LOL, 14 is absolutely marvelous :))

Thanks for the pictures - stunning as usual!

never heard of this but looks intense. nice post!

Cool :)

#14 that picture is so nasty! barf; put some clothes on!

#16 simply seems to hurt

That looks like a day at the office when their is free cake. No really looking at these makes me want to crawl into a corner and cry.

The last picture is awesome

Wow @ 14....

#14... WTF?

LMAO 'alpha male' 14, great pix

who the hell does that!?

Love 14's Mankini, the fella's a nutjob.

Big Picture is quickly transitioning from a site of incredible photographs to a site of silliness.

What's next - high resolution photos of a Hot Dog Eating Contest?

I 2nd the request for a hot dog eating contest series. That would rock.

#4, fourth person in line... that's a tough GUY ?!

#14 made me throw up in my mouth a little...

@Phil: Tougher than you, I bet! :)

Great photos!

Wonderful photos !!!!
They're great !!!!

As in the news, Big Picture is going to have good weeks and bad, depending on whats going on in the world. Besides, is content all you care about? I'm looking at things like composition and methods used in the photos. Thanks for excellent quality images Alan.

#14... Borat!

The water was so cold you could cut glass with my nipples!
It is an excellent challenge and the team spirit is wicked ...
Bring on 2010

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Challenge is coming up July 4th. I'm absolutely sure that there would be the potential for great photography!

I like that this blog shows photos from all disciplines -- "serious" photojournalism that touches you (anything from the various war zones that have come aross), science that amazes you (Hubble Advent calendar), artsy stuff that blows your mind, and exposure to cultures and places you'd probably never see (Ice festival, North Korea).

#14 - that guy is hilarious but I definitely can't see his outfit being practical. This event does not look fun at all. Also I wish there were some close up photos included of the women who participated.

If the prize is a date w/u
I'm down

Borat!!! lol!!!!

#14 is the symbolic winner, IMHO.

#14 Is this how an internet trolling will look like if done in real world?

I figured out the pattern for captioning here.

"Obvious or non-descriptive statement....during the Tough Guy Challenge 2009 at South Perton Farm on February 1, 2009 in Wolverhampton, England."

Cool pictures

the guy in #14 is a real tough guy......

Axis of Evil beware.....this is what we do for fun. You do not want to see what we'll do when we're pi$$ed!

#14 looks like he lost a bet.

I agree Jeff. Unfortunately too many photojournalists are poor journalists. The athletes are wearing bib numbers and they could have been identified after the race. These captions add nothing to the pictures.

Lol did the guy in #14 win this challenge?

#14 should have one of those objectionable content warnings

Verry Verry Nice!!
I wish i could try this race once!!! xD

Ha ha ha c'est bien des rosbeef :)

I can't remember where, but there's a town in England that has a flaming barrel throwing competition - I would love to see the Big Picture cover that event!

Them are some crazy people!

Suggestion: I was watching some MMA cage fighting Sunday evening. I think there could be some good photo's from this sport.

number 14 is a legend, also my mate!! There was 3 of us that did it, only 2 finished! It was quite possibly the worst conditions ever! Also to the person that took the pics, have you got any more photos of us in the borat costumes. The photos are top quality, and it would be nice to see if there are any other decent 1's. cheers

#15 There seems to be only one person crossing the road in an efficient manner. I wonder why everyone chose to wear tight spandex clothing when loose fitting durable clothing would have been safer in the water, in the mud and especially over the fire. Most of this stuff is trained to some degree to American and British fighting forces. I wonder how many ex-mil entered the contest.

There are guys and girls in this.

And I like number 14! ♥

Look at the grin on the guy in #12. "Woo Hoo Fire!!!" Priceless.

Also, the captioning could use a lot of work.

nice job

That must have been brutal! #14 came out with the legendary reverse-atomic wedgie!

number 14 needs one of those "WARNING: This photo contains questionable, shocking, and disturbing material. Click here to view." notices.

not that that would lower the amount of people gouging out their eyes right now.

