A panoramic view of attendees and obstacles at Tough Mudder from Drumheller's Stampede Grounds facing downtown September 6, 2014.
“Wow.”
That’s the most consistent feedback Mayor Terry Yemen received from people that took part in Tough Mudder Alberta 2014 on September 6 and 7.
“Everyone loved the terrain,” said General Manager-Canada Tough Mudder Nick Cogger, adding people thought Tough Mudder made great use of the natural landscape to build a very challenging course that had course goers running up and down steep coulees and trekking over the motocross trails at the back of Drumheller’s Stampede Grounds.
Two Tough Mudders navigate through the "Electroshock Therapy" obstacle, the wires of which emit electric pulses similar to an electric fence.
Over 2,000 spectators attended Tough Mudder over the September 6 and 7 weekend, that saw 7,700 people take on the extreme obstacle course, supported by about 250 staff and volunteers.
“I can’t express how pleased I am with how things went this weekend. It was a really, really great event all around,” said Cogger. "Great community support, great course, a great turn out, great weather - fantastic.”
“From our standpoint, it was a spectacular event,” said Drumheller Festival Society President Ryan Semchuk. The Festival Society was the group responsible for handling the local coordination of hosting the Tough Mudder event in Drumheller.
Two Tough Mudders jump from a five metre platform into 15 feet of water below on the obstacle "Walk The Plank".
“We had great support, and are thoroughly impressed with the community, the Town infrastructure and Town help, all of our volunteers.” He said the community pulled together to support the Festival Society, especially when they were looking for some last minute help, and it was amazing to see everybody step in, help out, and get involved with the event.
Tough Mudder emails out post-event surveys to spectators and participants, and Cogger said there is specific interest in people wanting to see some of the other obstacles from the catalogue of two- hundred obstacles, so Tough Mudder will see what they can bring to the course next year.
“The challenge before us is how to out-do ourselves next year, given how successful this year was,” Cogger said.
A Tough Mudder team with daring Drumhellerites who tackled the Tough Mudder obstacle course Saturday, September 6. (l-r) Mel Mazereeuw, Kadena Pierce, Heather Jones, Chris Jones, Tim Dennis and at front, Brieanne Clark.
The Mayor and the Festival Society said the downtown core was not as busy as expected, so Drumheller will have to look at how to engage people earlier on and get people moving better around town. One of the reasons for fewer people downtown could have been the cancellation of the street festival, and Semchuk said in speaking with attendees at Tough Mudder, people were heading off to hike and do other outdoor activities because the weather was so beautiful.
Tough Mudder Alberta is confirmed for September 5 and 6, 2015, and tickets are already available on the Tough Mudder website.
