This octogenarian has just completed her third Tough Mudder – one of the most grueling endurance events in the world.
Mildred Wilson, 83, is the oldest person ever to complete the brutal course.
Tough Mudder is an endurance race filled with punishing obstacles such as a giant ice bath, a 60-foot watery trench under a steel fence, a dash through 10,000 volts of electricity and a 12-foot wooden ladder with giant rungs named the ‘Ladder to Hell’.
Mildred, a former vending machine company worker from Sikeston, Missouri, USA, said: “I knew last year I would do another as long as my health was good.
“It really didn’t require a decision. Last year when asked if I would do another, my answer was ‘at my age I don’t plan that far ahead but if I am still here and able I definitely will’.
“I didn’t really know I was the oldest to do a Tough Mudder until this year. It’s kind of an honor and everyone makes me feel special.”
On May 1, Mildred trudged through mud and obstacle courses for two-and-a-half hours to complete her third race.
Dubbed ‘Muddy Mildred’, she completed her first obstacle course shortly after her 80th birthday in 2019 after her son Danny, 48 also an active Tough Mudder, asked her if she wanted to do a local one.
While the run was paused in 2020 due to COVID-19, Mildred conquered the course for the second time when it returned on May 9, 2021.
Though she’s completed two other runs in the past, Mildred said this one was harder.
“I think this year was harder because Everest, that’s the vertical wall, was back,” she said.
“Scaling that wall is always difficult.
“There was a lot of mud to walk through, more than normal due to heavy rains on the previous days.”
Still, Mildred didn’t mind any of the obstacles she had to face.
She added: “Maybe carrying the sandbag was my least favorite, but I really didn’t mind any of the obstacles.
“I always enjoy Mudderhorn, a tall structure where you climb up a cargo net.”
Though she didn’t actively train for the run, Mildred leads an active lifestyle that helped her make it through.
Mildred said: “I walk two miles most days and play pickle ball three to four times-a- week for two to three hours at a time.
“That is a lot of exercise.”
Mildred was joined this year, as with every year, by her son.
“Danny was right with me!,” she said.
“He’s very protective and determined. I wasn’t getting hurt.
“I doubt he would be in favor of me doing a Tough Mudder without him and doing one with him is what makes it special.”
He was also the one to give her her ‘Muddy Mildred’ nickname.
She added: “I think Danny was the first to can me ‘Muddy Mildred’. I think it’s a fun nickname. I like it.”
This year, Mildred’s niece Maggie and Maggie’s husband John joined them as well.
“It was their first, we were all excited to finish the entire course,” she said.
“We had fun on the entire course.”
For this year’s race, Mildred was fundraising to install a water well in Africa for those who don’t have access to clean water.
“Danny’s youth group is raising money to have another clean water well dug in Africa and that is a project that touched my heart,” she said.
“I saw a video of the water holes some of the people have to get their water from and it’s heartbreaking. I just wanted to help, and Tough Mudder was a way to do that.
“I also wanted a way to honor and support my daughter in law, Tanya Wilson, who is battling pancreatic cancer.
“I wore her Team Tanya shirt under my wet suit.”
Mildred recommends anybody who’s interested in trying a Tough Mudder go for it, despite their age.
She said: “If an older person is in good physical health and has their doctor’s approval, I’d say ‘give it a try’.
“But not if your normal lifestyle is to not be active.
“They always tell us before the race that there is a no shame in bypassing an obstacle that we are not comfortable doing.”
Though she never plans that far ahead, Mildred hopes to complete another course next year.
She said: “Definitely yes I want to and to do another Tough Mudder next year if God continues to bless me with good health.”