Jeff, I agree this seems to be a little repetitive. You need to bear in mind that we photographers often take hundreds of images at such events, and are nowadays under great pressure to caption all images with a description and keywords. In order to make sense, most images hence will include the basic info in the description and since we cannot know which ones will be selected by the editors, this info needs to go into each file/image.

so yes - you did figure out the pattern for captioning here. Give yourself a pad on the back :)

@James, these images were clearly taken by Getty Images. If you want to see all of the images from the event, just go to their website-it's open to the public for browsing!

I rememered ESPN covered this thing a few years back. They put together a video of it, and a pretty good description of each of the insane parts of the course. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=toughguy2007

coooooool

I can do this before I have my morning coffee!!!!!!!!!

go borat! (#14)

Superb event... superb photography... but .. o dear. .like the tough guys.... but where r the beauties...

#14... Wow.... What was he thinking ;-)
Never heard of o Tough Guy Chalenge before....
#4 Looks like a lady decided to join in the Tough "Guy" Chalenge .... YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

First, I'd like to thank the owner of this pictureblog for yet another set of wonderful images. This is an event that few people have heard of before these images were published. I loved them; every single one, even #14.

Second; you people saying that #14 should have a "questionable content" banner. You seriously need to get in contact with the real world. The image is funny, the outfit is funny and the whole situation is funny. And the man even smiles; even though he probably freezes his nuts off :)

Third and not least; Those of you complaining that this event shouldn't be covered; Not for you to decide; it's for the blogowner, and I salute him for covering this event.

#14 Borat! When he was still a young lad ;)

I survied Tough Guy on Sunday. This years course was much longer and harder than last year and I came close to quitting a couple of times.
IMO everyone should have a go - finishing gives you a huge sense of acheivement.

where are the photos of the girls! we were there! lots of men do this - need more women - the guys are great and very kind if you get stuck - but the course is ok really - the cold is the hardest bit! the summer one must be lovely in comparison ...although there are the nettles??

Chris, the town you are thinking of is Ottery St Mary, Devon.

They don't throw the barrels, they run through the crowd with them on their backs.

Absolutely Stunning Event. Nice Post

There were a lot of fine looking ladies there as well - most finished ahead of me.

Let me just say that the guy in #14 didn't look so good when he was going over the top of the A frames and you were a few places below him!

NEVER again.

uhhh.....really hot and i never seen before

thx.

how v.impressive - these are a bunch of nutters - very well done (I'm jealous really) - fabbo photography.

Heh. #14 is priceless.
Hurray for movie references!

I did this on Sunday...the pictures dont actually do justice to how cold it was, especially when in and underv the water (and there is lots of it)!! Lots of people ended up in hospital with hypothermia this year. You guys should come on over next year and get stuck in. Last year a team from the US Air Commandos entered. You finished 44th in the team event which aint bad although it was wont by an english bricklayer which dont say much for your Air Commandos ha ha! Only joking. I actually spoke to a guy from Boston who had come over just for the event.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4427930/Tough-Guys-take-part-in-ultimate-endurance-test.html

Ditto Christian, couldn’t have put it better myself. I have a few friends who do this each year. I’m hopping to give it a go next year, it looks like great fun :o)

As for number 14, mad, brave and he has the body for a mankini ;o)

Yeah... where are the Beuties... I did this event and there were loads of them (and they were all stunning). Kept me going round the course.

Not for the faint hearted though, but great atmosphere and no one was in competition with each other (a massive team event).

Bring on 2010 (as well as the summer one)!!!

I took part with my friend... we were dressed as bumblebee and ladybug... are there any photos of us by any chance? I know we got interviewed at the start by a journalist for a US extreme sport program (?).

I heard that only 250 girls took part... out of 5000!!!!

#17... Whitgift shirt... one of my school's team (not sure if teacher or pupil though!) We took 50 people - 3 girls and the rest a mix of boys and men!!!

Great photos of jerks and jocks, join the Army if you really want to be tough

People will always find something to moan about, won't they?

Great set of images, and great spirit from everyone taking part. I love random events like this - I've managed the World Bog Snorkelling Championships but this looks many times tougher!

# 14 is hilarious. To all who are so offended by # 14's uniform, get over it!

Am still in shock (tuesday after) having watched husband and 16 year old son put themselves through tough guy. One of worst and most uplifting experiences of my life as a mother so far....absolutely amazing event. Total admiration.

wow ...its really amazing guys....coooooooool

I took part in this with my father. (pictured in orange in picture 17.)

