Week 28: diesdas.digital does Tough Mudder!
After a busy week we go on a trip and fight our way through mud. Lots of mud. Pics or it didn’t happen? We’ve got them!
Welcome to our 28th weekly recap! I am Harry, one of the founders of diesdas.digital, a fresh digital agency in Berlin. Usually my teammates and I sit behind desks, work on digital projects, move computer mice a few centimeters back and forth, look at screens all day and gently tap on keyboards.
This week however we got out of our comfort zone and Saturday was all about dirt, mud and scratches. 😵
Before we dive in (pun intended), we gotta take a quick look at the days leading up to this craze though. Those were spent as usual, in the office. We had tons of work to do, preparing a launch next week (sadly we can’t share more at this point), working on all ongoing projects … and catching all the Pokémon.
Pokémon Go really is rather addictive, bringing back a lot of childhood memories. Lars mostly scoffed at us, but Lorenz, Nicolás and I were pretty into it, planning our lunch breaks around hotspots in the game. At least one restaurant deliberately boosted the spot nearby, hoping players would come and stop for lunch there. Clever. 🤔
But stories from the office are probably not what you came here for and we were also counting the days until Saturday, when we would finally run the German version of Tough Mudder, a 19km long obstacle course. We had been planning to do this since February when Lars randomly stumbled upon the event and suggested to get tickets. Purely on a whim we all agreed, not giving it much thought back then.
However, when the date came closer we all freaked out a little. Lorenz ended up being the only one actually preparing his body for what was to come, going for runs in the morning already months earlier. Lars, Max and I just crossed our fingers. And then, on Friday afternoon we got in a car and drove to Celle in Lower-Saxony.
Arriving in the evening we got food, admired the beautiful old part of the town and then went to bed equally excited and scared. The next morning we got up at 6, had a small breakfast at 7, packed the car and off we went to our final destination.
What comes next are photos recorded by the GoPro that was strapped to my head … Lars had another one, but it got lost in one of the water obstacles. It might be recovered at some point … only time will tell. But mine survived the whole run including its 21 obstacles and we might make a short film out of it next week.
For now, here are some photos and screen grabs for a first impression.
The photo above was also the obstacle in which we lost the second camera, unfortunately. This was two thirds into the run and shortly after we recorded a little status update. Take a look:
And then, 19km later, we finally reached the finish line … I was barely able to run at this point, my legs hurting like crazy, but at the same time super relieved and happy that we all made it without any major injuries.
I liked many aspects of the whole spectacle, first and foremost that everyone treated it as a collective challenge and not a race. People across teams were helping each other out, pulling other runners over obstacles and showing great sportsmanship. People also got crazy with their costumes. And being out in the woods was super nice, running through these beautiful forests for hours. The crowd was rather diverse and not just the cliché male fitness studio audience you would probably expect. The event was well organized, you could skip obstacles if you didn’t feel safe and people were respectful and assisting at all times, creating a welcoming and playful atmosphere. 👍
After crossing the finish line we recorded these final words.
So yeah, that was that. A fun thing we’ll never do again! 😅
Next week we’ll be back at our desks, designing and coding. If you want to follow our adventures, you might want to subscribe to this blog or add us on social media: Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. We’d appreciate it, as well as any feedback! 😇
Alright then. Have a nice rest of the weekend / start of the week and see you around! I’ll get some rest now! 💩
