Being a Spectator @ Tahoe Tough Mudder

I joined my friends this past weekend to go up to the north end of Tahoe area to watch them do the Tahoe tough mudder challenge. Back in February, they signed up for this hefty event that takes almost 3 hours or more to complete. My friend and I left on Saturday morning, went to a delicious restaurant called : Caliente and hung out on the beach. I was so full I thought I would just find some random person to give my leftover lunch to, no such luck! After a couple hours in the sun and enjoying the blissful backdrop of the mountains and refreshing cool sierra water, we checked into the Tahoe Biltmore Hotel. We later met the rest of the group for dinner and pool time. Their little son swam while I held their young toddler hoping he would nap for a bit. We decided on heading to a local pizza joint so they could carb up for the next day. After short chit chats, and finding stuff on TV, Tara and I headed to bed. She woke up the next morning around 630am, had cereal, a bar, some blueberries and lots of water. She drove to Northstar where the event was being held and we parked and me Ben's parents and he and Kelly were there as well. Everyone got together and lined up to register, both spectators and participants alike. I was rather forgetful and quickly ran back to the car to grab my I.D. Once through the lines, we took a great gondola ride up the mountain to the Northstar ski lift spot and it was there we parted ways and let Ben and Tara get ready to warm up. Over at the warm up, there was this huge thigh lookin guy with sunglasses, awkwardly short shorts and a microphone calling runners to head over to the warm up zone. He was hysterical, commenting on people's outfits, their fit physiques, you name it! They warmed up for about 15 minutes and went to the starting line of the event. This course is ten miles long and has obstacles at certain points. Some are called : Artic Enema where you jump in ice cold water, Balls to the wall; you climb a heavy wall with rope, Cliff Hanger where you hike up a very steep hill, Funky Monkey where you climb monkey bars, Ladder of hell is just like it sounds, and the rest I will leave to your google search if you don't believe me, google knows! This challenge is not a competition there aren't points or scores. The best part was all of these announcers were encouraging team players, whether you were on a team of 1 or 10, or etc, you all worked together. I walked up the trails a ways to see how everyone was doing and look for my friends. It was sort of a bummer that because one guy fell upon some unfortunate car troubles and two others showed up late, their team consisted of two. I however, thought they did fantastic and two seemed to be enough. These participants, looked scared, tired, energized, whiny, singing, cold, silly, fierce, bloodied up, and brown stained and some seemed ready to give up. I did notice that every time a person wasn't doing well, you noticed how others stayed behind to help out, or you heard words of encouragement, pushing them to keep going as they were out of breath, or submerged in mud, stuck on a ladder, hurting with cramps, lost, or just plain freaked out. I saw it all and what an event this was; all organized with food gel gummies along the way with water stations, events for spectators, Dos Equis sponsor to grab a beer and listen to music. I hung out with the toddlers all day and learned what it was to be a mom for a bit and also support my team all at the same time. Made for a great day and lots of lessons and insight too. As runners came in towards the end, they went through electroshock therapy, aka painful path of 'what the hell was I thinking' moment before they reach the best part of the whole day, THE FINISH LINE. I watched people giving it all they could or carrying others in, to the end where T-shirts, a beer, and a headband were all waiting and a photo to be taken of the race end. Everyone was overjoyed, tired, sore, beat up, but overjoyed they had made it. I even saw a guy on crutches who went to each obstacle to find his friends, now that's a dedicated cheerleader! I saw more than a page in a book could describe, all of this adrenaline, and to think the day before our team were 8,000 people! I never realized the hype it drew. Maybe next year I will have a perspective on being a finisher by signing up, until then, what an event to be present for!