Participants make their way over a wall during a Rock Solid Mud Run at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Several types of mud runs and obstacle course races are held annually at venues around the region. FILE PHOTO At the age of 53, Kevin Cullen is a two-time veteran of the Tough Mudder obstacle race.
In Tough Mudder lingo, he is a member of the Mudder Legion, or a Legionnaire, which allows him to try different obstacles when he enters the race again and gives him a special headband.
“The race absolutely lives up to its hype,” said Cullen, of Howell. The Tough Mudder, which was designed by the British Special Forces five years ago, is a team-oriented obstacle course spanning 10- to 12-miles, aimed at testing physical strength and mental grit, according to its website. It is open to anyone age 16 and older. An orange headband and a well-deserved beer signify the end of the race.
The course includes obstacles called Ladder to Hell, Kiss of Mud, Arctic Enema, Glory Blades and Electroshock Therapy, to name a few. A sign posted throughout the course reminds participants that they signed a “death waiver” prior to the race.
A climber tries to get his footing on a muddy wall during a mud run at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. FILE PHOTO Cullen first heard about the Tough Mudder when his personal trainer and coach, Mark Nagy, participated in the race at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 2010. Nagy, owner of BlackHearts CrossFit in Port Reading, did it again in 2011.
“I thought he was crazy,” Cullen said, laughing as he recalled his thoughts of why anyone would put themselves through that. “I remember we were at a training session and he came in hobbling and limping.”
Nagy, 31, said he and two friends decided to try the Tough Mudder when it first came to New Jersey.
Kevin Cullen “I was hurting so bad,’’ Nagy said, explaining that the course left him sore.
Though Nagy vowed he would never do it again, he signed up again the following year with a group of friends.
“I don’t like losing,” he said with a smile.
When Nagy and a group of his friends were set to tackle another Tough Mudder in 2012, Cullen was more open to the idea.
“I asked Mark his thoughts on whether or not I had the ability to do something like the Tough Mudder. He said ‘Absolutely, do it,’ ” Cullen said.
That, along with a new exercise routine, was the push Cullen needed to sign up for his first Tough Mudder in 2012.
“I was ready to give it a shot,” he said, adding that it was just a week before superstorm Sandy hit the tristate area. “It was a beautiful day.”
Obstacle course racing, or OCR, has become more popular over the years, drawing people who want to test their fitness and first-timers who want to see what the hype is all about. Many face their fears with some of the obstacles.
Cullen, who participated in the Tough Mudder again in 2014, said there is a bit of anxiety going through the race. He faced down his claustrophobia and his fear of being buried alive.
Vincent Stampoulos, 21, of Port Reading, and Gracy Villanueva, 48, of Carteret, entered their first Tough Mudder races last October at Raceway Park.
Stampoulos said the Tough Mudder was an opportunity to test his will to push through something.
“I got the idea from a TV show and it just seemed fun, so I looked into it,” he said. “While Tough Mudder is extremely difficult on your own, they enforce camaraderie for your fellow racers, and I wouldn’t have been able to finish without the help of the people next to me.”
Stampoulos said he did the race with his sister Maria, and it has brought them even closer than before.
“We even signed up to do the Rugged Maniac [in July] together, just to see if we could do it again,” he said.
Villanueva, who did the race with Cullen and another friend, said she had previously participated in two smaller mud runs and had a lot of fun.
“Honestly, I am not really sure why I enjoy doing them,” she said. “They are exhausting — you have mud in your ears and hair for days, you get bruised and scratched, and some of the obstacles are really scary.”
However, Villanueva said she was intrigued by the Tough Mudder because of the longer course and the event being marketed as the “toughest race in the world.”
After completing her first Tough Mudder, which fell on a rainy and cold day, she had mixed feelings.
“After I finished, I said ‘Never again,’ ” she said. “It was freezing, it took us four hours, every bone in my body ached, I had cuts and bruises all over and I was removing mud out of my hair for days. It was exhausting.”
Despite it all, Villanueva said she would consider doing it again.
Cullen said although he is not participating in the Tough Mudder this year, a third one may be on the horizon.
“I will do another one, just not this year,” he said, adding that he may enter the Rugged Manic, a 3- mile obstacle race that comes to Raceway Park each year in July.
