THE COURSE

So just how challenging is Mud Immortal? “It’s tough,” says Jonathan Brett who, as founder and managing director, is all things to the event, from head of sponsorship to obstacle race chief. “But people want to get muddy so we need to make it difficult so that they will fall in that mud.”

The first two and half kilometres are on gravel roads and trails around Butter Pot, which, Brett says, will benefit the runners.

“But the second two and a half is through the swamp and heavy trees, so you can’t run. It makes it difficult for the runners and the elite athletes. “It should slow them down a nice bit.” Some of the obstacles are fairly common for these style races, such a 15-foot cargo net climb and an uphill tire run, but organizers came up with a few of their own.

“They’re frustrating and difficult, which made us want to put them in there,” Brett explains with a somewhat sadistic chuckle.

The toughest, he says, will be the spider web. Just after the halfway point competitors will dive into a copse of trees 30 to 40 feet and make their way through a 1,500metre tangle of rope.

“That obstacle is probably going to take five to 10 minutes to get through.”

Organizers have also added a degree of difficulty to common obstacles like the monkey bars and balance beam by putting them on an incline.

Brett says a good runner should be able to complete a standard 5k road race in 20 minutes. “But I don’t think they’ll complete this in less than 45. “If anyone finishes in less than that, I’ll be very surprises and they’ll be deserving of the top male or female finisher award.”