This year, I completed the Spartan Trifecta (Sprint in Connecticut in June (4+ miles/15 obstacles), Super in Jersey in September (8+ miles), and Beast in Vermont in September (16+ miles/25 obstacles)).
I then completed the Tough Mudder in Jersey in October. So here are the differences:
RUNNING:
Tough Mudder: During the Tough Mudder in Englishtown, NJ, I ran in between every obstacle because the course was so flat. Probably 90% of the course was mud, so it was muddy running, but running nonetheless.
Spartan Races: During the Spartan Races, there was less running simply because the hills were so vertical that much of the course was spent hiking up the hills (very few people, if any, could run up the entire mountain). This was especially true at the Super in Vernon, NJ on a ski resort/water park, and absolutely the case at the Beast in Killington.
MUD:
Tough Mudder: They live up to the title. This course was muddy. And it’s a different type of mud than the Spartan Races. It’s almost like clay — very slippery. Most of the course, minus the short stretch on the actual raceway track, was muddy. There was even some knee-deep mud that was easy to get stuck in. It was also raining all day, which added to the mud factor. Some people lost their shoes, so make sure they’re tied extra tight!
Spartan Races: This probably depends on the event location. The CT race in June had a disappointing amount of mud. Even the barbed wire crawl had hay under it rather than mud. The Super and Beast had more mud, but a good portion of the distance is spent hiking up grassy mountains or walking/jogging through the woods, which have occasional muddy spots.
OBSTACLES:
Tough Mudder: Most of the obstacles require teamwork. Very few can be completed individually, so this is not a race to enter alone. I was in a group of 4, though we split into pairs at times and then would meet back up at the next obstacle. There were many groups of at least 10 people. There is a lot of camaraderie on the course, so everyone helps each other, even if they’re not on the same team. Some of my favorite obstacles:
–Pyramid Scheme: It’s impossible to complete this as an individual, or even a pair. On the bottom, people stand on each other’s shoulders to boost people to the top, while the people at the top hold someone by his ankles to reach down to grab the next person trying to get to the top. Everyone needs to work together to get people up the steep wall.
–Everest: It’s basically a half pipe. Some of the guys were able to run far enough up the wall to reach the top and hoist themselves over. Most people run as far as they can to reach the hands of the people helping out at the top, waiting to catch the people who are running. I’m pretty short (5’2″), so on my first attempt, I felt the fingertips of my partner above me, but I just didn’t reach far enough. So on attempt #2 I ran as fast as possible, went as far up the wall as I could, and then actually jumped into the air and my teammates caught me midair and pulled me over.
–Electroshock Therapy: I was nervous for this, having no idea how badly it would hurt to be shocked by live wires while soaking wet from the other obstacles. Many people were running through (or attempting to), and falling down from the shocks. Some were screaming. I went the careful route since I’m small and crawled over the hay bails and through the mud. I didn’t get shocked at all, so I still don’t know what it feels like and that’s quite alright with me.
–Arctic Enema: Well, I wouldn’t say this is a favorite. But it’s memorable…especially since the race was on a cold, rainy day. I was already shivering and the last thing I wanted to do was jump into ice water. I jumped as far as possible, ducked under the wood, and then bolted for the ladder at the end to get out of the ice bath. Because I was already so cold, it actually didn’t feel nearly as bad as I had expected.
–Sewage Outlet: You crawl through mud, under barbed wire. You then enter a pipe on your back and pull yourself up a rope to get to the top, which is open above water. Most people then flip backwards into the water below. Because I’m small, I spun myself around so I could jump feet first into the water. I thought this was fun, but probably not if you’re claustrophobic.
–Walk the Plank: You climb about 12 feet in the air, walk to the end of a plank, and on the count of 3, everyone jumps into the water below. Looking at the obstacle, it doesn’t seem too bad, but it does feel quite high when standing at the top, looking at the water below.
–Spartan Race: These races have a mix of obstacles that require teamwork and those that can be completed individually. The main difference is that the Tough Mudder does not have a penalty for skipping an obstacle, while the Spartan Race requires 30 burpees for any missed obstacle. This is a gamechanger. I would never fail to attempt an obstacle in the Spartan Race because the burpees can definitely become exhausting.
