Like all good things in modern Canadian life, it started with a Groupon.Bleary-eyed and a little hung over on a hot morning in early July, I opened my email to find subject line: MUDDERELLA screaming at me. I was instantly enthralled.
I am familiar with the idea of TOUGH MUDDER, ever since that time at Rob's house when a drunk dude-bro forced me to look at hundreds of pictures of him competing in one (flattering, really...). As much as I wanted to get away from that guy (who admittedly had some pretty decent abs), I was actually really, really interested in the event itself: it looked AWESOME!
A testament to excellent branding and name choice, I instantly thought of TOUGH MUDDER when I saw the MUDDERELLA link, and sure enough...a muddy obstacle course!! YES!!!
While Tough Mudder is designed to be a 16-20 km slog, Mudderella comes in at 8-11, and is a celebration of female empowerment and sisterhood. The feminist in me bristles at the idea of "Tough Mudder for girls", but 8-11K is way more enticing to me than 16-20, so I guess - for this girl - umm, that's an accurate description. I can live with it. (Guys can run it, too, but they have to be invited by a female team leader. The participants seemed to be about 95% female. Props to the couple of guys who ran it in dresses.) (And, FWIW, 35% of Tough Mudder participants are female, so even more props to those fine, strong women!)
I'm writing this recap/review to encourage other gals to take part in future Mudderellas, because it was probably one of the top-10 best days of my life. Also, there were not a whole lot of info/reviews for the event when I was initially trying to figure out what it was, so hopefully this will be helpful to future Mudderellas, or ladies thinking of becoming Mudderellas. And make no mistake, once you do this, you are forever entitled to call yourself a MUDDERELLA!
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| L-R Me, Staci, Heather: Ready to RUN! |
LOCATION:
Mudderella Toronto is actually held in KITCHENER, which is most definitely not Toronto. The course is set up around the Bingeman's property, which also features lots of camping, cabins and a whole lotta waterslides. It is an excellent choice, due to a variety of terrain and a good mix of wooded and open-field areas. It even has a landfill! (Which was super-smelly to run through.)
My husband Dylan was our designated driver, personal cheerleader, and photographer. (Thanks, Hon!) He was given a map of the course, and was allowed to traipse all over the open areas of the course to get great action pics of us on many of the obstacles. Sadly, there are no pics of us running through the forest areas or the landfill.
PDF of the course
ENTRY FEES & REGISTRATION:
On the Mudderella website, it was either $129 or $149 to sign up (sorry, can't remember :(). However, there were continuous Groupons available throughout July and August, and I believe we each paid $74.99 + tax to sign up. Once you purchased your entry, you had to sign up via the EventBrite website, and register to be on your team. Being on a team ostensibly ensures that you will all be assigned the same start time (waves run on the half-hour from 8AM - 1PM), but each person on my team was assigned a different start time. That ended up not mattering at all, because you can just show up and go with whichever wave is starting next. Not a single person checks or cares what time you start the run. We had decided to arrive for the 1PM wave, but we made good time on the highway and ended up running at 12:30.
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| We thought we were at the starting line |
THE COURSE:
Mudderella Toronto 2016 was approximately 9.5K. There are KM markers helpfully posted as you run, but my mind kind of turned off after awhile and the signs had absolutely no meaning to me whatsoever. I do know that we passed a 9K sign shortly before arriving at the end.
One thing that was super-annoying: We waited for about 20 minutes in the starting pen for our wave to start. It was HOT. It was LOUD. We were EXCITED. Finally, the gates opened and everybody started to run. We ran, we screamed, we laughed, we turned a corner, and FULL STOP. WTF??? There was a SECOND "starting line" where we had to listen to a hyper-ass trainer on a platform attempt to pump us up, for what seemed like 45 minutes but was probably only 5. After evangelising about the power of sisterhood and supporting one another - ugh - she then led us in the most superficial of "warm-ups" before setting us free once again to actually start the course. Seriously, Mudderella organisers. Please cut this. I can see that it's meant to inspire us to feel strong and excited, but WE ALREADY FELT THAT WAY! It was just annoying and a real momentum killer, for my pals and me, at least. Extremely frustrating, annoying and useless. We are active, fit ladies, not only do we need more warm-up for an endurance race than 30 seconds of jumping jacks and a few squats, WE ALREADY DID IT FOR OURSELVES! At least move it to the starting pen next year. Honestly.
