jacob riis

july 2011, taken with the Olympus Pen-FT

Everest 6AM

I covered the World's Toughest Mudder race on December 17-18. It is a 24-hour obstacle course race based on the Tough Mudder series of races and comprises 38-40 obstacles run in a loop. The night of December 17 was one of the coldest of the year with temperatures dropping to about 25 degrees overnight. Participants began the day to sunny skies and air temperatures of about 50 degrees. Nearly two-thirds of the 800 or so runners did not finish the first lap due to hypothermia or other injuries, and the "official count" of finishers was about 10 (referring to runners who finished the same number of laps the male and female winners completed within 24 hours). I'm currently working on an article on the culture of obstacle course and related adventure racing.

I took this photo a little after 6AM, December 18 with the Nikon F4. The running theme of Tough Mudder races was always "I put camaraderie over my course time," meaning one helps other runners complete obstacles on their way to the finish. During the World's, however, TM turned its own notion on its ear, making finishing less important than completing the most laps within 24 hours in search of the $10,000 prize. Most runners kept more true to TM's own ethics than TM did itself, but after the first several laps, the race had become a pure endurance challenge. Runners were so spread out over the 12 mile course that even if they adhered to the teamwork aspect rather than the competitive angle TM proposed, it was likely there would be spare help on the other side. It became very much an individual act. Runners opting for Under Armor (the "official clothing supplier" of Tough Mudder events) were lucky to make it two laps. By then, hypothermia had taken 80 percent of participants, and the ones who were left were running in 5-6mm wetsuits or dry suits.

This particular obstacle is called Everest, and is not much more than a 12-foot tall skateboard ramp. It doesn't go to vert, but can be challenging for people who haven't learned to run up skate ramps. During the World's, there was the added challenge of being soaking wet (due to the obstacle directly prior: soldier crawling through muddy water under electrified wires), which made sliding back to the base much more of a possibility. Even during the first lap when there was quite a bit of assistance, I watched some runners try 10,12, and 15 times to get to the top to no avail. This was one of the most backbreaking terrestrial obstacles. Still, at 6AM in below freezing temperatures, this runner goes for it alone. Made it first try.