Mud Cousins: Tough Mudder an electrifying family event for Baumanns

While most families use the holidays and birthdays for quality family time, the Baumann cousins took family bonding to the extreme last month. The team of seven, appropriately titled “Dirt Happens,” joined the Tough Mudder challenge to complete a 12-mile obstacle course at a coal mine in Black Valley.

The seven members who endured the course were Brian Baumann, Beth Baumann, Stacie Baumann Davis, Kristen Schneidmiller Herron, Brandon Herron, Grae Newman and Dan Abbott. Newman and Abbott are family friends from Oregon, and Abbott is attending seminary with Brandon in Portland.

The idea began almost a year ago when the oldest cousin decided the Baumann girls should compete in it for fun. But the idea changed and as the team began registering a couple of months ago, they decided to make it a family event.

Tough Mudder events are held throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Tough Mudders are 10-12 miles in length and provide various obstacle challenges throughout the course.

“We were able to do it without training,” Brian said. Brian is the son of David and Karen Baumann of Washtucna and competed alongside his sister, Beth.

Other than the extreme and obvious differences between a Tough Mudder and a regular marathon, the most important part of a Tough Mudder is the team aspect. The obstacles throughout the course test participants both mentally and physically, and it is key to have a strong support group.

“Finishing as a team was fun,” Brian said, and records that moment as the best part of the event. “One of the fun things is we had as many supporters as participants.”

The Dirt Happens team took off from the start line at 10:40 a.m. and would not reach the finish line for another four hours. The team was grateful for the late morning start time, especially when they reached the “Arctic Enema” obstacle.

As Brian described the obstacle, it is a long tub filled with water that a loader dumps ice into. Competitors had to jump into the frigid pool and swim as quickly as possible through the obstacle. To make matters worse, halfway through the pool there was a plank that participants had to swim under, completely submerging them in the freezing water.

The 25-marked obstacles were spread strategically throughout the course and staggered the mud and water obstacles, allowing the participants to wash off the mud during the event. Because the event took place in an old coal mine, the mud was unusually black and slimy.

The memorable obstacles for Brian and his mother Karen, who accompanied the group as the team photographer, included the Electric Eel, Boa Constrictor, Mud Mile, Walk the Plank and Everest.

“At some obstacles, people had to get over their fear,” Brian said. “The mental challenges are as important as the physical challenges.”

Dirt Happens team members overcame their fear with team support and encouragement. In the boa constrictor obstacle, participants had to crawl through a series of pipes, providing an extreme challenge for claustrophobic individuals.

The next trial of fear came at walk the plank, when the team members found themselves on a 15-foot high rise and had to jump off into a lake of mud. Beth, who is scared of heights, joined hands with Brandon and Kristen and together the team took the leap.

The Mud Mile took participants over hills and into three-foot deep mud on the other side. But perhaps the most intense and terrifying obstacle for the team was the electric eel.

Brian said that the electric eel was when competitors had to crawl through water with live wires above them. The feeling was comparable to grabbing on to sheep fencing with a live current running through it, Brian explained.

While Brian escaped being shocked in the electric eel, when he faced “electroshock therapy,” he didn’t stand a chance at avoiding being zapped. The electroshock therapy obstacle had live wires hanging every 18 inches for about 15 feet. Aside from making it through the wires, hay bales were placed randomly throughout the obstacle, making it more difficult to avoid being shocked.

Before the team could reach the finish line, they had to undergo the pinnacle of all the obstacles: Everest. The mountain is a quarter-pipe, similar to what skateboarders or snowboarders compete on, layered with mud.

As participants lined up at the base of the pipe, others who had conquered the mountain waited at the top with arms extended. Competitors at the bottom relied on those at the top to grab hold and pull them to the summit.

Brian said the key was as simple as, “make eye contact then run,” but participants still ran the risk of failing to grab hold and fall back into the mud.

“I was impressed with the amount of participation,” Brian said.

“It was an amazing spirit,” Karen added. “It was about team, and that changes the atmosphere of the event.”

The team crossed the finish line together and traded their wristbands in for a well-deserved beer, a perk of competing in the event.

A portion of Tough Mudder funds go to support the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping injured veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Tough Mudder participants have raised over $3.5 million to support the WWP.

“One neat thing is that at least one wounded warrior flag was carried through the entire course,” Brian said. Wounded warriors who participate in the Tough Mudder event typically carry these large flags.

For more information about Tough Mudder, visit http://www.toughmudder.com.