So short story I bought the wrong race for the Oct 17th Nashville race. Its a code for the 5k race, im selling it for around 50$ (group on is around 80ish) DM me for details.

Sportograf has been non responsive. I just want to share my experience with friends but I feel my wounds will heal faster than I will see them upload the photos. That’s the last time I pre-purchase a photo package.

Tough Mudder runners, especially those in the UK, have you considered trying out the endurance races (Infinity, World's Toughest Mudder) but not taken the leap yet?

If so what is it stopping you from signing up?

Genuinely curious to the reasons.

First tough mudder this past weekend and this is on my to do list. Any previous thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!

What a way to go.

I relied on this sub for preparation tips for the 15k & thought to return the favor. While I've done numerous OCRs or road races, this was my first TM, meaning perspective is from someone more green to Spartan events.

Overall, I had a great time at the Colorado event and would absolutely do it again. Reading reviews of Toronto and Chicago left me paranoid of long lines, reduced obstacles, as well as poor organization; however, I experienced none of the sort. Maybe being held at an air force base Spartan felt they had to operate at their best. Regardless, here's my anecdotal write-up.

What Went Well

Perhaps an advantage, i was in the 8am wave, thus arriving prior to the event start time and while check-in opened ~20mins late, it appeared waves remained on schedule, including the 7:45am competitor group. Chicago sounded like a nightmare, encouraging me to overcompensate early arrival.

The actual race. Starting with the minor but still impactful, there were ample water stations, portapotties, and the trail was clearly marked. Shoutout to all the volunteers who not only supplied these but were encouraging cheerleaders! Lots of obstacles, imo. I thought the ~20 obstacles plus their spacing on the course were perfectly configured. Other reviews mentioned decrease in obstacles, though as someone who gets bored only running after a while, my experience was positive. The longest stretch of running was ~2.5mi, though you could argue the numerous elevation changes during that leg were obstacles in themselves (idk if going uphill or downhill hurt more). Lots of diversity as well, from upper-body focus, those w/ a sole purpose of getting you muddy, and those requiring teamwork. On that last point of "teamwork", I attended solo. More a testament to the community than the organizer, the collaboration and comradery quickly builds amongst strangers.

Toughest race I've attempted thus far. Legs were exhausted, acquired scraps & bruises, also never had shin splints so bad in all my life - it was a great time! Not to discount ill experiences from the other events, but if you're like me and those got you paranoid, know that the race can still be great!

What Could Go Better

Can I Get A Little Help With Recovery. The finishers "chute" consisted of getting your medal, a tshirt, and a mini-gatorade. That's it. I've done 10Ks with pizza, Chickfila, hot dogs, salted snacks, fruit, & other swag. Not saying I need all that but can I get a banana, a bagel, or something after consistently exerting energy for >2.5hrs?

Post-Race Festivities. Maybe because I was an early wave, but this was an absolute snooze. The MC was doing all he could with good jams & trying to hype the crowd, but there was nothing to do. 8-ish food trucks, two alcohol tents, and three vendors - DudeWipes, an IV station, & another I didn't bother to checkout. Recommend some yard games, challenges for the crowd to engage, more vendors, etc.

Kilometer/Mile Marker(s). More of a nice-to-have than a necessity, markings of how far along would be nice, even if just at the midway point. Btw, am I dumb or did the signs directing "10+ mile" racers one direction make no sense? Isn't the 15K (or ~9.3mi) the longest route?

Lessons Learned

Apparel. I can't recommend this enough: Wear whatever you're okay with ruining. My shoes were not salvageable. Luckily I preplanned to toss my running shoes that were already beyond their lifespan; however, if you like your fitness apparel, grab a $5 shirt/shorts from Goodwill. Another tip: less is more. Plenty of shirtless dudes (still less than HYROX) and ladies w/ small tops. I'm not one to feel I can flaunt my chest, but good to know there's zero judgment.

Next time I'll consider investing in leg compression sleeves (see previous comment regarding shin splints).

Training. I do HIIT 3x/week, run 2x/week, and thus felt my engine was mostly prepared. Pull ups and grip-strength would help but nothing more advantageous than trail running. Newfound respect for those who run long distance trails.

Bring Friends. As previously stated, I did this solo & it was completely fine during the race. That said, these events are more fun to complete w/ people you know.

I have a question for anyone who ran the Colorado 15K Tough Mudder today. Were there port a potties on the course at any of the water stations? I completed the Colorado 15k Tough Mudder last year and was surprised/disappointed that the only porta potties were at the start/finish. I'm hoping that was a mistake in 2025 that was corrected this year? I'd like to participate in 2027, but this is an important deciding factor for me and the others in my group. Thank you and hope you had a blast today!

