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ADVENTURE RACING

Tough mudders to get down and dirty at Hampton Downs

Tuesday 19 November 2013, 2:00PM

By Pead PR

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Gone are the promo girls, smell of burnt rubber and the roar of souped-up engines. Come ANZAC weekend 2014, Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is throwing open its gates for one of the most hard-core events on the planet – New Zealand’s first Tough Mudder.

Thousands are expected to descend on the track-turned-obstacle course on April 26 and 27, 2014. There they’ll attempt to complete 20 kilometres of gruelling challenges, including mud, fire, ice-water, a greasy quarter-pipe and live electrical wires, all designed by British Special Forces to test mind, body and grit.

Tough Mudder launched in the United States in 2010 and quickly established itself as one of the most gruelling endurance events on the planet. Events are now held in countries worldwide, and hundreds of New Zealanders have completed Tough Mudder events overseas.

Regarding New Zealand’s inaugural event, Tough Mudder’s Senior Vice President – Asia-Pacific, Drew Ward said, “Kiwis have a reputation for being hard core so we thought it was about time we got down here, organised an event and let the Kiwis prove what they're made of.

“In many ways New Zealand is the home of adventure sport but Tough Mudder is something completely different. Our events are not just for die-hard adventure sports fanatics – they’re for anyone who has the will to train and the guts to take it on. Tough Mudder is not a race, but a personal or team challenge to test strength, stamina and camaraderie.

“We’ve seen Mudders ranging from veterans to business executives, and beauty queens to 81-year-old grandfathers. At the end of the day, Tough Mudder is about teamwork and camaraderie - you simply won’t get to the end of the course without it,” Ward says.

For those who think they’ve got what it takes to take on the Tough Mudder challenge, Early Bird registrations are open at toughmudder.com/events/auckland-2014/. Prices go up on 29 November.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h-BoZBFxfg