Toughest thing i could ever do.

Amazing feeling when you get that medal.

The sharpness in many of these photos and the depth of fields are incredible.

I love this website!!!

CPL Beenthere, you forgot Canadian Forces...I think every single person who goes through basic training has to brave the rope crawl (even the officers, so it can't be that tough eh?). It is funny to look at that picture and go "hey, he knows what he's doing".

#18 is an excellent photograph, and I think reflects on the whole spirit of the event. I'm really hoping that my husband and I can do this, but we're a little confused as to how we can train for this. :)

@Christian

I think YOU need to get in touch with the real world bud, im pretty sure everyone who mentioned that was joking.

but good comments and pictures this time around.

Re the request for more pictures of girls. Check the results, most are not "DUMB" enough to take it on, it should really be called DUMB GUY. What the pictures don't give a sense of is how cold it is/was/will be. Often only just above freezing, sometimes below.

Big-up all those who do the race but don't think its just about fire, muddy water etc. the cold can be the biggest challenge. Oh, and just in case you thought you could slope off to the changing room afterwards for a nice warm shower, unless things have radically changed there is no changing room and just a cold water hose...

wow. Thanks for the pictures - stunning

To the #14 bashers:
It's cold out.
Wet clothing likely saps more heat from other racers than his lack-of-wet-clothing.
Quite frankly, he could very well be the smart one. A different swimsuit (ie, typical speedo?) would have been less laugh-worthy, certainly, but would also have been significantly less secure, and more likely to slip off.

#14.... dude... seriously.

It doesn't even look comfortable.

I think the dude in #14 looks hot. And he should be commended for taking such a risk. Stop the hateration.

WHY?

In answer to the question 'why?' I can only answer for myself [I feature in photo 14 and this was my 6th winter TG]....its one day a year to get back to taking risks [and taking responsibility for those risks], facing up to some of my fears, and pushing myself physically and mentally beyond that required for the other 364 days of the year. I have never seen photos which present the event as well as these do. The cold, the pain; but most of all the laughs all the way round! They are excellent!

Laughing so hard at photo 14. I referenced the wrong photo in my previous comment - I am in No. 13 not 14 - that guy is a nut case!

#18 is fantastic

Great photos. I would expect women would do better than men on the whole in this event; more body fat and therefore they stay warmer and have more endurance. Just hanging in there looks like the hardest part! Congrats to everyone who participated.

Looks like fun. From reading some of the comments, it sounds like it was a lot colder than it appears in the photos, of course, it's snows here every few days. The guy in the Borat suit deserves credit for pulling that off. Funny stuff. Well done for a good cause.

This is great stuff and great pictures, #14 is a winner in my book! He has a great physique for sharing and is too dumb and motivated to care about scars and burns! Whee!

Tough Guy Challenge? Never heard of it?!

Bandwidth...A terrible thing to waste.

So many fantastic photos that deserve a place here and nonsense like this is featured.

So folks, this one doesn't make the cut.

14... Borat mets Peter from Heroes

wimps

Did anyone need proof that men are complete idiots? Here it is...

All the comments on 14, well he doesn't have 20 lbs of mud clinging to clothes or wet cold clothes flapping against him. The fire propably warmed him nicely. The effort kept him warm enough and not overheating. The easy through water much easier than wearing long pants and tops. Not likely to fall off. With long wet pants it is pull them up or belt them enough to cut off circulation. And finally he probably wasn't crowded by other participants.

I did this on Sunday, and the cold is by far the hardest part to endure. Plenty of very pleasant running and gridders up and down hills to warm the muscles then freezing cold water for miles to completely lock your muscles solid and floor you with cramp! Very nails and fairplay to all the ladies dragging themselves around, all about grit, not just fitness.
I remember everyone cheering early on when "borat" and his ginger (as you would expect) mate hauled themselves over the first a-frame for a big cheer, and they were shivering by that point! This is a global event with thousands of spectators and competitors. Perfect example of British grit...thats why we're tougher than U.

#14 is funny...i hope people are looking at the other pics as welll. ;o) I find #13 the hardest one...

