What Happened to Mud Hero Vancouver? By Adam Kwitko

Mud Hero is Canada’s most successful nationwide mud run with their focus on fun rather than hardcore.  Multiple mud pits and obstacles that stress less upper body strength than traditional OCRs has lead Mud Hero to achieve 62% female registration and 74% growth with 53,000 registered in 2014 (30,500 in 2013). If you look at the obstacles featured in recent Tough Mudder offshoot Mudderella, you will notice many are similar to those designed by Mud Hero years ago. Mud Hero had planned two new events in 2015, an Urban Toronto event and one in Vancouver which has recently vanished from their website. 3-Seconds caught up with Mud Hero Race Director Adam Ruppel to find out why.

This is the first in a series of three interviews with Mud Hero Race Director Adam Ruppel.

AK When and where was Mud Hero Vancouver to take place?
AR July 25 was our tentative date, however we had a few venues we were looking at.

AK Why did it take you 4 years to attempt an event in BC?
AR Scheduling and a short summer across Canada.  We were between expanding to Halifax or Vancouver in 2013, but decided on Halifax.

AK Why did you shutdown Mud Hero Vancouver?
AR We actually never started selling registrations for the event, as that is something we don’t do prior securing a venue.   Our venue standards are high and we couldn’t find a venue with the right mix of everything.  We visited over 30 venues on three separate trips, but we found nothing that we felt would allow us to create the Mud Hero experience.

Will Mud Hero look into other BC venues in the future?

AR Certainly it is on our radar.  We are open to any future opportunities, but the venue and market needs to fit.

You can register for Mud Hero events throughout the country (but not in Vancouver) here .

Enter the 3-Seconds Mud Hero entry giveaway by clicking HERE . Be sure to follow the directions to enter, like the 3-Seconds Facebook page and lookout for future articles relating to Mud Hero events and obstacle course races throughout Canada.

Interview by Adam Kwitko
Photo credit: Mud Hero