About The Mudder…
I’m an active duty Army Special Forces Soldier with 18 years of military service and 44 months of combat deployments, but my side job is professional Obstacle Course Racer. Over the last couple of years I’ve been involved in all parts of Tough Mudder and the OCR industry. I’ve achieved 79 podium finishes, 7 published books, 300+ articles, and have been a guest on 25+ podcasts including the best one of all, Tough Mudder’s “No Excuses” Podcast with Sean Corvelle.
I Mudder Because…
I mudder because it’s fun. The answer is a lot more complicated than that, but at the end of the day I enjoy it. The feeling of accomplishment when you give your all on the course, the entire supportive community, the unique obstacles, social events pre/post race, and all the crazy adventures… at the end of the day it’s just a ton of fun.
What’s the Craziest Thing You’ve Seen or Done at Tough Mudder?
My craziest in-race experience was my first Tough Mudder (which was also my first World’s Toughest Mudder) in 2014 in Las Vegas when the sandstorm hit the course. It was so insane that even as a military member I was like, “surely they are going to close this event down…people can’t race in this.” I decided to stay on the course until they stopped the race… which never stopped. With an attitude of perseverance like that, I knew I had found a special group of crazies to spend my free time with.
What Are Some of Your Personal Goals for This Year?
I’m a competitive athlete so my goals are usually focused on doing well. I’ve hit 90 miles at WTM 3x (2016, 2019, 2021) finishing in the top ten for each of them. I’ve been on the team podium as well (2nd in 2017, 1st in 2018) and have podium finished at every 12 hour Toughest I’ve done (5x individual, 2x team). My goal going into World’s Toughest Mudder is always aimed at hitting 100 miles and/or getting in that top five. With so many variables, I try to set tiered goals so if I miss a goal, I still have something pushing me forward. We will see how this final training block goes before I make any predictions though. Plus, I’m always looking to add to my Legionnaire status and recently hit 50x in 2022.
Is There Anything Else You Want People to Know About You or Your Journey?
Tough Mudder has a place for everyone. I fall into the group that is focused on competitive placement at the endurance races, but I still come out to the non-competitive events like the 5k/10k/15k/Infinity because they are just a ton of fun. I think a lot of people think you need to be in shape to start racing but you’ll just end up waiting forever. Instead, put an event on your calendar to motivate you to train and show up on event day as the best version of yourself. Whether you cross the finish line in an hour or five hours, you’ll get a feeling of accomplishment that’s hard to get anywhere else in modern times.
If you are competitive like me, just be patient. Endurance success is just consistency in training multiplied by time. I ran my first marathon in 2003, so don’t look at the end product and think you’ll get to your goals immediately. To truly reach the limits of potential it will take time, perseverance, and consistency. After all, the appearance of success is often those that just didn’t give up.
What Are Some Causes You Care About?
I think I’m best known for self-created insane multi-day OCR challenges, hence my name “Ultra-OCR Man,” where I do things like 24 hour treadmill OCRs, 48 hour OCRs, and 8 days of OCR marathons in winter, all of which has helped raise more than $29,000 for charity. I also raised another $24,000 utilizing GoFundMe at a Tough Mudder event for the Infinite Hero Foundation.
Raise Money with GoFundMe & Win a FREE Tough Mudder Entry
You heard that right – start a GoFundMe for a charity of your choice and raise $1,000 (USD) or more in donations, and GoFundMe will send you a code to get your next Tough Mudder event for free! Learn more using the link below:
Some sentences may be adjusted to improve readability due to the nature of transcribing in-person interviews.