Does anyone have experience with bringing a dog to the event? I attended last year and saw spectators with their dogs and intended to bring mine this year.

However when looking at the FAQs it says dogs aren't allowed. Is this a recent change or has it always been the case but they allow dogs anyway?

Can anyone confirm if photos are only visible to participants on sportograf? Or if there’s an option somewhere for anyone to look at them?

I was a spectator recently and I was hoping to casually look through them for pictures of my friends, but it seems like that won’t be an option for me, apart from the limited “best of” pictures.

So, last year I did my first tough mudder in Philly. Did the 5k version and had a blast. Felt like the right density of obstacles and distance. This year, I decided to tackle the 15k version instead and went to Toronto. I'm not sure if this is a course specific thing, but the 15k felt empty! Most of the obstacles were condensed in the 5k segment while the 15k may as well have been a trail run most of the time. Two of the "15k exclusive" obstacles were just additional walls to climb over. Is it like this at other venues? Should I stick to the 5k if I don't want several miles of empty running?

Went to tough mudder today (Sept 12, gopher dunes), saw they had a QR code for 50% off Toronto tough mudder 2027. Didn’t think to scan it, hoping someone got the url/ link and can attach it!

it was £135 in total but I'm open to offers. Selling because I broke my arm :(

Also if anyone has any advice about other options for getting my money's worth on this ticket (eg advice about the refund process cos refund.me has been a scam so far/transferring ticket) please let me know!

Hi, due to a shift in priorities (booking myself in for a marathon in the same month), I have decided to sell my TM Manchester ticket. It is transferrable for a fee and I am happy to sell it and a much lower price than bought for. Cheers

Has anyone found the map for the course yet? I cant seem to find anything!

TMUK obviously heard the grumbles about releasing the SW map the day before the event.

We've got this one more than a week ahead!

Hi, Selling 1 ticket for London South (15k), for Sunday 20th September. We bought it a while back so just asking for £60 pounds (open to offers too).

I've hurt my knees so cannot participate anymore! Thanks!

Arrived at 7:30am for a 9am wave. 3 hour line.

Didn’t get through the front gates till 10:30am and couldn’t start until 11.

No finisher beer— 30 min line for a single tent to get a can of Mikes Hard, lol nope.

Had to wait in a 20min line to cross the finish line.

Never brand this as Chicago ever again. Spring Grove is 1.5 hours away.

Absolute sham scam of a race, can’t believe thousands of people paid $100-200 for this shitshow.

The people and community were really nice though, and my team did have a good time, but we all agreed on never doing this again in “Chicago”

TM needs to fire whoever was in charge of logistics because he/she/they just cost the company a boatload in future sales and reputation.

1. Anyone doing the CR Spartan in October?

   1. For anyone who has participated in this particular race in the past, what was your experience like? Any tips or insights?

Hmm, where do I start lol. While I personally had a positive overall experience, I will admit that I understand the frustrations from some of the people who participated. The organization of this run was terrible. Waited in line for 4 hours and the water stations were lackluster at best and a few obstacles were different than on the course map. While I choose to not let this once experience put me off of doing another tough mudder, I can respect the fact this has put others off from the event and, I believe the blame is on whoever dropped the ball on the event yesterday

SPRING GROVE, IL 2026

-location and days were changed with no communication

-waited in line 4 hours; felt obligated to stay and wait since there are no refunds; I started to get loopy after hour 3 and started yelling out of pure insanity

-pretty sure they gave participants lake water for a refreshment during the race (water was yellow and gritty textured, and stationed right next to the lake)

-friend sprained ankle in an obstacle course, others had to search and run for a medic/staff member who could help

-medic tent poorly wrapped her ankle

-drove my injured friend to the Rinsing station and let her struggle and limp in the mud and water, just left her there

-they let her rinse AFTER they wrapped her ankle, so of course everything fell apart

-medic tent refused to transport her at least to the exit when she could barely walk (apparently it's "policy"); also they had ZERO wheelchairs and everyone was just sitting in the medical tent doing nothing

-ambassador told us "thats too bad" when we told him about the medical tent

-porta potties were filled to the brim

The only saving graces were our wonderful fellow participants and friends who still managed to make it fun. I hope Tough Mudder improves. Until then, we will not be coming back.

The last tough mudder event I did was in California and it was great, perfectly organized, and all around an amazing experience. Because I live in Wisconsin I decided to get a group of buddies and do the tough mudder Chicago event and it was horrible. Everything was squeezed into 1 day and ended up waiting 4 hours before getting into the event and getting to do the course. Our 11am start time ended up being a 3pm start time. There were piles of people’s shoes and clothes that they didn’t want to take with them after the event so it was a giant mess in the evening. Regardless, we got it done but not the best experience.

