Who Are You?
(l-r) Tough Mudders: Dave Policelli, Construction Manager, Sam Essamadi, Project Manager, Matthew Franceour, Foreman.
Where are you from?
Dave - Pennsylvania, Sam - Montreal, Matthew - St. Jean Sur Richileu.
How long have you been here?
Dave - Three hours. In today, gone, back next week. Sam and Matthew - about a week.
What brings you here?
Construction of the Tough Mudder obstacle course.
What do you like about being here?
Dave- the scenery. That’s what I was looking forward to in coming up here. Sam - Absolutely the scenery. I never imagined we had a place like this in Canada. I’m in love with the Badlands. Matt - It’s the only place in Canada like this.
How long have you all worked with Tough Mudder?
Sam and Matt - since August 2012. Dave - since May 2011.
Are the crew allowed to take part in the Tough Mudders?
Sam - yes, they certainly are.
Dave - we encourage it (if they’re not working). It helps them see what they’ve been working toward.
How does design of the course set-up work?
Sam - we get the drawings, the blue prints, and we can pitch designs. Dave - I work on the innovation team that comes up new obstacles.
What if kids want to do Tough Mudder?
Dave and Sam - A “Mini-Mudder” course is set up in the festival area at the Stampede Grounds for parents to take their kids on, for ages 4 to 12. We take the safest obstacles to make the “Mini-Mudder” course.
What’s important to remember about taking on the Tough Mudder challenge?
Dave - Our event is not a race. People do it for the experience. Sam - And self challenge. I saw a couple 75 years old in Toronto do the whole course in five hours.
I haven’t put in months of training....
Dave- I think if you can walk or run 10k, you can do the Tough Mudder course. I don’t work out, and I’ve done it three times.
What if Mudders hit a really difficult obstacle?
Sam - If you can’t cross an obstacle, go around it - there is no disqualification. If you can’t swim, don’t jump in the water. The team work is the most important thing. And it’s amazing to see.
What’s in place in terms of course safety?
We take precautions in terms of initial design, and checks and balances in terms of procedures. Each obstacle, once designed, has a safety review.
Sam - Tough Mudder has a structural engineer review the course before the event.
What about first aid?
Dave and Sam - Almost every obstacle has medical staff. The most frequent injuries we see are running injuries - cramps, rolled ankles, dehydration.
How can participants try to avoid dehydration?
There are five water stations on course, some of them have snack stops included.
What would you say as encouragement to those taking on the course?
With the amount of teamwork on our course, nothing is impossible. You’ll never be more than an arm’s reach from someone who can help.
Final thoughts?
“La nature est tres belle ici.” - Sam
(The nature is most beautiful here.)
