December 17, 2011. A non-stop 24 hour physical and mental endurance event designed to find the Toughest Human Being on the planet. Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ was the location of the final culminating event of the 2011 series that took place at many locations across the USA.
The first event area in the course was the high elevation net crawl.
This challenge took perseverance because one needed to run at breakneck speed to climb the very slippery plastic incline and either grasp the top of the wall or grasp the helper's hand at the top. If one missed, a slide to the bottom was quick and the competitor had to start back at the beginning to get up the proper speed. Many participants took three attempts before making it to the top.
As I was bundled up in my warm winter coat, I wondered how a plunge into 42 degree water felt. The concept didn't compute.
For the participants, this dark box contained a slippery floor, bright strobe lights and smoke. Volunteering outside was the very pretty Chelsea, who competed in a recent World's Toughest Mudder in California.
At several locations around the raceway, were medical centers.
After water challenges on a cold day, I'll bet some of the participants would have liked to climb into the hay to keep warm.
Not just one high wall, but three of them.
A very difficult challenge that some couldn't perform and took the penalty and some that almost made it across but failed at the last moment.
A most interesting structure that required a rope climb, a slippery downslide in darkness and a splash into muddy water.
Ever vigilant, were volunteers that looked on for safety purposes. Good looking too.
Monitoring this event was this unassuming gentleman who built this structure, the giant net crawl and several other large scale challanges.
Who invented these tortures.... carrying two heavy tires around a long circuit and then various signs to rub it in.
I said hello to this young man just before he entered the high stepping, jump over event.
Back at the start and finish area, I had a sandwich and took several more photos.
This was a seriously difficult challenge. I could not have completed even one round when I was a young man and in shape. These contestants were rare individuals.
