5 January 2018

The Mark Zuckerberg of Extreme Sports

Will Dean, CEO of Tough Mudder

Will Dean is the founder and CEO of Tough Mudder, the world’s most successful endurance event. Will first came up with the idea for the race while studying for an MBA at Harvard, and despite the protestations of his professors, he decided to put his dream to the test. He’d hoped to get 500 participants to his first ever event — in the end, he got more than 5000.

In just the seven short years since, Tough Mudder has gone from strength to strength, and today has put more than 2 million people through their paces at 150 events worldwide.

In this episode, Will tells us how close he came to tear gassing his participants, why he imported mud into the desert, and how his flash of inspiration came at the hands of an ill-fitting wetsuit.

This episode has been recorded at Mark's Club,read by Joseph Bullmore and produced by Martin Lumsden.

31 August 2023

“Winning is addictive — but I hope not to experience a year like 2021 again anytime soon…”

Christian Horner, Team Principal of the Red Bull Formula One team

Listen Now
14 March 2024

Is this the end of the chunky sports watch?

Justin Hast, Watch Editor-at-Large

Listen Now
12 March 2024

Cruising the savanna with Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Rory Smith, Motoring Editor-at-Large

Listen Now