This past weekend I dominated the Gladiator Run at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Okay, maybe dominate is a strong word. “Completed” is probably a more fitting description. With the help of my teammates, I finished all the obstacles and made it through the course. It’s a 5K run with 15 obstacles created by Dan Clark, aka Nitro, from the original American Gladiators. The course kicked my ass a bit and I was proud that I got through it. But I knew, deep down that my victory was a mild one. The Gladiator Run doesn’t come close to what goes down at Tough Mudder.

The weekend before I did the Gladiator Run, I got to tour the Tough Mudder course in Seattle as part of an adrenaline-packed trip that was sponsored by Degree Men. I knew there was no way I could hang with running that Seattle course, and the challenge of my recent mini-5K just confirmed that. After my little mud run, I got nothing but the deepest respect for the true mudders out there.

I got some cool cuts of the Tough Mudder Seattle event, and after grinding away at the Gladiator Run, I wanted to share some highlights from the big boy course: