Tough Mudder vs Heathrow Injection: Are you up for the challenge?

A CHRISTMAS pudding has seemed to have taken up residence just above my waistband. The Heathrow Injection, in a neat dome-like festive package.

It’s odd actually, I didn’t even eat much Christmas pudding this season, but it appears all the other foods got together — the turkey, the bakeries of bread, the meals out, the housemates chocolate Hobnobs (shh don’t tell), the mince pies and the Easter chocolate I found at the back of the cupboard — and decided to band together in one pudding like shape, in one single location. Thanks, food. You’re awesome.

Combined with a complete lack of exercise (it’s too cold, it’s raining, I just ate, I just ate again, the Made in Chelsea End of Season Party is on TV) and the festive holiday has left me soft, pudgy and wheezing on those occasions when I find myself in a Tube station with no escalator. I’m talking to you, Euston Square.

Well, yesterday, I found the solution. I would sign up to a running race. Handing over my hard earned pounds would surely provide the incentive to start training and get fit, wouldn’t it? (Shhh monthly direct debit to Fitness First, you don’t count).

But, as an Aussie trying to make the most of the UK experience, it couldn’t just be any old running race. It had to be different to one I could do back home, one through the woodlands of rural England perhaps. Maybe jumping over a felled tree here or there, climbing a small rise or two, hopping over a stile — if absolutely necessary.

It had to be Tough Mudder UK on 4 May 2013.

Turns out Tough Mudder is not just, as I may have inaccurately described it to my roommate/current single teammate, a ‘”run though a bit of mud before drinks at a quaint English pub”. It is a 18km (I may have read 10-12 miles as kms before signing up — sorry Zoey) endurance event along a course involving 25 obstacles, including dangling electrical wires, deep mud pits, balancing beams and underwater tunnels.

So, looks like I need a bit more training, fewer Hobnobs, and, most importantly, some teammates. That’s right. If you haven’t yet stopped reading and gone back to Made in Chelsea, the Australian Times team is looking for fellow Aussies to join in the fun for this unique experience.

What we’re looking for:

• Any Aussie who is fit (or willing to get fit — see above for my current level of fitness), keen to get involved in this great event.
• Any Aussie already signed up, who wants to meet other people doing it.
• Any Aussie in London who is a personal trainer/has training experience willing to donate an hour or so once a week to train our rag-tag motley crew. Your time will be handsomely rewarded with frequent mentions in the column I will use to document our journey.

A great way to get fit, meet some new Aussies in London and tick rolling around in mud, a lot of mud, off your bucket list.

Email editor@australiantimes.co.uk with Tough Mudder in the subject if you’re interested. And send a link to this article to your friends who might be if not.

Check back for next week’s report on how training is going for the Australian Times Tough Mudder 2013 Team.

A taste of what may be to come:

(Image: Tough Mudder)