Before a bright sun rose to bring temperatures into the high 80s, a competitive group of Tough Mudders had a chance to complete an 8-mile course in relatively cooler weather. That brought a sigh of relief over the initial group of competitors, who went off at 7:45 a.m. in the Inaugural Tough Mudder Indiana Classic at Ceraland. The first finisher, Adam Baylor of Floyds Knobs, was finished around 8:45 a.m. About 6,000 competitors, cheered by roughly 1,500 spectators, took part in Saturday’s festivities. Many of them were caked in mud by the time they finished. Baylor had competed in more than 40 Tough Mudder and Spartan races, but had never won a Tough Mudder competition. Saturday morning, Baylor ended that winless streak when captured the competitive wave of the 8-mile event. Baylor, 38, a New Albany firefighter, has won a stair climb event in Louisville the past two years. This was the third week in a row that he did a Tough Mudder event, and in two weeks, he’ll compete in the U.S. Spartan Championships in West Virginia. The Tough Mudder Classic events feature 25 obstacles. Saturday’s obstacles included “King of the Mountain,” where competitors climb over stacked hay bales; “Everest 2.0,” where participants scale a wall, sometimes helping each other over; and “Electroshock Therapy,” the finishing obstacle where competitors run through a series of wires, some of which carry 10,000 volts of current. “It’s awesome,” Baylor said. “I love it. I totally was out of working out or anything like that, and my wife suggested a race to me, and that got me going. Ever since then, I’ve just tried to get more and more competitive. Especially at 38, I never thought I’d be in this good of shape again.” Drew Pope of Louisville finished second in the competitive wave. Batesville native Michael Lanning, who now lives in Indianapolis, was third. Deanna Brasz of St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, was the women’s winner. Brasz, 26, who ran cross-country and track at Middle Tennessee State, got to a friend’s house in southwest Ohio at 11:30 p.m. Friday, then got up at 5 a.m. to make her way to Ceraland for her 7:45 a.m. start time. Brasz was competing in her 43rd Tough Mudder event. She has been the top female in most of those races. “The courses are all a little different,” Brasz said. “This one had a lot more open land, not as many treed areas, and it was pretty flat. But the obstacles are always the same. They just mix up the order they’re in. So I really liked this one. It was beautiful being able to see everything.” Meanwhile, there was a local flavor to Saturday’s competition wave. At least two Columbus residents participated, and one came away with a top-10 finish. Gabe Ocasio was running second for most of the race and ended up finishing seventh in around 1 hour, 5 minutes, in his first Tough Mudder event. “I had the running part down, but a couple of the obstacles got me, and that’s what a Tough Mudder is supposed to be,” Ocasio said. “It’s one thing to run. It’s another thing to do it with a bunch of obstacles. But it was a great race. The course is beautiful. Shout-out to Ceraland. This is awesome.” Ocasio is a former cross-country and track standout at Columbus North and ran collegiately at Indiana State and IUPUI. But he hadn’t done much training specifically for a Tough Mudder event. “I can’t wait to actually train for this next year,” Ocasio said. “I’ve just been doing a lot of running, and now I know exactly what it takes to get through some of these a little bit faster. I’m going to sign up for a couple more of these races because this left a bitter taste in my mouth not getting first. I’m not used to that feeling, but that’s good. It humbled me.” Former North soccer and basketball player and DePauw soccer player Louie Souza finished 23rd in 1:14. Souza has competed in the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder championships the past two years, along with a few shorter Tough Mudder events. “It was a good day,” Souza said. “I wanted that top-15, but that was reaching for it. I’ve never competed in the competitive race, so I feel good about top-25. It was very fun. The most amazing part about it is, the weather was perfect.”
