Our second, well deserved inductees into the Tough Mudder Hall of Fame are Miranda and Guy Richardson.
Most Mudders will have met these two out on a Tough Mudder course in the UK over the years. They are two of the longest standing volunteers Tough Mudder has seen and were the first two people to achieve 100 volunteer shifts globally.
Known to many as the Ice Queen and King, and easily spotted by their infamous orange cargo trousers, if you have been to a UK Tough Mudder event, it’s likely you will have met both of them, cheering you through Arctic Enema, a favourite of theirs to volunteer on. They always bring a smile, plenty of hugs, and the Tough Mudder spirit as well as the occasional lost radio in the bottom of the water filled skip, but we’ll let them off for that.
Here is what Miranda had to say about Tough Mudder and their place in the Hall of Fame.
WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN TOUGH MUDDER IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Guy did an event with some friends back in 2013 at Kettering (the one with 4 seasons worth of weather in one day). He said he’d like to do another one so I looked into how to get the best cost and found the volunteering portal, so booked us into Winchester Matterley Bowl and off we headed.
WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK?
At the time it was the love and passion from the Volunteer Manager, Paul Simcox who has become a fabulous life long friend that put every drop of mudder love into us. It was such a buzz to feel we had helped so many people achieve something, and watching them pushing beyond all limits is always a humbling experience.
WHAT DID WINNING A PLACE IN THE TOUGH MUDDER HALL OF FAME MEAN TO YOU?
We were absolutely gobsmacked, we knew nothing of the new Hall of Fame award. We had tuned in to watch the community awards as being previous winners, it’s always great to see friends who have also helped make great strides in the community. For us to be recognised in this way was wonderful. We were the first regular volunteers who went to every event, we would set up the volunteer tent on the Friday, help to pack the MVP bags and be there until close of play Sunday, EVERY EVENT. The MVP programme grew because people saw what we were doing, wanted to be a part of the experience, the Mudders loved to see us; a friendly face from an event they’d been at before.
IT’S CLEAR THAT YOU’VE HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON THE TOUGH MUDDER COMMUNITY, BUT WHAT IMPACT HAS THE COMMUNITY HAD ON YOU?
It became a way of life, a something we were so incredibly proud to be part of, we committed to Tough Mudder with every bone (and skin with our tattoos) that we have, we have made friendships that will last lifetimes and we have lost a friend who changed how we look at others mental health – we always have peoples interests first but losing a friend to suicide changes you – we will always be thankful to Tough Mudder for what you have created, if you hadn’t done it, then life would be a little be emptier.
One of the things that kept Miranda and Guy coming back was the buzz from helping people achieve their goals and get through the Tough Mudder obstacles. Whilst we aren’t able to do they physically right now, if you’d like to still achieve that sense of helping the community why not check out our #HelpAHundred project and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
