inspiration
‘I
wake up at 7am,
and walk or cycle
from my home in
Clapham, London,
to the Tough
Mudder offices in Brixton. The
office has a big dining table, so
the whole team sits down and
eats breakfast together before
discussing strategies, running
through feedback from past
events and planning future events.
We run 11 events a year in the UK,
plus four in Germany, so there’s a bit
of travel involved in my job and no
two days are ever the same. Our
races, obstacles and customers
are constantly evolving, and I love
seeing an initial idea for an obstacle
translate into part of an event
that keeps customers inspired.’PERFECT JOB
‘Having previously worked in Olympic
events, handling sponsorship, when I saw
an advert for an events services manager
at Tough Mudder, it was as if the job
description was written for me. I’d
done my first Tough Mudder in 2013
and loved the atmosphere and team
camaraderie, so I was delighted to get
the job, which involved sourcing venues
to hold events at. We often use properties
in a very different way to how they’re
normally used – building elaborate
structures, digging things up and putting
them back again – so building good
relationships with venues was essential.
‘My role now includes working with
partners to hold events in far flung parts
of the world, managing our volunteer
programme and getting involved withmerchandise. But being part
of the all-female UK Obstacle Innovation
Lab, where we design, test and evolve
race obstacles to give participants the
best experience they can have, is a key
focus and my favourite part of the job.’POSITIVE CHANGES
‘For example, “Funky Monkey” was a
signature obstacle, which involved a
monkey-bar climb up to an apex over
a water pit. Getting the most out of it
required great upper body strength, but
we’ve evolved it by introducing wheels
and “hanging lollipops” that transition
onto a rope ladder climb, calling it “Funky
Monkey Revolution”. I worried at first
that the changes would be seen as
controversial, but the feedback has been
overwhelmingly positive. In the beginning,
our audience was 80 per cent male, 20
per cent female, but it’s far more balanced
now, as the appetite for this kind of eventhas grown. We want Tough Mudder to
be inclusive and something anyone
can have a go at, which is why we’ve
introduced 5K races featuring 13
obstacles, alongside our classic races,
which are 10-12 miles long and feature
25 obstacles. It’s now less about people
trying to prove they’re the fastest, and
more about taking on a personal challenge
and getting the best out of yourself.
‘After finishing work around 6-7pm,
I play touch rugby or tennis, do yoga or go
running to wind down. I’m into distance/
endurance events, and currently training
for Ride London. I also like catching up
with friends by exploring new places to eat
and going to gigs to experience live music.
Bedtimes vary, but I try to be in bed by
11pm on a school night. I love my sleep!’‘MY LIFE IN A DAY’
RACHEL
NORRIS
The senior manager at Tough Mudder talks about
the joys of creating and overcoming new obstacleseats breakfast together beforethe joys of creating and overcoming new obstacles
RACHEL’S TRAINING TIPS
●‘Believe in yourself. When you put
your mind to something, you can do
anything. Don’t think you’re not
strong or fit enough. Push yourself.
You might be surprised.’
●‘Do a variety of training. Upper
body strength/endurance training
will help, but you don’t need to be
good at one thing to do our courses.
Get used to being on the go.’
●‘Get off the treadmill and get out
and about. Getting wet and muddy
will definitely prepare you!’Rachel loves designing new obstacles
to maximise participants enjoymentThe next Tough Mudder event is in Yorkshire on July 27/28. For details, see toughmudder.co.uk/events/2019-yorkshire-classic