Before a bright sun rose to bring temperatures into the high 80s, a competitive group of Tough Mudders had a chance to complete an 8-mile course in relatively cooler weather. That brought a sigh of relief over the initial group of competitors, who went off at 7:45 a.m. in the Inaugural Tough Mudder Indiana Classic at Ceraland. The first finisher, Adam Baylor of Floyds Knobs, was finished around 8:45 a.m. About 6,000 competitors, cheered by roughly 1,500 spectators, took part in Saturday’s festivities. Many of them were caked in mud by the time they finished. Baylor had competed in more than 40 Tough Mudder and Spartan races, but had never won a Tough Mudder competition. Saturday morning, Baylor ended that winless streak when captured the competitive wave of the 8-mile event. Baylor, 38, a New Albany firefighter, has won a stair climb event in Louisville the past two years. This was the third week in a row that he did a Tough Mudder event, and in two weeks, he’ll compete in the U.S. Spartan Championships in West Virginia. The Tough Mudder Classic events feature 25 obstacles. Saturday’s obstacles included “King of the Mountain,” where competitors climb over stacked hay bales; “Everest 2.0,” where participants scale a wall, sometimes helping each other over; and “Electroshock Therapy,” the finishing obstacle where competitors run through a series of wires, some of which carry 10,000 volts of current. “It’s awesome,” Baylor said. “I love it. I totally was out of working out or anything like that, and my wife suggested a race to me, and that got me going. Ever since then, I’ve just tried to get more and more competitive. Especially at 38, I never thought I’d be in this good of shape again.” Drew Pope of Louisville finished second in the competitive wave. Batesville native Michael Lanning, who now lives in Indianapolis, was third. Deanna Brasz of St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, was the women’s winner. Brasz, 26, who ran cross-country and track at Middle Tennessee State, got to a friend’s house in southwest Ohio at 11:30 p.m. Friday, then got up at 5 a.m. to make her way to Ceraland for her 7:45 a.m. start time. Brasz was competing in her 43rd Tough Mudder event. She has been the top female in most of those races. “The courses are all a little different,” Brasz said. “This one had a lot more open land, not as many treed areas, and it was pretty flat. But the obstacles are always the same. They just mix up the order they’re in. So I really liked this one. It was beautiful being able to see everything.” Meanwhile, there was a local flavor to Saturday’s competition wave. At least two Columbus residents participated, and one came away with a top-10 finish. Gabe Ocasio was running second for most of the race and ended up finishing seventh in around 1 hour, 5 minutes, in his first Tough Mudder event. “I had the running part down, but a couple of the obstacles got me, and that’s what a Tough Mudder is supposed to be,” Ocasio said. “It’s one thing to run. It’s another thing to do it with a bunch of obstacles. But it was a great race. The course is beautiful. Shout-out to Ceraland. This is awesome.” Ocasio is a former cross-country and track standout at Columbus North and ran collegiately at Indiana State and IUPUI. But he hadn’t done much training specifically for a Tough Mudder event. “I can’t wait to actually train for this next year,” Ocasio said. “I’ve just been doing a lot of running, and now I know exactly what it takes to get through some of these a little bit faster. I’m going to sign up for a couple more of these races because this left a bitter taste in my mouth not getting first. I’m not used to that feeling, but that’s good. It humbled me.” Former North soccer and basketball player and DePauw soccer player Louie Souza finished 23rd in 1:14. Souza has competed in the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder championships the past two years, along with a few shorter Tough Mudder events. “It was a good day,” Souza said. “I wanted that top-15, but that was reaching for it. I’ve never competed in the competitive race, so I feel good about top-25. It was very fun. The most amazing part about it is, the weather was perfect.”
Before a bright sun rose to bring temperatures into the high 80s, a competitive group of Tough Mudders had a chance to complete an 8-mile course in relatively cooler weather. That brought a sigh of relief over the initial group of competitors, who went off at 7:45 a.m. in the Inaugural Tough Mudder Indiana Classic at Ceraland. The first finisher, Adam Baylor of Floyds Knobs, was finished around 8:45 a.m. About 6,000 competitors, cheered by roughly 1,500 spectators, took part in Saturday’s festivities. Many of them were caked in mud by the time they finished. Baylor had competed in more than 40 Tough Mudder and Spartan races, but had never won a Tough Mudder competition. Saturday morning, Baylor ended that winless streak when captured the competitive wave of the 8-mile event. Baylor, 38, a New Albany firefighter, has won a stair climb event in Louisville the past two years. This was the third week in a row that he did a Tough Mudder event, and in two weeks, he’ll compete in the U.S. Spartan Championships in West Virginia. The Tough Mudder Classic events feature 25 obstacles. Saturday’s obstacles included “King of the Mountain,” where competitors climb over stacked hay bales; “Everest 2.0,” where participants scale a wall, sometimes helping each other over; and “Electroshock Therapy,” the finishing obstacle where competitors run through a series of wires, some of which carry 10,000 volts of current. “It’s awesome,” Baylor said. “I love it. I totally was out of working out or anything like that, and my wife suggested a race to me, and that got me going. Ever since then, I’ve just tried to get more and more competitive. Especially at 38, I never thought I’d be in this good of shape again.” Drew Pope of Louisville finished second in the competitive wave. Batesville native Michael Lanning, who now lives in Indianapolis, was third. Deanna Brasz of St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, was the women’s winner. Brasz, 26, who ran cross-country and track at Middle Tennessee State, got to a friend’s house in southwest Ohio at 11:30 p.m. Friday, then got up at 5 a.m. to make her way to Ceraland for her 7:45 a.m. start time. Brasz was competing in her 43rd Tough Mudder event. She has been the top female in most of those races. “The courses are all a little different,” Brasz said. “This one had a lot more open land, not as many treed areas, and it was pretty flat. But the obstacles are always the same. They just mix up the order they’re in. So I really liked this one. It was beautiful being able to see everything.” Meanwhile, there was a local flavor to Saturday’s competition wave. At least two Columbus residents participated, and one came away with a top-10 finish. Gabe Ocasio was running second for most of the race and ended up finishing seventh in around 1 hour, 5 minutes, in his first Tough Mudder event. “I had the running part down, but a couple of the obstacles got me, and that’s what a Tough Mudder is supposed to be,” Ocasio said. “It’s one thing to run. It’s another thing to do it with a bunch of obstacles. But it was a great race. The course is beautiful. Shout-out to Ceraland. This is awesome.” Ocasio is a former cross-country and track standout at Columbus North and ran collegiately at Indiana State and IUPUI. But he hadn’t done much training specifically for a Tough Mudder event. “I can’t wait to actually train for this next year,” Ocasio said. “I’ve just been doing a lot of running, and now I know exactly what it takes to get through some of these a little bit faster. I’m going to sign up for a couple more of these races because this left a bitter taste in my mouth not getting first. I’m not used to that feeling, but that’s good. It humbled me.” Former North soccer and basketball player and DePauw soccer player Louie Souza finished 23rd in 1:14. Souza has competed in the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder championships the past two years, along with a few shorter Tough Mudder events. “It was a good day,” Souza said. “I wanted that top-15, but that was reaching for it. I’ve never competed in the competitive race, so I feel good about top-25. It was very fun. The most amazing part about it is, the weather was perfect.”
