The Mudder is back for its sixth year to give around 600 people the opportunity to tough it out on hill country in the Rangitikei. Photo / Supplied
The Mudder is back for its sixth year to give around 600 people the opportunity to tough it out on hill country in the Rangitikei. Photo / Supplied
Despite a global pandemic and a drought, The Mudder is returning for another year to push people's stamina to the limits.
The annual event is now in its sixth year with a third of the 600 tickets sold.
"There seems to be a stronger appetite for people to get outthere for a day out in the country after being locked up," organiser Andrew Stewart said.
The course is on Stewart and his wife Kylie's sheep and beef farm. It starts at their Rangitīkei Farm Stay Woolshed 12km north of Marton, and there are 3km, 5km and 8km options.
Although a lot of the obstacles are kept a secret until the day, participants can expect the course to be built around natural resources on the farm including a floating island to crawl over, bogs to wade through and hills to climb.
Participants can expect to get muddy while running around on hill country and rugged terrain. Photo / Supplied
Stewart said they tried to improve the course every year to give both new and returning participants a new challenge.
"Most of the North Island has been in quite a bad drought and we've had quite a bit of rain recently but we're a lot drier than we should be this time of year but the mud is certainly building and I'm 100 per cent confident that we can deliver a whole lot of mud on event day because that's the reason why we have it in the middle of September."
This year they will be joined by Dr Tom Mulholland, known to many as 'Dr Tom on a mission.'
The ex-ED doctor who has also had experience as an entrepreneur, CEO and a stand-up comedian, now spends his time travelling around New Zealand in his ambulance working with businesses and communities discussing mental, physical and spiritual health.
He also encourages people to download his KYND app to get the results they want and need around their health.
Stewart said Mulholland has been with them on their farm helping them and their employees for the last month.
"He strengthens our message that we've had for the last few years, just pushing the message around mental health and how it can be helped by exercise."
Costumes are strongly encouraged once again and for the second consecutive year none of the participants will be timed and everyone will receive a participation medal when they cross the finish line.
Costumes are once again encouraged and there will be prizes for the best dressed. Photo / Supplied
Stewart said they were nervous last year to take away the timing aspect as they did not want to disappoint people but they received a positive response and everyone loved their unique medals.
He said the key motivator for them to keep creating the event is seeing people come out, have a lot of fun and forget about the stresses of their daily lives.
"People who come have such a great day out, either by themselves or with a group friends, getting dressed up and having a heap of laughter and there's just that really good feeling about an event that's the rewarding thing for us because we get to see it first hand as they go around.
"At the end, a lot of people come up and thank us and tell us their stories.
"It might be the first time they've exercised, they might have been through some pretty bad stuff in their life and this has turned a corner for them so it's those powerful messages we get year after year."
The event will be held on September 19 and tickets can be purchased through https://www.themudder.co.nz/
