Second Year at Grueling Endurance Challenge

LSC’S TOUGH MUDDERS!

April 24, 2012

The name says it all. Start with a British Special Forces-designed course with 29 obstacles. Throw in a 12 mile vertical run over Mt. Snow’s rough terrain. The result is an annual international event called the Tough Mudder. On May 6th, a 15-member team from Lyndon State will measure their mettle in the Mudder.

The Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. It doesn’t reward those who finish first, but praises those who stick together and finish as a team. It tests an individual’s stamina and mental grit while prizing camaraderie. The end result is an enormous sense of accomplishment.

“The event last year was probably the stupidest thing that I have ever done, but I would have signed up again at the finish line if I could have,” Team LSC Captain Jonathan Dame explained.

“I grew interested and entered last year because of the uncontrollable desire to push myself to both physical and emotional limits. [Add in] my pure brute force and ignorance. I’m not a tri-athlete. Tough Mudder is my sport.”

The obstacles range from the ridiculous to the frightening. They include a series of 12-foot walls, pitch-black body-squeezing mud-filled tunnels, monkey bars, dunks in ice-water, huge “slip-n-slides”, and sprints through 10,000 volts of electricity and fire. Dame muses, “Do we strength train, endurance train, interval train, or just pray for mercy?”

The team consists of students, faculty, and staff from a variety of departments. Team LSC includes Jason Clark, Aaron Cornell, Jonathan Dame, Stuart Farina, Joe Kill, Greg Ledoux, CJ Mauro, Darcie Miles, Leah Morgan, Allison Poulin, Takuya Shimamura, Anthony Sgherza, Meagan Swahn, Sara Swahn and Jaclyn Toney.

In the photo: Exercise Science student Mathew Wells sprints through a forest of wires that deliver 10,000 volts of electricity during the 2011 Tough Mudder competition at Mt. Snow.