Army requires prides itself upon.
Blazing through the course is not the objective for most runners. About 90 percent of the obstacle runners sign up as part of a team, according to event organizers.
The course can take up to four hours to complete. Even a fit athlete can find the stamina or co-ordination diversity to be daunting and some obstacles require teamwork to overcome.
“We breezed through the course and took our time, helping other runners out,” said Spc. Edwin Suarez, with the 377th Military Intelligence Battalion in Homestead, Florida. “It’s not about time with us. It’s about everybody going out and having a good time.”
Tough Mudder estimates 78 percent of the people who start the course cross the finish line.
Spc. Anthony Macias, with the 388th Clearance Company, found his muscular physique working against him one of the high platform obstacles.
“I’m a little bigger and didn’t get the momentum I wanted, then slipped,” Macias said, referring to the 12-foot drop into the water. “Face first — I landed face first.”
But, he looks back post-race on that moment with a battered grin.
Running with his fellow Soldiers and close friends means a little extra assurance than everyone is getting through together and no one gets left behind, he says.
“You feel kind of protected, because you know you are in good hands,” Macias said.
Leaving no one behind isn’t the only hat tip to the Armed Forces at Tough Mudder. Repeat runners become part of The Legion and Legionnaires — harkening back to the Roman army moniker. And since its inception in 2010, Tough Mudder has donated more than $8.5 million to the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project to help Veterans.
That detail might be why hundreds of Veterans and groups wear homemade shirts with slogans like “Running For Warriors” to support the troops.
“It is an energy that rubs off on you,” Spc. Suarez said. “You feel loved.”
In 2014, about 9,500 participants braved the Palm Bay Tough Mudder and more than 2,000 more people can as spectators. This year is expected to rival those statistics.
| Date Taken: | 11.07.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2015 21:39 |
| Story ID: | 181384 |
| Location: | PALM BAY, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Florida Soldiers find warrior kinship in obstacle course running, by Brandon Hubbard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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