It’s a cold 40 degrees on a slightly foggy overcast morning. I’m standing in chest-high water looking at this slick triangle block that is blocking my path. A voice comes from the other side,
“Grab the top!”
I jump up and hang from the edge while two guys also jump up and hang from the top on the other side. They use their weight to rotate the block, and me, over the top and to the other side. I had just found my new best friends for the next 6 miles. Having never met, we naturally all stuck together making sure that each made it successfully to the finish line.
I’ve been in and out of the obstacle course racing scene for almost 15 years at this point. I became interested in them back when they were just a novelty because I loved the challenge and wanted something to push me to get better health-wise. I said I would never complete something like a half marathon because of the monotony and the obstacles were a great way to break up the distance. From amateur to sponsored runner, and back again, I’ve been reminded of great leadership lessons while out on the course.
You are most successful when you leverage teamwork
I absolutely love Tough Mudder. I often describe it as the most pure example of teamwork that I have ever experienced. No matter where I have run them or over what distance, teamwork just shows up. Even when a race is competitive for cash prizes people will go out of their way to help others. In fact, some will pay to go an endurance race lasting 8+ hours just so that they can station themselves at an obstacle to help people through it. Some examples that I’ve seen include:
A team assisting a person in a wheelchair through the course. This particular course had an electrical obstacle, two of the highest points in the state to climb, vertical walls, and more.
A man staying up all night sitting the chair position against a near vertical wall helping every runner get over the wall and into a net.
Countless people sacrifice their race time and distance goals in order to slow down to help those people whom they have never met before.
It’s a great reminder to me that we are all better when we are willing to give up a little piece of our own ambition and energy to ensure that others get to the finish line too. Some good self-reflection questions you can ask yourself about setting aside your own ambitions for your team may include
- Who has given up something (time, money, priorities) to help you out recently?
- Who have you sacrificed something for recently?
- Who in your personal and professional circle could use your help right now?
Be willing to get dirty
One thing is guaranteed at these races and that is that you are going to get muddy. You just have to embrace it when it happens! It’s usually not a one-and-done either; many race directors love to get you muddy, then get you wet, and then get you back muddy again. Then repeat that cycle for the entire race.
It’s easy to distinguish the new people from the seasoned vets at the local and regional level once that first muddy obstacle comes up. The new ones take their time analyzing the best approach, typically taking it slower and doing what they can to minimize the dirt impact, while the seasoned folks just go for it. They don’t care and actually will embrace it as they fly through the muddy portion.
As a leader and team member, you’ve got to be willing to jump into the work and get dirty, embracing the chaos, that the work, problem, or challenge holds. For leaders who fall for a sense of arrival and feel like they have earned the right to stay out of the “mud”, this will be a trait that will forever hold them back unless they can grow through it. For the new person on the team, help encourage and support them and they get into the thick of things for the first time. It can be an overwhelming, and confusing time for them.
Let go of your fears to achieve what you thought was impossible
I’ll often say that there really isn’t anything in life that I am truly afraid of at this point. Do I get nervous, anxious, or apprehensive at times? Absolutely. I’ve run 14 Tough Mudders and I can say I still get those feelings before each race. After getting 10k volts of electricity to my chest resulting in me dreaming about it 3 days later, feeling it again, and waking me up, I now have a respectful distaste for electricity. Even with that dislike, I got back out there.
I had a bad experience with an obstacle that was designed to lean into people’s fear of drowning. I nearly drowned once in a kayaking accident but this was something else entirely. Later in an endurance season that same year, this water torture obstacle was a required obstacle. Don’t do it and you are out. I had thought about it for weeks leading up to the race, and when the moment finally came to jump into the water-filled trench with a metal fence on top of it, I encountered a racer.
The racer was struggling and having a mental crisis moment of getting in. I stopped, talked her through how to do it and we went in together. It was a bit of a struggle but we both got through it. By the time I raced at the world championship, I was a pro at it and actually enjoyed it in a funny way because it was a chance to wash off and relax for a minute.
What fear or apprehension is holding you back today? Is it a conversation that needs to be had with someone important to you? Is it the fear of the unknown? Could it be a fear of failing? Take a moment to consider what worries, hesitations, and fears are holding you back. Then address them incrementally to help you conquer them and blaze a new and exciting path for yourself.
Appreciate your relationships when you have them
I was running a Tough Mudder Infinity event in Chicago in 2023. The premise is this: Do you think running one of these races is crazy? Keep doing it over and over and see how many you can knock out in 9 hours. I had just wrapped race 1 and had left the staging area to start race 2.
There was a guy walking by himself towards the start. I caught up to him and struck up a conversation. He had hurt his ankle and we were only about 1 1/12 hours in. I learned that his name was James and I decided to walk the rest of the day and do the rest of my races with him. I also found out that he was also an army vet and we discovered several other similar things and shared experiences as well. It was the perfect pairing. A great conversationalist, yet both of us were also content in the quietness of walking together through the corn fields and forest. He would help me on the walls and I would be there to help him get through the water and iced-filled trench that people struggle with.
We spent 6 hours together and completed 3 more races together that day. I haven’t seen James since. I don’t have his contact info or any of his socials. We had an incredible day of bonding and friendship and the end of the relationship concluded at the finish of the last race.
Life is crazy and sometimes secure relationships evaporate in an instant. As I have gotten older I’ve come to appreciate the relationships that I have in the moment. It probably causes me to be overly sentimental at times, but I am mindful to thank and appreciate those who are close to me.
Who do you need to appreciate today? What relationship are you thankful for as you read this or listen to our podcast?
Give yourself credit for being a good friend and/or partner for others. internalize what that relationship means to you and share thankfulness with them the next time that you see that person.
Obstacle course races can be a surprising place to learn leadership lessons, but I have found them to be a playground that shows the best of people and teaches us a lesson or two or leadership along the way.
Make a better tomorrow.
-ZH
