TM Inspiration

I recently wrote an article for California’s Adventure Sports Journal about the Tough Mudder event that will be held at Squaw Valley in September. Even as I was writing the piece, I didn’t understand why someone would want to compete: It involves trekking through icy lakes, mud, fire and electrical fields. Then I stumbled across the TM Hall of Fame. It’s pretty inspiring—people like Lindsey Hoffner, who discovered she had a rare heart condition and would never be able to exercise strenuously again; Eric Ritchson, who broke both legs in a motorcycle accident that occurred when he swerved to avoiding a friend; Carrie Richey, who ran to commemorate her husband, a police officer who was killed responding to a domestic violence call. I suppose these people—veterans, cancer survivors, people who have suffered losses and accidents—race because they’ve already conquered so many hardships that it’s nice to be able to take something tangible like Tough Mudder and say that even though it was difficult, they came out all right on the other side.