Canadian ultrarunner Ryan Atkins took dwelling a outstanding $32,000 prize for taking second place at the first-ever Tough Mudder Infinity AlUla (impediment course race) occasion in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, held on Feb. 24. The occasion made waves with an astounding complete prize purse of $480,000 USD, with a number of path runners claiming prime spots. Atkins, who has been a standout impediment course racer for greater than a decade, has cited his potential to run lengthy distances, mixed with energy, as aiding him in his podium OCR finishes—he was an ultrarunner and path racer earlier than he added OCR competitions to his spectacular athletic resume.
While OCRs usually characteristic a lot larger prize purses than path or ultrarunning occasions (the place races often supply minimal, if any, monetary incentives), the Saudi Arabia occasion was nonetheless a high-paying exception to the norm.
Obstacle course racing fundamentals
Imagine combining the joys of path operating with a collection of difficult bodily obstacles, and you’ve got impediment course racing (OCR). Courses could also be set by distance or time, and have obstacles like rope climbs, mud pits, wall climbs and monkey bars, to check not solely your operating stamina mixed with energy, agility, and problem-solving abilities. The Tough Mudder Infinity AlUla occasion introduced athletes from 40 completely different nations collectively on a demanding 10K course that featured 20 obstacles per lap—rivals needed to full as many circuits as potential inside an eight-hour timeframe.
Atkins’s endurance-based background
Atkins, who grew up in Ottawa, has a large background in high-level sports activities that features being a world unicycle champion in addition to a World Cup mountain bike racer. He caught the ultradistance bug when a pal invited him on an 80K path jaunt whereas on a visit to Killarney, Ireland. “It was my introduction to extremely operating and it completely kicked my ass,” Atkins later informed Impact Magazine. “I beloved the problem and it immersed me into operating at a time when OCR began changing into extra prevalent,” he says.
Atkins touts operating as serving to undertaking him to stardom as a champion impediment course racer; he has received the World’s Toughest Mudder quite a few occasions (a 24-hour impediment course race that features 160K of mountain operating) and has additionally been topped OCR World Champion. Ultrarunning has seen Atkins take quite a lot of podiums, and in 2023 he claimed sixth place at the notoriously aggressive Canyons Endurance Run by UTMB in California, and fifth in the equally deep area of the Bandera 100K held in Bandera, Texas.
A detailed second-place end for Atkins
In the lads’s competitors at the Tough Mudder Infinity AlUla, the highlight was on Atkins and his long-time OCR rival, the U.Okay.’s Jonathan Albon, who can be an achieved sky runner and claimed gold at the Skyrunning World Championships in 2018. Albon’s win noticed him conquering 100 kilometers and securing the highest prize of $80,000. Hot on his heels, Atkins coated the identical distance and pocketed $32,000 for his efficiency.
“Yesterday I competed in the Tough Mudder Infinity in AlUla. Pretty proud of how I ran—100K in simply over 8 hours,” Atkins posted on social media after the occasion. “Big kudos to the organizers who placed on an incredible occasion. First time to Saudi Arabia. It was good to run across the desert and commiserate with a bunch of like-minded fantastic individuals.”