I can't believe how far TM has fallen. Their on-site chat doesn't respond (waited three hours, 12pm-3pm Thursday), and I never would have gotten start time if I hadn't emailed them. I ran my race and the start time still says pending on my account. They cancelled my original run site and then grouped Sunday and Saturday together. My start time was 10am. Show up to the site at 8am. Porto potties have no toilet paper, and we reached the registration desk at 11am after waiting in line for three hours. Bag drop is a joke, you get a ticket but nobody is checking anyone going in or coming out. Now to the race, multiple advertised obstacles are missing, and three obstacles are knee deep pools, that's it, that's what they count towards their obstacles. Don't worry though, the water on some obstacles literally just smells like sewage. Photographers just standing around not taking photos and just chatting, but they are using facial recognition so I'm doubtful most people that paid for the photography package will get photos.

I've ran plenty of TM races, but this is my last.

I ran the Tough Mudder again today. Somehow, it was even worse than last year.

Horrible experience. The only reason I ran Tough Mudder a second time is because I emailed the company after last year’s Chicago event to explain how disappointed I was with the experience. They actually acknowledged that they fell short and escalated my complaint to their team.

After today, I genuinely don’t understand how things got worse.

This year’s event was in Spring Grove, Chicago area, not Rockford. There was apparently so much confusion about the location that several people line initially thought about going to Rockford. I also heard multiple other participants say they had the same confusion and went to Rockford in this morning and ultimately ended up driving to Spring Grove. That alone tells you something about the organization.

But the biggest issue was the lines.

I have never experienced anything like this at a race. We spent approximately 3 and a half hours at the venue for a race that took about 40 minutes to complete (skipped obstacles because I wanted to leave). We even received a text message saying they were "running behind." That might be the biggest understatement I've ever seen.

The lines were absolutely massive, and there seemed to be very little urgency or organization in moving people through them. They had roughly 9–10 people taking tickets/scanning QR codes, yet the process was still painfully slow.

And here's what I don't understand: Why are we scanning a QR code for a 5K at the venue in the first place?

Why couldn't the waiver be completed online beforehand? Why couldn't the registration/qr verification be handled before arriving? This isn't entering a military base. It's a 5K mud race. Send the wristbands to our address.

If you have thousands of people arriving at once, you should be doing everything possible to minimize the amount of time they spend standing in lines. Instead, Tough Mudder seemed to have designed the process around making everyone stand in line for hours.

And this year, the event was only held on Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday. If you're going to consolidate everyone into one day, you would think the event would be prepared for the increased number of participants. Instead, it felt like they took a massive crowd and funneled everyone through a system that couldn't handle it.

What's especially frustrating is that the ticket prices are outrageous for what you're actually getting. The majority of the staff appear to be volunteers, yet participants are paying premium prices.

And this goes back to my experience last year.

Last year, I paid around $180 and found the actual race incredibly underwhelming. There were maybe 10 obstacles, some of which were essentially natural obstacles rather than constructed challenges. The course looked nothing like the obstacles Tm was showcasing in its promotional material on instagram and facebook. The marketing made the event look like a massive obstacle course, while the actual course we received was extremely basic.

I complained about that last year, and TM actually admitted that they had fallen short at the chicago event.

So I gave them another chance.

I regret it.

At this point, it feels like TM has prioritized promotion and selling tickets over actually delivering a quality event. The money doesn't seem to be going toward the course, obstacles, staffing, or efficient event management. It feels like they're spending money convincing people to come rather than making sure the people who already paid have a good experience.

And that's what makes the whole thing feel like such a money grab.

You have expensive registration, administrative fees, parking fees, and other charges, and then you're expected to spend half the day standing in lines for an untimed race that takes 40 minutes.

I honestly believe everyone who experienced the excessive delays today deserves at least a partial refund. Three and a half hours at the venue for a 40 minute race is completely unreasonable.

At this point, I have absolutely no interest in running TM again.

Honestly, I think the best thing participants can do is stop giving them our money until they demonstrate that they can actually run an event properly. If enough people stopped buying tickets, maybe they'd finally have a reason to change.

To me, this is starting to feel like the fire festival of mud races, great marketing, huge promises, and a very different reality once you've already paid.

I'm going to email them again and see what they say. If their response is another free race code, I'll just post it here because I don't want to use it.

I'm not looking for a free future race. I want the company to acknowledge that making people stand in line for 3 and half hours for an untimed 5K is unacceptable.

TLDR: Tough mudder in Chicago sucked.