I ran this last year. Absolutely loved it! Here is my pic: http://flickr.com/photos/alastairhumphreys/2625343319/

@Robert
I'm sure you typed something interesting and relevant, but all I could make out was 'whinge whinge moan moan...these guys and girls make remind me what a couch potato I really am etc etc...'
Lots of things make the world go round buddy. This race is testament to human spirit, and is all for charity. The winners don't receive any cash - just pride in making it round.
Love and peace
Ever smiling
Ashley no.1259 TG09

I entered TG 2009 ( And heve done three in a row previous to that) and with out a doubt this was the hardest one ive entered so far!! The water was absaloutly Howling!!! Plus running round in a lycra skin tight spiderman costume with no holes to breath through made it that little bit Sweeter, LOL!

I love it! like i said ive entered four in a row now and they just keep getting better & harder every year, cant wait till TG 10. Come on US of A get your asses over here and get stuck in, you will love it!

great pics of a great race...i finished the race on sunday...it was my second race after 2008...much harder and colder this year...

greetings from germany

what the....?

Excellent I look forward to seeing more, just a shame there are not a few more pics of all the girls that took part, there were plenty of us out there doing just as well as the guys!!

Good Lord. . and I thought I was disciplined to go to exercise class 3x a week

Greetings from Washington DC!
These are fantastic, but you folks are c w a z y ! ! ! (oh well, it's for a great cause tho...) As far as #14, I'll bet he cleans up very nice thank you -

Umm basic training anyone...

they should do with with hot girlsz

The "barrel-throwing" event may be Guy Fawkes day in Lewes, West Sussex. Burning barrels are thrown into the local river.

Traditionally, a burning barrel race was held in the main street. This is banned, but sometimes still happens.

Completely anarchic fun!

Am in love with number 1. Can we get a roster please? 1443 lol

I understand #14's need for the smallest risk of catching fire, or wet. But I guess he might as well be nude… and it should be fine for him to be nude! It is a human body, not a sexual machine. People who see sex machines instead of human bodies are the ones hurting our society, IMHO.

HOT!!

2,7,9,10 pictures are very chalenging

IMPRESIONANTE

your photos are great, keep em coming whoever took these!!!

How do I sign up?!

what a fantastic day out. im picture 17 and let me tell you it was as hard as it looked,having only competed in summer toughguy,this was a real shock to the system.

sorry. picture 19 is me.n humphries

LOL I live in wolverhampton. I had no idea this went on.

Beautiful photography!

Awesome capture of some facial and whole body shots! But, some captions could have been written better, it does not appeal to me in a sense of understanding the whole picture per say what is going on inside their minds and what we physically see in their actions. The challenge defys some other ones in terms of individuals don't concern on how dirtier and painful courses could get but the matter of finishing it, a sense of self accomplishment. Now' that's a trip away from the US, staying local for now :-)

How long is this endurance race? It doesn't say about the distance of the course?

This looks like a true test of how far u can push ur body i would love to do that course

so funny games
i wanna try next game
wonderful

wow~~~super man!!!!!!

It's somewhere between 8-9 miles. The first 6 is a cross-country race, with a few obstacles. The bulk come in the last few miles. I'm from Omaha and ran it for the first time on Sunday, definitely the toughest thing I've ever done. The temps are normally in the 40s during this time of year. This year it started in low 30s with blowing wind and kept dropping, started snowing after wards, leading into England's worst snowstorm in 20 years, go figure. The water obstacles are the worst, people were dropping like flies due to hypothermia. It's mind over matter, just have to tell yourself to keep going. They had 10 ambulances making continuous trips to local hospitals. Definiately doing this race again next year,

My cousin did it and finished,what a hellish event very gutsy .Got cold,muddy,and second hand smoke from this event.Coming from across the ocean living in the tropics cheers to those who did it!!!

# 18 Rocks!

The photos confirm the diagnosis. PK. Dallas, Tx.

Comment 45:

You must be :
1) American
2) Stupid
3) Christian

or "all of the above" (they usually go together)

My respect for EVERY SINGLE ONE of them!!!!

you must be nutz but ... *thumbs up*!!!!

this reminds me of an old joke.. 'this contest might be OK for mean, rough girls, but could never appeal to sophisticated, artistic, and sensitive boys."

