Mudder Nation, meet the badass mother and her two daughters who took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at Tougher Mudder Missouri on October 14th. Peggy, 59, brought up bronze coming up just behind Jessie and Lindsey who brought home gold and silver. The three of them are giving a whole new meaning to one of our favorite phrases here at TMHQ: people who train for a Tough Mudder together, stay together. Touching, we know.
These 3 are obviously doing something right, they claimed the podium, after all. So we reached out to them for a little Q&A about their training, how they got into Tough Mudders, and how they handle being training partners and family.
TMHQ: First things first, Congratulations on the win, Mudders. How did it feel to own the podium and hear us exclaim, ‘The three winners are two sisters and their mother’?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: First we should clarify that Jessie and Lindsey have been best friends since high school, but we always say that Peggy adopted Lindsey as her daughter because we great up together and the three of us have always been super active and enjoy the same things, which makes the 3 of us best training partners. We are one happy extended family of Mudders.
TMHQ: That’s pretty special. Did you do your first event together, or was one of you “the guinea pig” so to speak? How long has each of you been doing Tough Mudder events?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: We had been running marathons and other road races together for a while, but we were looking for something more exciting. Fast forward to 2011 when Peggy’s sister Barb suggested this new crazy looking event: Tough Mudder. We were all kind of the “guinea pigs” to speak since Tough Mudder was still so new and raw. After the first one, Jessie and Lindsey were hooked and got a season pass while Peggy said she was ‘retiring.’ Jessie and Lindsey didn’t buy it. And luckily, Peggy came out of retirement in 2015 and has done every venue with us since then.
TMHQ: How many events have you each done?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: Jessie and Lindsey have done 55 regular mudders (78 laps), 3 WTM’s, 1 Toughest and 1 Tougher. Peggy has done 19 Mudders, 1 Toughest, 1 Tougher, Volunteered 15 times and pitted for WTM 3 times.
TMHQ: Was Tough Mudder Missouri the most memorable? Or is there another event that stands out in your memory?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: We have traveled all over the US for the events and have enjoyed Colorado, Nashville and other cities. So we have several TM’s that stick out in our mind for various reasons.
We all enjoy Wisconsin because that’s where our crazy adventure began and that’s where Jessie and Lindsey celebrated their 50th. Plus, we have been able to bring several of our friends to experience their first or second mudder there.
However, Missouri Tough Mudders have always been special because we have met some of the most amazing people that we still stay in contact with. In 2014, Jessie and Lindsey met 2 other women who were running for their first time and decided to stick together and finish together. We have since stayed in contact and met up with our friends EVERY YEAR. Plus, last year we all met a women from AZ who was in town visiting her family. She came up to us at Panera Bread and was asking a lot of questions about obstacle racing and Tough Mudders and couldn’t believe we would do such a thing. She was telling us how she would love to eventually try something like that, when we gave her an invite. We asked this stranger (half joking) if we had a discount code, if she would like to join us on Sunday. We exchanged numbers and after about 30 minutes, she texted us and said she actually signed up! The next day a complete stranger got in our car at the hotel and ran her first TM with us. She was beyond grateful for the experience and like many people we have met through TM, we still exchange emails and stay in touch.
But, Missouri was our first Tougher event and it was definitely memorable having all three of us place together.
TMHQ: When you 3 crossed the finish line at TM Missouri, how did it feel? What made it so memorable? Do you always run all the events together? Or do you ever separate on the course?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: We run all the events together so Tougher Missouri was definitely different. We said from the beginning to go out and run our own race just to see how we fair and what we can do by ourselves. We all get so use to helping others that it’s sometimes hard to see how far we have come individually. Jessie and Lindsey took off from the beginning and there was no looking back. Even though they said they wouldn’t run together, Lindsey set the pace and Jessie made up ground on the obstacles. They each played to their strengths and finished close together. Peggy on the other hand had her work cut out for her while she continued to go back and forth between 3rd and 4th. The whole time Jessie and Lindsey were looking behind them wondering where Peggy was and how she was doing. After they finished, they imminently went back to get Peggy. Sure enough, she pushed through and conquered all the obstacles to place 3rd. We all joke saying Jessie and Lindsey ran hard so they didn’t get passed by their mom. Peggy says she was just trying to keep up with the girls because she know we had the car keys and she didn’t want to get left.
To be completely honest, crossing the finish line 1,2,3 was not only exciting but so surreal. Although it was a very memorable moment, the best part was hearing everyone talk about the 59 year old who placed 3rd in the Tougher wave. We couldn’t be happier for Peggy. She not only crushed the course without us, but she broke down the age barrier and showed everyone what a badass woman she really is.
TMHQ: Placing is a pretty awesome accomplishment. How do you train so that you can beast the course like you did? Tell us more about your training: How often do you train? What does your training look like? Give us the typical day of training for 3 podium finishers.
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: Lindsey and Jessie train 4-5 times a week for an average of 2 hours. Our training varies from trail running, intervals, hill repeats, lots of functional weights, ninja warrior training and of course as many obstacle races we can squeeze into our schedule. Plus, Lindsey is a personal trainer which means she has access to a fantastic gym with weights, bands, bars, ropes, rowers, etc.
Peggy however, does most of her training by herself on her farm. She gets creative with the things she has and figures out a way to make a killer workout. She has a pull up bar, large tractor tire for flipping and hitting, 5 gallon bucket of gravel she carries, bricks and other pieces of concrete she pushes, presses and lifts. As far as cardio, Peggy runs on her gravel road or uses her indoor bicycle. She only works out about 3 times during the week. But on the weekends we aren’t racing, Peggy will cross train with the girls in MN by going to a new park or trail, trying a ninja warrior class, rock climbing or doing late night rucks (This is after Peggy works a full 8 hour day and comes home and plays with her grandkids).
TMHQ: Rumor has it that Peggy not only trains on a farm without a gym… but also is a really badass pit crew member for Lindsey and Jessie. Jessie and Lindsey, what makes Peggy such a great pit crew member?
Peggy, Jessie, and Lindsey: If it wasn’t for Peggy (and her husband Mike), we wouldn’t get as many miles at WTM as we do. They are both there helping us set-up, take down and supporting us throughout. They easily put in 30 miles running around through the desert during the event. They make a point to hit ALL the obstacles not only cheer but take pictures and give moral support. They stay up for the entire time and don’t rest.
This year, they both made aprons with fun sayings and they would cram the pockets full of food and drink and met us at the front of the pit so we don’t have to stop for long periods of time. They are more than willing to help anyone and everyone that comes into the pit too. They are always cheering for other people and giving hugs to everyone that recognizes them. Peggy also does a lot of the dirty work and helps us get in and out of our wetsuits, even when we aren’t the nicest. She is so patient and knows how to deal with our melt downs and gets us right back on the course.
Without their amazing support, getting in as many miles at WTM would be more challenging. And this year Peggy became an incredible social media manager and learned how to post and update Facebook so people at home could follow our progress.