Press Releases

Sunday River’s Tough Mountain Challenge Attracts Thousands

Newry, Maine—In 2010, nearly 200 racers competed in Sunday River’s first-ever obstacle adventure race duly named the Tough Mountain Challenge. The following summer, the number of participants grew to 1,000 and this past July, 2,500 racers competed in what has now become one of the resorts most popular annual events.

“Hands down, the Tough Mountain Challenge is the single biggest event that Sunday River hosts during the summer and it’s grown over twelve hundred percent since 2010,” Caroline Ochtera, Events and Marketing Manager, says. “The Challenge now brings in more people than our internationally recognized North American Wife Carrying Championship, which takes place in the fall.”

Marketed as a five kilometer obstacle race, the Tough Mountain Challenge promises its racers two things. First and foremost, the course will be tough, but perhaps more importantly, you will have fun.

Unlike nationally recognized mud races, the Tough Mountain Challenge does not threaten death or even electrocution. If anything, this year’s shotgun beer obstacle station was evidence enough that the Tough Mountain Challenge is more about having a good time.  

To keep interest in the Tough Mountain Challenge, Sunday River announces a new course each year filled with new and old obstacles. Past obstacles that have remained throughout the duration of the event include barbed wire mud pit crawls, uphill sprints, and a pond crossing. Sunday River also uses the horsepower of its winter snowguns to blast racers with water along the way, as well as features from its winter terrain parks and steep mountain topography to slow racers down.

For the 2012 Tough Mountain Challenge, a new obstacle named “WTF” was added to the course and featured a grueling uphill climb that measured just under two-tenths of a mile. According to the 2,000-plus racers surveyed after the race, WTF was deemed the worst obstacle of the race and the single best obstacle of the event all rolled into one.

Though event coordinators have not yet settled on next year’s course, the 2013 Tough Mountain Challenge is scheduled for Saturday, July 20. Registration is expected to go live by August 15, 2012.

“Given the feedback from this year’s event, we definitely plan to cap registration at 3,000 racers,” Ochtera says.

For more information on Sunday River’s Tough Mountain Challenge, including video and pictures from past events, visit www.toughmountain.com. For media b-roll and high-resolution images, visit http://www.sundayriver.com/Corporate/Media/Video_BRoll.html.

About Sunday River—Sunday River is located minutes from picturesque Bethel Village in western Maine’s Mahoosuc Mountains. A true four-season destination, the Sunday River offers eight interconnected peaks of world class skiing and snowboarding, two Grand Resort Hotels and golf at the acclaimed Sunday River Golf Club. Sunday River is a member of the Boyne Resorts family of resorts and attractions.

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