I so want to do this competition. Once I get basic training done and two/four years of military, or, heck , I might convince the squad leader to bring us all while we're still in it....

#14 no longer lives at home because it's fun to stay at the YMCA.

Guys - LOOSEN UP about #14!

There most definitely should not be a "warning" for that. It's not like he has a testicle hanging out. It's hilarious, and shows that this is all about good fun in the end.

god help them

These pics are amazing! I think #14 has the best looking legs I have ever seen.

Anyone complaining about #14 is a repressed moron with no sense of humor and zero art for life. Screw them. They make the world go flat.

Commenter #128

Relax. The commenter you're complaining about was probably joking. And even if he wasn't my eyes are STILL burning from pic 14! Hilarious, though!

Yes, I'm a yank. But I'm not a xtian, and I CERTAINLY hope not stupid. Though there are more of them than I care to live near on this side of the pond.

14# = Man on borat's clothes! Ruled!

por la raza chacho!

"Go Borat!" was the best! I'm laughing a lot!

Why do they have to put "during the Tough Guy Challenge 2009 at South Perton Farm on February 1, 2009 in Wolverhampton, England" on every photo? It's in the title and once is enough. Can't it just be "emerging from icy water" instead of "A challenger emerges from icy water during the Tough Guy Challenge 2009 at South Perton Farm on February 1, 2009". These comments to the photos are so lame.

i think 14 is hot. great bod!

so shush those of you saying bad things about him.

and bravo to all of the competitors! I've never heard of this competition and it sounds interesting... and awesome to watch live.

i love it !!!

just a stupid waste of testosterone

Oh good, waste of testosterone, you say. I need to get rid of some, my tits are starting to shrink down.
(You're entitled to your opinion, I just like making bad jokes.)

I wish I remembered that this was happening. I had the day off!

that tuyet voi tat ca nhung nguoi tham gia cuoc thi nay deu la nhung nguoi phi thuong. :-j

nice !! amazing photos !!

Cool stuff ! Great sense of humour from the guy wearing a borat style swimming costume.

Run Forrest, Run!

#14 - man rox!!!

Amazing photos, wow

# 128

LOL and True and =)

É isso ai. Macho que é macho faz esse tipo de corria e não corre com um "amiguinho" sem camisa na beira da praia.

were good

#14....In the original Greek Olympics, all men compete naked!!!!! Bravo.

how old do you have to be to compete in this? cause im 16 and this looks awesome

hey just sayin this stuff looks intense and i would love to do it. i will have to see lol. thats a long distance to do that kinda thing.

Huy, ahora se usa mucho el metrosexual, el tipo que se está peinando y mirando en el espejo a cada rato....a mi me gustan estos tipos, más recios....menos mal que aún quedan!!!!!

My God Number 14 is so hot, i will be happy to take off his green suit. Amazing body. As some people say, if you have a good merchandise, well show it to everyone. Congratulation to Number 14, and again great body

no. 14 comes to my emotional rescue from the sorry haters who miss the whole point

Only respect to those crazy heroes!!!
Thanks for really exciting photographs!
Greetings from Ukraine.

Wow...and I thought washing my St. Bernard was a challenge.....

16 & 1 look like they HUUUUUURRT!!!
congrats to all who made it through!

how do u sign up for it i am goin to do it next yr but i dont no how to apply? any one help me mail me @ marcus_allen12@hotmail.com

how do u sign up for it i am goin to do it next yr but i dont no how to apply? any one help me mail me :) @ MonkeyBoy785@gmail.com

hello my name is alex zido from africa pls can i pertispect in the sport

i missed this due to pulled ligaments from fell running but know there is one in june . im 5ft 2" and 44 lbs . so dont say woman cannot do this !!!! the photo's only make me more determined to do it and enjoy .. so look out !!!! and the comment woman are not so dumb ! i say u try half of what i do !! growl jan fisher :O)

Wackkkkkkkk

Wow, great pictures. Looks brutal and exilerating at the same time. I think it takes a real man to wear what #14 was wearing. Kudos to him. If I had a body like that I"d be naked and showing it off all the time. Enjoy your youth and exuberance while you still have it because it doesn't last!

