Westbrook will once again host a Tough Mudder extreme obstacle course event this fall, the city announced Monday.
Registration has opened for the second Great Northeast event, which drew 13,000 athletes and spectators to Sunset Ridge Golf Links in August.
The golf course on Cumberland Street again will be the site of the weekend-long event, which will be held Sept. 26-27.
In addition to crawling through mud, dunking in ice water and climbing over walls, participants will encounter new obstacles, including a tunnel crawl through what is described as a tear gas-like substance.
The cost to participate on either Saturday or Sunday starts at $109 and will increase as the date approaches.
Last year, athletes from 37 states and five countries tried to complete the 11-mile, 20-obstacle course. About one-third were from Maine.
The event was expected to draw $5 million into the local economy.
William Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator and director of business and community relations, said he was “thrilled beyond words that they are coming back.”
He said it shows that Tough Mudder has “determined definitively that Westbrook is a superb and capable host for a world-class event.”
Jon Barker, event director for Tough Mudder, affirmed that, saying the company’s “strong partnership with the community of Westbrook was a key factor in the success of last year’s event.”
Two weeks after Westbrook hosted its first Tough Mudder last year, another of the company’s events, an obstacle course for women only called Mudderella, was moved to Sunset Ridge because of last-minute problems with its original site in Massachusetts.
Tough Mudder, founded in 2010, organized more than 60 events in seven countries last year. The company was conceived by a Harvard Business School student and is an early example of the for-profit races, fun runs and other sporting events that have rapidly grown in popularity.
The course is not meant to be a race, but a test of physical and mental strength. It is not timed. Most participants are part of a team and are responsible for making sure every member finishes.
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