Before a bright sun rose to bring temperatures into the high 80s, a competitive group of Tough Mudders had a chance to complete an 8-mile course in relatively cooler weather.
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That brought a sigh of relief over the initial group of competitors, who went off at 7:45 a.m. in the Inaugural Tough Mudder Indiana Classic at Ceraland. The first finisher, Adam Baylor of Floyds Knobs, was finished around 8:45 a.m.
About 6,000 competitors, cheered by roughly 1,500 spectators, took part in Saturday’s festivities. Many of them were caked in mud by the time they finished.
Baylor had competed in more than 40 Tough Mudder and Spartan races, but had never won a Tough Mudder competition. Saturday morning, Baylor ended that winless streak when captured the competitive wave of the 8-mile event.
Baylor, 38, a New Albany firefighter, has won a stair climb event in Louisville the past two years. This was the third week in a row that he did a Tough Mudder event, and in two weeks, he’ll compete in the U.S. Spartan Championships in West Virginia.
The Tough Mudder Classic events feature 25 obstacles. Saturday’s obstacles included “King of the Mountain,” where competitors climb over stacked hay bales; “Everest 2.0,” where participants scale a wall, sometimes helping each other over; and “Electroshock Therapy,” the finishing obstacle where competitors run through a series of wires, some of which carry 10,000 volts of current.
“It’s awesome,” Baylor said. “I love it. I totally was out of working out or anything like that, and my wife suggested a race to me, and that got me going. Ever since then, I’ve just tried to get more and more competitive. Especially at 38, I never thought I’d be in this good of shape again.”
Drew Pope of Louisville finished second in the competitive wave. Batesville native Michael Lanning, who now lives in Indianapolis, was third.
Deanna Brasz of St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada, was the women’s winner. Brasz, 26, who ran cross-country and track at Middle Tennessee State, got to a friend’s house in southwest Ohio at 11:30 p.m. Friday, then got up at 5 a.m. to make her way to Ceraland for her 7:45 a.m. start time.
Brasz was competing in her 43rd Tough Mudder event. She has been the top female in most of those races.
“The courses are all a little different,” Brasz said. “This one had a lot more open land, not as many treed areas, and it was pretty flat. But the obstacles are always the same. They just mix up the order they’re in. So I really liked this one. It was beautiful being able to see everything.”
Meanwhile, there was a local flavor to Saturday’s competition wave. At least two Columbus residents participated, and one came away with a top-10 finish.
Gabe Ocasio was running second for most of the race and ended up finishing seventh in around 1 hour, 5 minutes, in his first Tough Mudder event.
“I had the running part down, but a couple of the obstacles got me, and that’s what a Tough Mudder is supposed to be,” Ocasio said. “It’s one thing to run. It’s another thing to do it with a bunch of obstacles. But it was a great race. The course is beautiful. Shout-out to Ceraland. This is awesome.”
Ocasio is a former cross-country and track standout at Columbus North and ran collegiately at Indiana State and IUPUI. But he hadn’t done much training specifically for a Tough Mudder event.
“I can’t wait to actually train for this next year,” Ocasio said. “I’ve just been doing a lot of running, and now I know exactly what it takes to get through some of these a little bit faster. I’m going to sign up for a couple more of these races because this left a bitter taste in my mouth not getting first. I’m not used to that feeling, but that’s good. It humbled me.”
Former North soccer and basketball player and DePauw soccer player Louie Souza finished 23rd in 1:14. Souza has competed in the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder championships the past two years, along with a few shorter Tough Mudder events.
“It was a good day,” Souza said. “I wanted that top-15, but that was reaching for it. I’ve never competed in the competitive race, so I feel good about top-25. It was very fun. The most amazing part about it is, the weather was perfect.”
