Toughman 2013

While the events of the 2013 Toughman were the same as the 2012 Toughman, the competitors were quite different.

2013 Toughman Events

In 2012, we had 16 athletes compete over a 2 day period.

In 2013, we had 6 compete in under an hour.

Why the difference?

I wanted the event to be more competitive.

How can it be more competitive with less people?

I did not allow anyone who missed Toughman sessions to participate.

The result ...

The average finish time in 2012 was 3:31 (3 minutes 31 seconds)

The average finish time in 2013 was 3:05 (3 minutes 5 seconds)

Enough said.

And now for what you really care about ...

BRONZE METAL: Joe Sarno

In his ROOKIE debut, Joe made his mark by finishing 3rd in the Toughman with a time of 2:50. 

This is the fastest recorded time for an incoming college freshman. (The previous best was held by Ryan Smith, who finished in 2:51 seconds in 2012).

Joe Sarno 

Unless Joe decides that chasing girls and going to clubs is more important then football (like 99% of his buddies will), he will dominate future Toughman events.

SILVER METAL: Arthur Kuyan

In 2011, Arthur Kuyan finished 12th.

In 2012, he finished 3rd.

In 2013, he finished 2nd.

Most normal people would be happy with this progress.

Arthur Kuyan 

Kuyan is not normal.

Having already won "Challenge" and the "Power-Point" title in 2013, he was looking to be the first Advanced Training Athlete to ever win the Triple Crown. 

(The Triple Crown is when one wins "Challenge", "Power-Points", and the "Toughman" in the same year.)

Unfortunately for Kuyan, this did not happen.

While finishing in 2:40 was impressive, it was not good enough to put him in first place.

In my humble opinion, I believe he would have finished with a much better score, had his arch-rival, Ryan Smith, not dominated the event immediately before it was his turn to compete.

Again, in my humble opinion, I believe Kuyan saw Smith's time and tried to rush through the event - leaving him exhausted by the time he got to the last movement (sliders).

As we all learned the hard way, you will have mother's problems if you start out going slow on the sliders.

GOLD METAL: Ryan Smith

As I alluded to in the previous section, Ryan Smith dominated the Toughman Event.

He finished in 2:17, putting his next closest competitor 23 seconds behind him.

2013 Toughman Champ - Ryan Smith

To say Ryan has a chip on his shoulder would be as big of an understatement as saying I am mildly perturbed waiting on line for food at a buffet on cheat day.

First off, Ryan still believes I "sand-bagged" him in the 2012 Toughman Event by making him test on the first day - which was much hotter and more humid than the second day.

Secondly, he is still feeling the sting of losing to Kuyan in a head to head battle for the Challenge title.

Third, not one of his peers voted that he would come in first during this year's event pre-Toughman ranking.
The one vote you see on the link HERE was actually Ryan voting for himself.

Rather than quit, Ryan channeled his energy into proving the world wrong and taking home the title.

As you watch the highlight video posted at the end of this article, take notice that he never really slows down in any event. Even his pace on the sliders was insane.

Purple Heart: Tom Galli

Normally this section is reserved for someone who did not win, but gave it a valiant effort against all the odds.

While this is certainly the case for Tom Galli in 2013, this is not why he is getting this award.

Sure, I can say he battled back from multiple shoulder dislocations and reconstructive surgery.

I can say he finished the event, despite having not been able to fully train until a few weeks ago.

I can say he fell down during the sled pull and got right back up without missing a beat.

I can say all of that, but I won't.

What I will say is that Tom had the strangest reaction ever to the fatigue of the Toughman.

While most people collapse, puke, or keel over, Tom simply sat looking into the woods with his back turned to us - Blair Witch style.

Tom Galli in The Blair Witch Project.

It was pretty creepy, but entertaining nonetheless.

Best Reaction to the Toughman Ever

All The Stats:

To see all the stats, CLICK HERE

The Highlight Video:

To see how it all went down, watch the video below.