The Tough Mudder Indiana Classic debuted in 2019 with about 7,500 competitors and a similar number of fans flocking to Ceraland.
After a one-year hiatus, the Tough Mudder is returning to Columbus. Ceraland will host the event Saturday and Sunday.
“The success in 2019 was a big factor in it,” said Jim Kreutzjans, Ceraland executive director. “We’re excited to get it back to Bartholomew County. It’s a big event. It’s a national event, and we’re looking forward to it.”
The competitive wave, called the “Tougher Mudder,” begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. That 10-mile race will feature about 300 athletes, including local entrants Gabe Ocasio, Jacob Bosecker and Adam Joslin.
Ocasio, a former cross-country and track runner at Columbus North and three in-state colleges, finished seventh in the 2019 Tougher Mudder at Ceraland and won a Tougher Mudder two months later in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The goal is to get top three,” Ocasio said. “My goal was to make the podium two years ago, and I did not do that, but the goal is to come back this year and make it.”
Following the competitive wave, athletes will go off in waves every 45 minutes to an hour from at 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday. Athletes can choose a starting time for their 10-mile or 5K (3.1-mile) option.
The 10-mile race features, 25 obstacles, while the 5K offers 13 obstacles.
“There’s a lot of zig-zagging going through the park and a lot of new obstacles going up, also,” Kreutzjans said.
The Tough Mudder also features a half-mile and mile course for kids ages 5 to 12.
“It’s a new-and-improved version of the kids race we brought here in 2019,” Kreutzjans said.
Ceraland originally was scheduled to bring back the Tough Mudder last year, but the event was taken off the schedule last March after Spartan purchased Tough Mudder. Kreutzjans said Ceraland and the city have signed a contract with Tough Mudder to return again the first weekend in August in 2022.
“We have a great following out in that part of the state,” said Evert Sers, the event coordinator for this year’s Tough Mudder. “We took a big of a hiatus most of last year, but we’re really excited to be back in Columbus and back doing events again.”
About 5,000 participants are signed up for Saturday and another 1,700 for Sunday. That’s down slightly from 2019, but Sers said late registration, which is available at toughmudder.com, could increase those numbers.
“We’re expecting pretty good crowds this week, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it ticks up a little bit higher than that,” Sers said.
