Strength in Numbers

Recently I was lucky enough to be accompanied by a small army of ELMOnians, colleagues from ELMO Software, in a fantastic team building exercise deep in Australian bush land. This is the story of that adventure, as we tackled some of the greatest physical challenges I personally have ever encountered.....

The excitement was building.... Jasmine taking us through our warm-up stretches, Adrian taping our shoes, Kit applying some "ELMO Blue" war paint, and after going down the wrong side of the valley, Jay and Hung making it to the start line just in time - the stage was set for an epic challenge.

Into the warm-up holding pen where we huddled together, faces mixed with fear and excitement, arms linked, we shouted a war cry that scared the birds from the hills. The starter dropped us to one knee as we read the Tough Mudder Pledge - 

• I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.
• I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time
• I do not whine - kids whine. 
• I help my fellow mudders to complete the course
• I overcome all fears

We looked each other in the eyes, got on our feet and headed into the valley, the starters horn bellowed. As we made our way to the first obstacle, I was sure they would start with a simple one - maybe some hurdles to crawl or a bit of a light trail to jog. I read the sign for the first obstacle - Kiss Of Mud - and look up to find a 40m muddy course with a web of barbed wire suspended but a foot from the ground. We slithered on our bellies, dragging each other across the hills and unhooking the wire from our backs. Our new ELMO shirts had been muddied and torn beyond recognition, and we had barely made our first kilometer. 

We regroup and fire towards our next obstacle, a pair of 10 foot walls to scale, and our first real team challenge. In a blink of an eye a plan is forged, Adam & Tommy ascend the wall like they were stepping up a kerb, positions themselves across the top and reach down for their comrades. One after the other, people were hoist over that gigantic wall, and then my turn came. Despite a few weeks of training I have yet to achieve my goal physic of Dwayne Johnson, so was a little concerned I wasn't going to make it.... a few deep breaths and I realised why my trainer had me doing so many squats! I hoisted myself up to the wall, the team pushing from below, the boys hoisting from above, I slung my leg across the wall and gave an almighty roar to the waiting onlookers, with cheers and excitement as bang my hand on the wall I had just conquered like a warrior atop a kingdom!

A little ways down the trail, some inclines and descents through dusty, tree and rock laden bush land, we come to another obstacle sign - The Soldier Sling. The idea was simple - carry a mate on your back for a 100 metre stretch, swapping half way. We huddle together to form up our pairs - it seemed nobody felt brave enough to pair up with me alone (must be the Dwayne Johnson physique), and the boys quickly devised a way to carry me together. Determined to carry on I convinced Monica to climb onto the back of the beast - I was doing the whole 100! Reluctantly climbing on my back, I barely noticed her presence as I powered across the field, going stride for stride with others as we made it across the finish line.

After a few more kilometres of painful trekking, climbing over inclined walls and crawling under a net pinned to the ground (an obstacle affectionately known to us as Gordys Beard), creeping through mud so thick you could use it for pottery, and paddling through a disturbingly warm murky river came our next team challenge - The Pyramid Scheme. A deep water filled trench laid at the bottom of a 45 degree wall, slick with mud and water. Learning from our last wall challenge, we scaled the wall using Jays quads as a step ladder, heaving ourselves and pulling each other up the wall. One by one we made it over the ledge, turned around and heaved another up - no one left behind! 

Time to wash off, and our next obstacle was happy to oblige - The Blockness Monster! Imagine a pair of giant boxes turning in the water, ELMOnians up to their armpits in water, lifting and turning as we each made our way across the pool. As we climbed out we felt clean and ready to power through. Little did we know that the mud we encountered earlier in the day was only a taste of what was to come...Mud Mile. The mud was so deep I swear it reached my knees, I lost hung for a minuet there as we tried different techniques, run fast, slow, crawl, backwards, barefoot, none of it seemed to make a difference. We then reached a section I can only describe as cake batter (although the smell was less desiring), I tried to pull myself along and just as I did, my right shoulder started to give in - this was it. As the mud slowly began to engulf me, I looked to the shore line and sore Jasmine running over, "C'mon JP, you got this"! With those supporting words, I grabbed a small branch and started to drag myself through the sludge. I made it to the end, embraced the team and shook off the mud "Turner & Hooch" style.

Second last obstacle awaits, and as I climb into the shallow water and peer over the muddy hill, Sam and Faraz are waiting eagerly to drag me up over and through the mud - I face plant into the water, lucky to close my eyes and mouth as I dive into the trench and one after the other make it through. We regroup and after a long jug though trees, mud and gravel - we come to our final challenge - Everest 2.0.

A slick, 15 foot tall quarter pipe lay before us - we stood in awe of its beauty and majestic height - well at least we did until Saman fired down the line and up the wall, grabbing the hands of the people on the top and hoisted himself up across the wall. One after the other ELMOnians ran towards the wall and made the summit of the mountain. After watching some creative efforts of my teammates (Trevor has a surprisingly good knack for climbing over things, and Jay ascended the wall in a way that can only be described as, well, on his ass) I gave this a shot. After a handful of close attempts, a few hard hits to the deck and a face plant to boot, the mountain had bested me. Although this was the only obstacle that I couldn't conquer, I was driven by the success of my team, and their smiles lifted us all as we grouped together at the base of the mountain.A few hundred metres down the road and we crossed the finish line - with a cheer we passed under the banner, got our headbands and our well deserved adult beverage, and toasted to a fantastic day of comradery and triumph. 

I learnt a lot of things on that day; about teamwork, motivation, about never under estimating a single person on your team - I could not have completed that course without the people around me - our strength as a team was far greater than the sum of our parts, a lesson we will all take away from that day.

I want to thank everyone on my team, and urge you all to seek out and congratulate these fine examples of ELMOnians - my Tuffmonians! I for one am excited to tackle my next challenge, and I know who I'm taking with me!