–Traverse Wall: There’s a wall with square blocks at the top and bottom to use your hands and feet to traverse horizontally across. I think my size helps here because my hands are small, so I can get a good grip on the blocks (they don’t stick out too far), and I can wedge the sides of my shoes onto the blocks on the bottom. You can’t reach up to grab the top of the wall or you have to do burpees. It’s key to keep your hips against the wall and avoid sticking out your butt.
–Barbed Wire Crawl: This is actually more intense than one might expect in the Spartan races. The barbed wire is low. There are hills to climb over with rocks sticking out. In the Super Spartan in Jersey, it seemed to go on forever and it was definitely the most painful obstacle. My elbows and knees were bruised for weeks. Some people had elbow and knee pads.
–Rope Climb: It’s my goal to one day gain the upper body strength to complete this obstacle. You jump into waist or neck-deep water and attempt to climb a wet rope that has a few knots in it. Some people make this look like a piece of cake. I’m not one of those people.
–Gravel Bucket Carry: Another contender for the hardest obstacle. Women fill a bucket 3/4 of the way up with gravel and men fill it completely. (You do burpees if you finish and they notice your bucket is not filled to the appropriate level.) You then hike up and down a hill carrying the bucket. The hill is extremely steep. They buckets are heavy. This obstacle is usually toward the end of the race when you’re already fatigued. It’s not a comfortable feeling.
–Spear Throw: This is an obstacle that doesn’t really require significant strength, but few people can throw a spear accurately in order to stick it into a hay bail in front of them. Many people end up doing burpees on this obstacle. In 4 Spartan races, I haven’t nailed it yet.
–Atlas Carry: Women pick up a cement ball that weighs 40-60lbs lbs and men pick up one that is 80-100 lbs. Just picking it up from the ground is difficult. Then you walk, carrying the ball, to get to the other size of the designated area. You drop the ball, do 5 burpees, pick it up, and walk back. Once you have it, it’s not too far that you need to walk, but lifting it in the first place can definitely be a struggle.
The Spartan Race obstacles require much more strength than the Tough Mudder since many of them are individual events. My arms were shaking after many of those obstacles, compared to the Mudder where, although sore, I wasn’t physically shaking from the obstacles since I had teammates helping me. The Tough Mudder has a wider variety of obstacles. The 15 obstacles from the Spartan Sprint were almost all also in the Super and Beast. Those just have more obstacles, or some that have been doubled up. The Spartan obstacles are grueling while the Mudder obstacles are fun (though I’m not calling them easy, by any means).
GEAR:
–Tough Mudder: You need tight shoes. I saw many shoes lost in places like the Mud Mile. Tight shoes are absolutely essential. I’d also suggest trail running shoes. I never slipped while running through mud, but I saw many people struggling. Because there is so much mud, you need tight compression fabric. My spandex capris and compression socks were great. My long sleeve racing shirt from last year’s Hartford Marathon wasn’t tight enough. My arms were cold. The fabric was drooping off of my arms when the heavy mud was attached. In the future, I would invest in an Under Armour long sleeve compression shirt (or a tight tank top if the weather was warmer). I wore workout gloves, which I would do again in the future, but they end up so caked in mud that I’m not sure how much they actually help. Toe socks are also essential to avoid blisters.
–Spartan Race: Again, I suggest trail running shoes. They were key, as I never slipped. I also wore workout gloves which helped me to avoid tearing up my hands on obstacles like the walls, gravel carry, and monkey bars. I get blisters on my toes pretty easily, so toe socks were a lifesaver. However, I used ankle toe socks at the Beast and they were too low. My sneakers cut into my heels and I had to run at least 8 miles with both ankles bleeding and feeling uncomfortable. It’s tough to find long toe socks, so you can wear thin, short ones under another pair of long athletic socks. My favorite toe socks are Injinji toe socks.For this race, since the weather was warmer, I wore short compression shorts.
