DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — This Tough Mudder will bring a tear to your eye.
This year's obstacle course-style races will add tear gas, trapeze swings, water-filled compression sacks and a mud-filled tunnel — all designed to propel people out of their comfort zones, Tough Mudder officials announced Tuesday morning.
The new courses also ramp up Tough Mudder's existing challenges — electric wires competitors run through in the "Electroshock Therapy 2.0" obstacle have increased voltage, the freezing water tank in a challenge called "Arctic Enema" has an added fence to create a claustrophobic feeling and the popular "Everest" climb has increased in height.
The Downtown Brooklyn-based company which organizes events around the world also placed more of a focus on teamwork this year in obstacles like "Hold Your Wood 2.0" where participants are forced to carry a wooden log with others and "Beached Whale," which requires the formation of a human pyramid to scale a 12-foot-tall inflatable whale.
"The obstacle innovations we've made for 2015 will encourage participants to work together more than ever before," Nolan Kombol, Head of Innovation at Tough Mudder, said in a statement.
DNAinfo New York rounded up a list of the 2015 additions to Tough Mudder's obstacle courses:
Cry Baby
This obstacle forces participants to crawl through a tent filled with a tear gas-like substance. It is unclear what the concoction is made of but a man who tested out the new course, Austin Murphy, told Sports Illustrated that it invokes the "feeling of having Sriracha poured into every one of our tiny cuts and abrasions."
Shawshanked
Similiar to character Andy Dufresne's escape from prison in the movie "The Shawshank Redemption," athletes must crawl through a claustrophobic tunnel in this challenge. The light at the end of the tunnel comes with a drop into a muddy water pit.
Birth Canal
This challenge forces participants to crawl under heavy sacks filled with water. The sacks pin racers to the ground making them push back against them in order to squeeze through.
Beached Whale
Beached Whale is a 12-foot-tall, 18-foot-deep, 30-foot-wide inflatable whale that athletes must climb over. The challenge requires participants to form a human pyramid to scale it.
Balls Out
Participants use ropes to climb over an angled wall. On the other side of the wall they fall into the race's signature mud pit.
The Liberator
The Liberator is a mountaineering challenge where participants must climb a 10-foot wooden wall by placing wooden pegs into holes to propel themselves to the top.
The Hangover
The Hangover forces participants to come up with a plan to boost each other up over a 10-foot-tall overhang.
King of the Swingers
Participants jump off a ledge and have to grab a rope in order to not fall into a mud pit below. They then have to hold onto the rope long enough to ring a bell, signaling the end of the challenge.
For more information on Tough Mudder races or to sign up visit its website.
