Mudder Nation,
We’re officially underway with the 2018 Tough Mudder season! We at TMHQ have two simple goals for 2018:
1. Continue to provide best-in-class events through our Core event series – Tough Mudder, Tough Mudder Half, and Tough Mudder 5k
2. Find the fittest, fastest, and toughest athletes on the planet through our Race Series – Tough Mudder X, Tougher Mudder, Toughest Mudder, and World’s Toughest Mudder
In 2018 you will see a pronounced upgrade to the Competitive event formats. Each series will provide qualifier events leading up to a championship for each format. Each of these events has been specifically designed to challenge athletes with different skill sets and specialties, and we seriously doubt anyone in the world can come out on top of all three (we’re looking at you Ryan Atkins, you mutant….). It’s a lot of information, so let’s break it down.
Tough Mudder X – The Showdown in Richmond
The goal of Tough Mudder X will be to find the fittest athlete on the planet. Tough Mudder X is a one-mile course consisting of world-class obstacles mixed with functional fitness workouts. The winners of these events will have to be well-rounded cyborgs capable of efficiently handling both tough workouts and tough obstacles, while maintaining a running speed over one mile which would leave most people gasping for breath.
There will be two Open competitions where athletes can register freely to test their mettle and potentially qualify for the Championship event against top athletes from the OCR world, Crossfit, American Ninja Warrior, and more. The Championship event will be open to the top 10 male and female finishers from the Open events in Sacramento and Miami, and to top athletes selected through special application. The schedule for the events is as follows:
*Tough Mudder X Open Sacramento – March 25, 2018
*Tough Mudder X Open Miami – April 8, 2018
*Tough Mudder X World Championship Richmond – June 8, 2018
*NOTE: Prizing Update for Tough Mudder X World Championship. Top Prize for this event will now extend through 10th place (previously through 3rd)
*Updated Prizing: 1st =$25,000, 2nd = $4,000, 3rd = $1,500, 4th = $1,000, 5th = $750, 6th = $500, 7th = $400, 8th = $300, 9th = $200, 10th = $100
The Championship event and select athletes will be featured on CBS. So sign up, start training, get your hair done, and don your finest frock because the world will be watching.
Tougher Mudder – The Race to Seattle
Tougher Mudder is the ultimate test of middle-distance endurance, stamina, and athleticism. Athletes will race through a 10-mile course with 20+ of the world’s most challenging obstacles. You can expect to see Tougher Mudder at most Tough Mudder weekends in 2018, but today we’re specifically looking at the Tougher Championship Series.
There will be four Tougher Mudder Regional Championships leading up to the World Championship event in Seattle on 9/22. There are only two ways to qualify for the Tougher Mudder World Championships in Seattle.
1. Compete at a Regional Championship event and place in the top 25 for your gender
2. Special application for admittance directly to the World Championships
The schedule for the Regional and World Championships is as follows:
*Tougher Mudder North America East Championships – Philadelphia – May 19, 2018
*Tougher Mudder North America West Championships – Whistler – June 16, 2018
*Tougher Mudder European Championships – London North – July 7, 2018
*Tougher Mudder North America Central Championships – Chicago – August 25, 2018
*Tougher Mudder World Championships – Seattle – September 22, 2018
*NOTE: Prizing Update for Tougher Mudder Mudder World Championship. Top Prize for this event will increase to $10,000 (from $5,000) for the top Male & Female athlete in Seattle.
*Updated Prizing: 1st =$10,000, 2nd =$2,500. 3rd =$1,000
Toughest Mudder – The Road to Atlanta
Toughest Mudder is back in 2018 and better than ever before, and all roads lead to World’s Toughest Mudder at a new venue in Atlanta. We’ve expanded this event to more regions around the globe to offer international competitors the chance to qualify for Contender and Elite Contender status at World’s Toughest Mudder. With that being said, there are some updates to the qualification criteria for World’s Toughest Mudder this year.
In 2017, Contender status was granted for a wide variety of criteria including past WTM performance and Legionnaire status. Due to the massive popularity of the Toughest Mudder series and with the goal of making Contender status a true reflection of training and athletic achievement, the following criteria will be the updated qualification for contender status at WTM 2018:
*Toughest Mudder performance: complete 30 miles (Male) or 25 miles (Female) at one of the 2018 Toughest Mudder events
*Past WTM performance: completed 75+ miles at World’s Toughest Mudder 2017
*Mudder Legion Status: 50+ Mudder Legion status
*Elite contender status will still be reserved for top 5 Male/Female finishers from Toughest Mudder events and past World’s Toughest Mudder champions
You may be thinking, “wow, that criteria is really tough” or “who woke up and decided to sh*t all over my dreams?” Perfect! Wearing a Contender bib at World’s Toughest Mudder in 2018 is going to be a symbol of your blood, sweat, and tears, and will be a true representation of hard work, training, and perseverance for all to see.
The prizing for the top 5 Male and Female finishers at Toughest Mudder remains as follows:
*1st =£4,000, 2nd =£1,500. 3rd =£800, 4th=£400, 5th=£200
Check out the full schedule of Toughest Mudder events around the world in 2018, and sign up.
The Holy Grail
The good news is that the new and improved 2018 Holy Grail has arrived and we’re pumped! Back again this year, the Holy Grail will be the recognition of those athletes crazy enough to take on a Tougher, Toughest, and World’s Toughest Mudder event in a single calendar year. Following the tradition started in 2017, we will be recognizing the top Male & Female who not only complete all three formats, but who are able to run the most total miles between the three formats in 2018. Last year, Ryan Atkins and Allison Tai took home the Holy Grail Champions Cup, running 335 & 305 miles respectively.
Earlier in the season we had announced a $10,000 top prize for the Holy Grail Champions, but have since made the decision to shift the prize in this category from this category to extend and increase the prize purse for Tougher Mudder Championships and Tough Mudder X Championships. The decision comes from shifts early in the season of events dates in North America and Europe, resulting in an unfair balance of events and opportunity to earn miles for several regions in the U.S. and in Europe.
