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Rain has made Plantation Field extra muddy as a line of cars wind through Hunt Country to the parking lot bordering Coatesville’s historic Brooklawn estate. It’s that time again—when shuttle buses replace horse trailers, and humans sub for horses, hounds and foxhunters on this pristine, protected, private turf.
“This is the worst one,” says a parking attendant near a lengthy line of registrants awaiting a shuttle to 2024’s Tough Mudder Philly, a hardcore obstacle course designed to test strength, stamina and mental grit.
The first Tough Mudder in the Philadelphia area took place in 2010 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort near Allentown. Last year’s event in Chester County drew some 5,000 participants and 550 paid spectators.
Many participants bag the bus and walk—or run, fearing they’ll miss their assigned starting time. Is this a Woodstock for weekend warriors? “Maybe, but definitely less drugs,” says event coordinator Emily Fiorini.
This Tough Mudder is one of 12 events offered annually by Boston’s Spartan Race Inc., founded by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone. A former British counterterrorism officer, Dean was a student at Harvard Business School when he came up with the idea, inspired by the England’s Tough Guy Competition started in the late 1980s. The first Tough Mudder in the Philadelphia area took place in 2010 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort near Allentown. Last year’s event in Chester County drew some 5,000 participants and 550 paying spectators.
At Plantation Field, landowner Cuyler H. Walker likes to walk among the human herd or traverse the course driving a Gator utility vehicle. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and I appreciate this land more and more,” he says. “Maybe I took it for granted when I was younger, but I’ve always loved it. Why go to the effort to keep this land open if we’re not going to make it available?”
For Walker, grandson of legendary Hunt Country landowner and master foxhunter W. Plunket Stewart, it’s been a leap of faith to lease the land to Spartan. It helps that organizers respect his property.
In negotiating to use these large tracts of land, Spartan has an ambitious goal: Get about a million people a year off the couch and into self-improvement mode, then make them so uncomfortable they have no choice but to bond. “I’m not sure it helps our recruiting efforts when they learn of the electrical wires they have to pass through over icy, cold, muddy waters at the finish line,” says Fiorini, referring to the so-called electroshock therapy obstacle. “But once they do it, they’re like, ‘I did it.’ A lot are surprised they even finish, so they’re usually pretty excited.”
A Tough Mudder isn’t technically a race because it’s untimed (unless you clock yourself). Participants must be at least 14, and they simply do their best to finish. If they do, they get a medal, a beer (if they’re of age), a T-shirt and a headband.
Participants can skip any obstacle. “And no one berates you if you do,” says 2024 participant Nick Sholly.
A Phoenixville resident, Sholly ran track in high school. The 25-year-old has tackled the Plantation Field course every year since its inception in 2017—and other Tough Mudders, too. This time, it took him less than three hours to get through all 26 obstacles, including a climb over a greased 13-foot quarter pipe, a dunk in a 34-degree ice pit and a crawl through tear gas. “There are 27, if you count the undulating hills,” he notes.
The Wawa manager was up at 4:45 a.m. and on the first shuttle, arriving at the course at 6:15 before it all became a muddy mess. He remains appreciative of Walker. “This dude lets us use this land even though we tear it up,” he says.
Sholly swears by the teamwork skills required in a Tough Mudder. “At the start, they tell you to ask for help if you need help, but you get help no matter what,” he says.
A Tough Mudder isn’t technically a race because it’s untimed (unless you clock yourself). Participants must be at least 14, and they simply do their best to finish. If they do, they get a medal, a beer (if they’re of age), a T-shirt and a headband. Last year, some 200 participants departed every 15 minutes following an opening ceremony that included the national anthem. “We may need more shuttles next year,” says Fiorini.
This year’s event is set for May 17-18 and features 5K, 15K and “Infinity” (multiple-lap) options. If organizers are lucky, it will rain again. Participants may hate it as they wait to check in—but they love it once they get started. “It muddies their experience,” Fiorni says.
If it’s anything like last year, be prepared.
Visit toughmudder.com.
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