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Tough Mudder Va coming to Meadow Event Park

Posted at 12:18 AM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 00:26:03-04

DOSWELL, Va. -- Meadow Event Park in Doswell will host this year's Tough Mudder Virginia event this weekend which will include the Tough Mudder X World Championship on Friday.

This brings together some of the best elite fitness athletes from around the world to Central Virginia. Nearly 100 athletes will compete in Friday's World Championship including defending champions Corinna Coffin and Hunter McIntyre.

Friday's event is called the Toughest Mile On The Damn Planet and the competition pits the world’s elite athletes against a one-mile course built to put speed, agility, and strength to the test with world-class obstacles and challenging workouts.

There are 10 obstacles and 10 workout stations along the mile course, functional fitness stations like pullups, squats and wall balls, then sprinting to an obstacle.

While many of these athletes have tackled this type of course many times, one of the competitors will be doing it for the first time.

U.S. Army Captain Jordan Dix is a Richmond native and a 2009 graduate of James River High School. He is on home for a 2 week leave and heard about Friday's event. His training with the Army Rangers led him to believe this is something he could do, and do well.

But Dix missed the two qualifiers for this championship, and lobbied the event organizers to include him.

"I told them I'm a Richmond kid, you need a hometown guy in the competition," Dix recalled. "They invited me to come."

"I think the military is good at making you push in limited conditions," Dix continued. "Obstacles obviously are in the military. Some will be similar, some will be very different."

Dix wrestled in college for The Citadel, and has completed not only Army Ranger training but an Iron Man triathlon as well. He has spent the last few days training at Elkins Sports Performance in Henrico with the express purpose of winning the title.

"I think if you're trying to win, it shouldn't be fun," Dix said. "If you're giving your best and you're trying to win, you're going to be tired."

The winner gets $25,000 and the title of best athlete on the planet. At least for a year.