#14 picture outfit is really really tough, he is already a winner in the outfit division. He is SEXY too :)

Comment #128:

Congratulations. You are the winner of the "Most Ironic Comment on This Thread" award.

WOW this looks soo fun! how old do ya have to be to enter? Me and my friend are only 15 and cant wait to enter.. personally i think the best pictures are #2, 7 and 14!!

Some body's commonsense is other person's nonsense...............not for sissy's..............mind it...................wish i were there.............good show............love it

I did the winter event in 2005 and it was pretty tough (had to be treated for hypothermia), but it's not a "special forces" kind of course.

It's more a tongue-in-cheek event for charity, even the name gives it away "Tough Guy" (!). It's not easy though...

Incidentally, they have a Summer event called Nettle Warrior, which involved crawling through fields of nettles. Not pleasant.

Wow, that has to be hard. My dad has always said that a little suffering is good for you, and boy did he try to prove it to me. he sais its not a matter of weather you have pain or not, its how well u can deal with it. God knows iv rode up plenty of mountains, rode in lots of deserts, and have eaten dirt as well. but this race is plain cruel! Im goona try and get him to do it. I will show him suffering! Thats right 95, this American girl is on her way to show you up! I do dirt bike, track, mountain bikes, hiking, ect!! not to mention i can uphold a fantastic hair doo! And oh ya, im only in 7th grade!

Umm... In my opinion #14 is not only physically Tough "ANd F&CKEN HOT!!!"

But he also proves he has a TOUGH emotional skin of STEEL!

He can run through fire and blaze through peoples laughs...

He's my hero : )

hehehehehe, mas q putaria loca isso ai

The pics are really awesome and I find myself wondering what the photog went through to get them. What they depict is a little disturbing though. But that's not a judgment, just a reaction. Who knows what they were thinking - maybe it's a fun time even though it sort of looks like a bunch of guys that miss their basic training so much they invented this. The one gal pictured above has pretty meaty gluts and hams... oh, the drive to be one of the guys must be very strong to go along with this.

"...A broken neck, a dozen broken or dislocated bones and 600 people struck down with hypothermia – including the winner – all meant it was business as usual in what’s been dubbed the world’s toughest endurance battle.

“It was non-stop trips, back and forth to the hospital. There were a lot of injuries, but there were no deaths this year. Overall, it’s been quite successful...."

“Everyone we’ve spoken to said they had a fantastic time, and will be back for the next Tough Guy challenge.”

After reading your link, I do judge this as questionable judgment.

I clicked on your helpful map link and found that this event is held on a farm outside of Birmingham. It sounds as if the event is derivative of the hooligan football culture endemic to English industrial cities, although dialed down to a more civilized level.

A taste of this culture from the Wiki article on hooliganism:

On 11 May 1985 a 14-year-old boy died at St Andrews stadium when fans were pushed onto a wall by Police which subsequently collapsed following crowd violence at a match between Birmingham City and Leeds United....Because of the other events in 1986 and the growing rise in football hooliganism during the early 1980s, an interim report from the committee stated that "football may not be able to continue in its present form much longer" unless hooliganism was reduced, perhaps by excluding "away" fans.

Despite hooliganism declining domestically, death threats by English hooligans have become more common in the 2000s.... It has been documented that most English hooligans are in their late teens or early twenties, although it is not uncommon for older hooligans to take part, usually as leaders. They usually come from working class backgrounds, mainly employed in manual or lower clerical occupations, or (to a lesser extent) are working in the grey market or are unemployed.

I completed this race back in Jan 2005. Three of my friends and I traveled to the race from Miami, Florida. What a rush! Fantastic race and a unbelievable group of people we met at the race. As for the statement in #178, if you dont understand why we enjoyed the race, you never will. It takes a specific personality, however questionable, that quite frankly I am happy I have and dont wish to change.

14 is awsome! It is only a human body not an alien or something so lighten up. =)

Wow, that is insane! Too bad they would never (legally) allow something like this in the U.S. I might try it even though I'm fat and crippled in one foot.

Does anyone know who No 3 is?

They do have something like this in the US...called the Tough Mudder.

i feel bad