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| We thought we were starting the run. We were wrong. |
On the course, there were water stations every couple of kilometres, and at some point somebody gave us half of a banana. Heather wanted a second half of a banana, but she was too shy to ask for it.
We completed it in 2 hours, 10 minutes - should have been under 2 hours, except for a ridiculous wait on the last obstacle - but more on that below.
THE OBSTACLES:
Well, with a name like Mudderella, you expect to get muddy, right? YEEEAAAHHHHHH!!! Here's a brief overview of each obstacle that was included on the course this year: (Spoiler alert: some of them were pretty lame.)
1. Split Ends - this is a series of long bungee cord type things tied between trees, which you have to step over and under. Meh.
2. The Scramble - I can't remember what this one was! Sorry. :/ Reply in comments if you can elaborate - (UPDATE 09/10) - This obstacle involves crawling on your front over a grassy hill, under a large plastic net that is about 2' off the ground and 100m long. I kept getting my hair caught in the net :(
3. Step it Up - I think this is the one where you had to climb a wall - using tires nailed into that wall to get to the top, then climb down the other side. Ouch this one hurt me bad in a sensitive place when I straddled the top, but my long-legged ectomorph companions did not have the same problem.
4. Surprise Party - Our first mud dip!!! OMG I was so excited for this! Such a hot day, and the water was so nice and cool - ahhhhhh. It was about 3-ft deep, and you could duck down in and enjoy it.
5. Bobby Pinned - Sorry. Forget what this one was also. :( It might be the one where you had to pick up a log and run around a track. The logs looked like real logs, but they felt like prop logs made of styrofoam (i.e., not heavy). The pics make it look like you are a superstar.
6. Charlie's Angels - Another wall climber. I have literally no idea why it is named this.
7. Eye of the Tiger - Super fun. Crawl through thick mud under suspended wires. So muddy and awesome.
8. Squad Goals - Girl power! Give another girl a piggy-back for half, then switch places. This is the stupidest obstacle ever. It is not even an obstacle. I can do this in my backyard if I want, but I never, never, do, because no one thinks this is a fun or challenging thing to do. Just plain stupid, honestly.
9. Rise of the Shero - A tall wall that requires you to pull yourself up a rope to the top, then climb down the other side. Heather and Staci were aces at this, but I got scared of the height so I did not do it. :(
10. Strong Walls - Another wall-climber. Not particularly notable in any way.
11. Ain't no Mountain High - This was my favourite! Multiple hills, multiple muddy pools. You had to climb up the muddy hills, then slide into the muddy water. It was so much fun. We took some time to relax and enjoy the spa-like experience.
12. Triple Threat - A combination of mud/water pools, climbing and sliding, and going under wires again. This obstacle was an excellent way to get yourself as muddy as womanly possible before hitting the finish line. Heather took this opportunity to cover her entire head of hair in a mud helmet.
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| I accidentally slid uncontrollably down the hill and ended up like this |
13. Stunt Double (aka THE GRAND FINALE) - As you approach this final obstacle, you can see the finish line about 100m past it, and you get EXCITED. Wooo Hoooo!!!! We DID IT!!!!!!!! Climb a scaffold to a 10-ft platform, then choose one of 4 jump-points to leap down onto a humongous inflatable cushion, then run your ass off to the finish line and VICTORY!! Fantastic, right? WRONG. FULL STOP. The Mudderella organisers could not have dropped the ball harder here. There was only one volunteer supervising the 4 jump spots, and when we got there, 3 of the jump stops were completely, well, STOPPED. Nervous Muderellas, who just murdered a 9.5K course and 12 other obstacles, frozen in fear of a fun jump onto a large soft cushion. I cannot imagine a more frustrating way to end this race: we were literally stopped dead still for 10-15 minutes, because fellow runners would neither jump nor move aside to let others go. Just stopped. Waiting. Irritated, annoyed, all momentum lost. It wasn't enough to kill my enthusiasm for the entire day, but seriously, if anyone organising a Mudderella is reading this, you really need to have volunteers up there to make these timid ladies step aside and let the rest of us go. It was a real buzz-kill after an amazing 2-hour adventure.