DIFFICULTY:
–Tough Mudder: It’s not a race. It’s not intended to be a race since they don’t time you. So that alone decreases the difficulty level. I was actually disappointed about this because I wanted to know what my time was compared to everyone else since I’m so competitive. It’s more about teamwork and the idea that we will get everyone through to the finish line. Because so many obstacles require this teamwork, they’re really not that hard when you work together. It’s by no means an easy course, but the people around you help significantly. In terms of the distance, it was 10 miles, and it’s always between 10-12 miles.
–Spartan Race: I would say that even the Super Spartan (8 miles compared to Mudder’s 10 miles) was more difficult than the Mudder. The obstacles are intense. Many are completed individually, though teamwork still helps a great deal on many others. There’s a 30-burpee penalty for any failed obstacle. This course is no joke and just the distance is grueling since the hills (and mountains) are very steep. Also, going into the Beast, I thought it would be 12-14 miles. After getting there, though, we heard that in the Spartan Race, obstacles are not factored into the distance. So the website’s “12+” distance for the Beast is not even close to accurate. Most people with GPS watches tracked the distance somewhere between 16-17 miles. Now, mind you, most of those miles were spent running/walking up and down massive mountains.
VICTORY:
–Tough Mudder: At the end of the course, you receive a Tough Mudder headband and a t-shirt. The shirts are awesome quality (Under Armour) and are sized according to gender. I was thrilled that it actually fits me since it’s not a men’s size. Then you get a free beer (or not if you don’t drink, like me). They had water and protein bars at the finish. There’s no medal and there’s no score since it’s not timed. I wish this race had a medal. The headband is pretty simple. These races are all expensive to enter. I think we deserve a medal.
–Spartan Race: At the end of the course, after jumping over the fire, you get a medal (it’s a nice one…a regular medal with a chunk of the trifecta medal in the event that you plan on running all 3 in the same year as I did). Red for the Sprint, blue for the Super, and green for the Beast. They have a protein shake, bananas, and water at the finish. There’s a free beer. And you can view your score in comparison to every participant and also broken down according to team, age group, and gender.
DAY AFTER:
–Tough Mudder: My body is sore, but I’m only limping slightly because my right knee is bothering me a bit. My arms/shoulders are a bit sore. I have a few bruises on my wrists, knees, and inner thighs. Nothing terrible in terms of the pain. I can probably work out comfortably after 3 days of rest.
–Spartan Race: This is obviously different according to race distance:
-Spartan Sprint: Slight soreness the next day, but felt basically normal. 1 rest day before returning to my usual workouts.
-Super Spartan: In pain the next day. Elbows and knees were swollen, cut, and covered in bruises from the barbed wire crawl. I was definitely more hobbling than walking. Stairs were not my friend. 4 rest days before returning to a simplified workout.
-Spartan Beast: Definitely in pain the next day, though the barbed wire was muddier and less rocky, so I didn’t have all of the bruises on my elbows and knees. My arms were extremely sore. I was walking very slowly and gingerly. I had 3 black toenails. The back of both ankles were cut open, so I had band-aids on for a few days. I didn’t attempt to work out for at least 5 full days after the race.
SPECTATORS:
–Tough Mudder: Spectators definitely get to view more obstacles. My mom got to see the arctic enema, pyramid scheme, everest, electroshock therapy, and the inverted walls. If I was a Legionnaire (someone who is a returning racer), she could have also seen the slide through fire and the rings. The walking path was very muddy, though, and she was happy to have her rain boots. I saw one spectator even fall in the mud.
–Spartan Race: Not great for spectators. There’s a lot of waiting and they mostly only get to see the obstacles at the end. At the Sprint, my mom took a shuttle to see obstacles in the middle, but didn’t get back to the end in time to see the finish. At the Super, she saw the gravel carry, traverse wall, rope climb, spear throw, and fire jump. But those are the obstacles that are usually there for the spectators to see at every Spartan race.
OVERALL:
Overall, I feel more accomplished when I finish the Spartan Races since they’re so physically exhausting. But if I’m looking for more fun with a group of friends, the Tough Mudder is great in the events that really require you to have faith in the people who are helping you.
Peppermintfrost 