Along with the Tough Mudder and Rugged Maniac, there are many obstacles races and mud runs from which to choose — Warrior Dash; BattleFrog; Mud, Guts & Glory; Merrell Down & Dirty; and the Spartan Races, among others.
And then there is the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships, which will be held Oct. 17-18 in Ohio. Participants must qualify for that event.
Brad Vaccaro, 42, owner of the Sports Conditioning Institute in Wyckoff and creator of the familyfriendly Your First Mud Run, said he loves the sport of obstacle racing.
He plans to take part in six races this summer.
“They are extremely fun. I love the Spartan Races — especially the Spartan Sprint,” he said, adding that the races give him the challenge and competition he enjoys. “These races are actually competitive. If you don’t do an obstacle, the penalty is burpees.”
A burpee is a full-body exercise consisting of a pushup and squat all in one.
Three years ago, Vaccaro launched Your First Mud Run, seeking to fill a void in the world of obstacle racing.
“The courses like Tough Mudder and the Spartan Races are pretty tough,” he said.
Vaccaro said Your First Mud Run is for those who want to try a race but are scared to try something like the Tough Mudder or the Spartan Race.
Vaccaro compared obstacle course racing to the sport of running.
“When someone starts to run, a [26.2-mile] marathon is not the best race to start with,” he said. “A couple of 5K runs, then a 10K and then a half-marathon are good to start with.”
With obstacle course racing, Vaccaro said there are middlelevel events like the Warrior Dash — a 5K with 12 obstacles — and there are extreme races like the Spartan Races, which have varying distances. One Spartan event, the Death Race, was developed for athletes to test themselves mentally and physically. The race takes place in the challenging terrain of the Green Mountain Trails around Pittsfield, Vermont, and has lasted more than 70 hours. Very few finish the race, according to its website.
“Anyone can sign up,” Vaccaro said. “People don’t understand how hard some of these races are. I saw that there were no beginner races.”
Vaccaro said Your First Mud Run is more family-oriented, and children as young as age 6 can run through the course with family members. The next event will be held May 17 at the Specialty Hospitals of New Jersey Foundation in Oceanport. Proceeds will benefit the hospital, which treats patients with pediatric cancer.
“Within three years, we have expanded from New Jersey to New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts,” said Vaccaro, adding that participation has grown from 120 people in the inaugural run to an average of 400. “We hope to expand to the Midwest.”
The fifth annual Rugged Maniac will be held July 11-12 at Raceway Park, with 25 obstacles over a 3-mile course.
Rob Dickens, 36, chief operating officer of Rugged Races LLC, said physical fitness in general is trendy these days, and people are looking for new and exciting ways to be active.
“They’re no longer satisfied with simply running down the street for a couple hours,” he said. “They want more entertainment from their exercise — and who can blame them?”
Dickens said obstacle course racing is fun and provides a total body workout, unlike road running, which simply works legs and the cardiovascular system.
“Combine that with our rocking festival that features mechanical bulls, adult bounce houses, a huge dance party and plenty of craft beer, and you get the perfect blend of fun and physicality that appeals to people of all shapes and sizes,” he said.
Goliathon, a new obstacle course founded last year by 12 friends, will be held May 16 in Mullica Hill.
“We don’t come from military backgrounds,” said co-founder Doug Horton, 38. “We are just a bunch of friends who enjoy obstacle racing. We are all volunteers and have full-time jobs — from college professors, business owners and high school teachers to engineers and stay-at-home moms.”
While other races support nonprofits, Horton said Goliathon’s sole purpose is to raise money for people in need around the world. For the 2014 and 2015 events, they have chosen to support Charity: Water, a nonprofit that brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.
Proceeds last year were used to fund clean-water systems for schools in Bangladesh and Nepal. Proceeds from the race on May 16 will provide clean water to children in Nepal and people in Ethiopia.
“It’s that much more significant with the earthquake that has hit Nepal,” said Horton, adding that they had decided on Nepal again before the earthquake that devastated the region on April 26.
Another unique feature of the Goliathon is that the 4-mile obstacle course has three tiers — G1, G2 and G3. This allows participants as young as 10 years old to participate in the course with their family members, Horton said.
The G1 tier of obstacles is for novice or inexperienced participants; G2 is for those in good physical shape; and G3 is for those looking for an extreme physical challenge.
“No one has yet to finish the G3 obstacles,” said Horton, adding that they are looking to name their first David at the event on May 16.