When you cross the finish line, you get a Mudderella sweat band put on your head, then pick up a t-shirt, a protein bar, and a TALL BOY OF SHOCKTOP! Awesome.
There are lots of vendors and food trucks to buy stuff from, but I'm not really into that so I don't have much to add on that point.
For clean-up, there was a huge line leading into some hoses hung from the ceiling of a portable shower tent. The water was being pumped directly from the river. We didn't want to wait in that insane line, so we walked over to the river and just got right in and washed off there. Some people on the forums are claiming that the volunteer overseeing the ladies' shower area was a MALE (!?) and that he was timing 4-minute showers with a CELL PHONE (!!!!) I cannot speak to the veracity of this allegation, but if it's true, that's really, really disturbing. #pervo. Just rinse off in the river like we and hundreds of other people did.
HOW FIT DO YOU HAVE TO BE?
This is the question I've been asked most frequently. I am moderately fit: I go to the gym pretty much every day for 60-90 minutes. However, most of my focus is on lifting, and my cardio is limited to 30-minute daily HIIT sessions. Once in awhile I do 60 mins of steady-state low intensity cardio, but I always stick to low-impact machines like the elliptical or stationary bike. (I kind of knew this would be a problem for me, because I have difficulty completing a step class.) Thus, this race taught me that I need to expand my focus to include ENDURANCE. It also tore up my quads so bad that I was almost immobile for two days following the event. To prepare for next year, I will learn to run a 10K outside, go to step class at least once a week, and will make endurance training a bigger focus in my workouts. Thanks, Mudderella, for giving me the inspiration to become more well-rounded in my fitness focus!!
That said, you could probably do this course as long as you are able to be upright and active for 3 hours. I mean, you could probably walk it, but it would take 3-4 hours to finish. Ladies of all shapes, sizes, and ages were enjoying taking part, and sometimes they would just take a break and sit on a hill for awhile. Personally, I don't think I would enjoy it if it was that much of a chore to finish, but to each her own.
RANDOM BITS:
Parking - PAY FOR PREMIUM PARKING!!! Do so in advance, as it will sell out! Premium parking is $25, but you get to park right beside where all the action is. Other tiers are preferred and regular parking, at (I believe) $15 and $10 respectively. You will need to walk, walk, walk if you choose one of these options. Parking was available to purchase on the day for $20, and in a lot that was really far away from the centre of the action.
Fun factor - HIGH! I love the way this course was designed, so that as you are running one way on the path, ladies who've been there already pass by on the other. Lots of high-5s and encouragement happening between all the participants. It was an awesome feeling.
Photography - Your bib number is used to identify you in pics taken by professional photogs over the course of the race. They have a really good system for this: you get an email about a week after the event, with a link where you just enter your name and your pics come up. However, I only had 4 pictures taken over the whole thing: 2 of them were at the same obstacle, and one of them is actually of Staci. If you have a family member who can come and cheer you on, they will be able to get waaaayyyy better shots for you.
Fundraising - Mudderella has decided to attach itself to the Breast Cancer Research/Awareness movement (not sure which exact charity.) Supposedly some proceeds go towards this initiative, but the skeptic in me suspects that this is more of a for-profit venture, and those proceeds are likely miniscule. If you want to fundraise with your team, you can make a link and hit up friends and family for donations in support of your run. Personally, that's not something I really like to do. I ran this for myself, because I thought it would be fun and awesome, and it was. I hate the idea of hitting people up for money on the back of something I really wanted to do anyway. Personal choice, I guess.
Final Thoughts - A fantastic day with awesome friends and soooooo much fun!!! I cannot recommend this event highly enough!
Did you do Mudderella Toronto or another Mudderella? Ideas to share or discuss? Questions? Let me know in the comments!! xoxo
