Brett Stewart - Ultimate Obstacle Race Training: Crush the Worlds Toughest Courses

CRUSH THE WORLDS TOUGHEST COURSES

BRETT STEWART

Ulysses Press

This book is dedicated to my big brother Chad. Surviving your wedgies, noogies, and blindside QB hits instilled the desire in me to repeatedly get back up, dust off, and ask for more. Thank you for the tortureI loved every second of it!

Text Copyright 2012 Brett Stewart. Design and concept 2012 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Published in the United States by

Ulysses Press
P.O. Box 3440
Berkeley, CA 94703
www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN13: 978-1-61243-142-0
Library of Congress Control Number 2012940426

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acquisitions Editor: Keith Riegert
Managing Editor: Claire Chun
Editor: Lily Chou
Proofreader: Lauren Harrison
Indexer: Sayre Van Young
Cover design: what!design @ whatweb.com
Cover photographs: Mac Stone/Savage Race
Interior photographs: see page 148

Models: Michael Bennett, Brian Burns, Tricia Burns, Evan Clontz, Lewis Elliot, Vincent Fountain, Lauren Harrison, Joseph Nusairat, Brett Stewart, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Zoberg

Distributed by Publishers Group West

PLEASE NOTE: This book has been written and published strictly for informational purposes, and in no way should be used as a substitute for consultation with health care professionals. You should not consider educational material herein to be the practice of medicine or to replace consultation with a physician or other medical practitioner. The author and publisher are providing you with information in this work so that you can have the knowledge and can choose, at your own risk, to act on that knowledge. The author and publisher also urge all readers to be aware of their health status and to consult health care professionals before beginning any health program.

We send people into death, and then we bring them back. Im a provider. A provider of fear. For those who want itif youre mentally tough, you can stand up against the world.

Billy Wilson (a.k.a. Mr. Mouse), founder, Tough Guy

Our lives are filled with challenges we must endure, barriers we must navigate, and obstacles we must overcome. From the moment we learn to crawl as infants, so starts the process of developing the skills, strength, and tenacity to control the path we travel and choose our own destiny.

By the time weve grown up (whatever that actually means), it seems that our race against time, with countless pitfalls and potholes in our way, has become second nature. A ho-hum ordinary existence can be summed up in the following dialog between two friends over a beer:

Hey bud, whats up?

Same-old, same-old. You?

Yup, me, too. Pass the nuts, will ya?

A select few have drawn a line in the sand and stand together to oppose monotony, mediocrity, and lame conversation while passing a bowl of beer nuts. These renegades can be found in all walks of life, from your coffee barista sporting a neck tattoo, to the police officer who let you off with a warning for going just a wee bit over the speed limit, to your neighborhood postman who seems to relish the occasional chase by a wayward pooch. Theyre all around us, and most likely look just like you and me. These driven individuals have found the razor-thin line that separates the daily tasks we need to navigate and the obstacles we seek out to tackle for fun, sport, and the pure challenge of pushing our minds and bodies to their limits. They stand together as an alliance of endorphin junkies, endurance athletes, and the passionate few that crush all the barriers in their way. They are Obstacle Racers.

Obstacle races and mud runs have blossomed into a relatively overnight sensation across the globe, and hundreds of thousands of participants sign up and compete in these events on a weekly basis across all seven continents. (Yes, plans are being hatched to host events even in Antarctica.) Featuring each of the elements (earth, wind, fire, and wateror more accurately mud, water, ice, fire, water-soluble paint) and obstacles ranging from simple cargo nets, climbing ropes, 950-pound tractor tires, or gladiators wielding pugil sticks, theres enough variety and adrenaline-inducing activity for anyone. Not enough? Did I mention being chased by zombies?

In just the last five years, hundreds of new events have sprouted up all across America and new mega-event companies have been created to host dozens of events per year. Spartan Race, for example, has grown from its inaugural event in 2009 to over 60 races held worldwide in just three years, while Warrior Dash celebrated its one-millionth registration in early 2012.

One things for sure: Events based around running, climbing, jumping, ducking, crawling, dodging, and sliding will continue their rapid ascension to the forefront of weekend warrior sporting events, and quite possibly supplant some other more-entrenched pastimes. Says Alex Patterson, CMO of Tough Mudder, By the end of 2012, we aim to replace Ironman as the preeminent brand in endurance sports. Kids arent left out of the fun, either. Many events have smaller mud runs just for children under 12, and established races such as Spartan Race have taken the initiative to expand on kid-friendly courses and make them an event unto themselves.

What were offering is a fun, genuinely tough experience that people can be proud of.

Guy Livingstone, Tough Mudder

Obstacle racers come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Obstacle Race Training is dedicated to those daring individuals seeking adventure and challenges that you just cant find in most gyms. In this book youll find dozens of tips, tricks, and techniques for conquering obstacles of every shape and size that youll find out on most race courses, from rope climbs to flipping huge tractor tires and all the mud-based stuff you can imagine in between. Ive also created three different training programs specifically designed to match real-world courses and the challenges youll have to overcome to get to the finish line. Need the strength and technique to climb walls, evade zombies, crawl under barbed wire without a scratch, or drag heavy blocks of concrete attached to chains? This book has you covered. The knowledge and training youll get from this book will make you a smarter, stronger, and faster obstacle raceryou just need to provide the sweat and effort and commit to do the work to crush the worlds most bad-ass courses!

During the research and testing for this book, I surely earned my diploma in mud racing by sucking it up, slathering on some sunscreen, and spending countless hours building the obstacle courses that thousands of you love to hate. I braved the Arizona sun with searing triple-digit temperatures to construct a foot-grabbing tire pit from hell alongside the founders of LoziLu Womens Mud Runs. I hung off a forklift to build a webbed monster of a cargo net with Devon and the team at Cahoots Duo Challenge. Spartan Race Gladiator Arena? Been there and swung the pugil sticks to prove it.

I was the guy inside the wrecked cars at Tough Mudder shooting photos while hundreds of you maniacs were clamoring over my head. That guy sticking his camera in your face at the cargo crawl or high-low line at Warrior Dash couldve been me angling to preserve every bit of your passion, pain, and perseverance in photos.