The story
Tough Mudder was co-founded in 2010 by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone, both British subjects living in New York City. Dean, a former British counter-terrorism officer, had developed the idea for the company while studying at Harvard Business School, where the concept was a semifinalist in the school's annual business plan competition. Tough Mudder's original branding was developed by the Brooklyn design studio Condensed. Tough Mudder continued to credit Condensed on the toughmudder.com website even after a later redesign by a different agency. It has been noted that Will Dean took the idea from Billy Wilson and his Tough Guy races staged in England since 1987. Dean and Livingstone, a former corporate lawyer, held the first Tough Mudder event on May 2, 2010, at Bear Creek Mountain Resort near Allentown, Pennsylvania. Promoted exclusively through Facebook advertising and word of mouth, the event drew more than 4,500 participants.
On May 2, 2013, Tough Mudder announced that it had reached one million total registrations since it started in 2010. The company had more than 700,000 participants in 2013, with events in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, and Germany. The Mudderella, created in 2013, is a 5-7 mile long obstacle course series targeted toward women.
In 2014 the company also expanded to Ireland and New Zealand, with an 11-to-12-mile (18 to 20 km) military obstacle course in Auckland.
In 2015, Tough Mudder hosted more than 50 events in seven countries across three continents.
In April 2016, Tough Mudder announced a partnership with international sports management company IMG to bring its events to Asia and the Middle East, beginning with China and United Arab Emirates in 2016. Tough Mudder also announced a partnership with media and technology investment firm Seroja Partners to host an event in Bali, Indonesia in October 2016.
On October 1, 2016, in Jimbaran Hijau, Bali, Indonesia, Tough Mudder held its first event in Asia, drawing 1500 competitors from more than 37 countries including Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia. On December 9–10, 2016, up to 5,000 participated in Tough Mudder's first event in the Middle East that took place at the Hamdan Sports Complex. Tough Mudder CEO Will Dean revealed that the company would seek to launch a chain of fitness boutiques in the United States in 2017 to expand the brand beyond Obstacle Course Racing events.
In March 2017, Tough Mudder announced it was continuing its international expansion to New Zealand with Sports Media and Entertainment 360 (SME360) as the official licensee of Tough Mudder events in that country. The first event will held on November 4–5, 2017 at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. Tough Mudder expanded its 2016 partnership deal with IMG to include Australia for 2017 and 2018 seasons, adding to events already slated in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates.
In December 2019, Joe De Sena of Spartan Race stated he had options on Canadian and German Tough Mudder events via an interview on Obstacle Racing Media. He also indicated Spartan was trying to acquire the entire Tough Mudder brand. Tough Mudder shut down all online registration in December 2019, and owing to a dispute with its online registration partner Active. Obstacle Racing Media posted on December 31, 2019, that Tough Mudder Canada filed for bankruptcy.
From Wikipedia’s article on Tough Mudder, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4