Scott Keneally first made a name for himself when, when Outside Magazine, in November 2012, published his cover story about the good, the bad and the ugly bosses of obstacle course racing. Today, he’s putting the finishing touches on a feature documentary he’s written and directed about this muddy, messy world.
By Gaël Couturier.
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MUD, MASOCHISM & MODERN LIFE
Gaël Couturier: First thing first: Have you been a long time fitness addict who then moved to obstacle races?
Scott Keneally: No, not at all. I’m a pain-averse couch potato, interrupted by brief, unsustained spells of snowboarding and mountain biking. To this day, I’ve done about 30 obstacle races, mostly Tough Mudders and Spartans, though I’ve been to England the past 4 winters for Tough Guy. Now I’m addicted. I love the community aspect and I love the spectacle.
Gaël Couturier: At the end of 2012, you wrote that 1.5 million people would enter 150 events in the USA. Melissa Rodriguez, a fitness industry analyst and personal trainer (obstacleraceworld.com) wrote that “in 2014, more than four million participated in an obstacle course race worldwide”. What are the figures now you think?
Scott Keneally: A recent Sport Business Journal article states that around 4.5 million Americans crossed a finish like caked in mud. Worldwide, they probably are around 6-7 millions. I don’t know how many events there were off the top of my head, but I believe the revenue was approaching a half-billion dollars.
Gaël Couturier: How have those obstacle-enhanced distance running races evolve in North America since the Outside article came out? Are Will Dean – CEO of Tough Mudder – and Joe De Sena – CEO of Spartan Races – the biggest winner of that industry?
Scott Keneally: Yes, Tough Mudder and Spartan Races, have now become the biggest names of this industry. Public perception is that those events are getting more extreme, more dangerous. You can look at Tough Mudder’s tear gas obstacle, “Cry Baby,” as being an example of this. But despite the shock factor, I feel like on a whole, they are making these races more accessible, less challenging. They’re just not as hard as they used to be. You have to understand one thing: both want to appeal to as many people as possible, they don’t want to alienate participants by making their races too tough, because it would reduce their market.
Gaël Couturier: But isn’t pain and suffering what they have always been selling?
Scott Keneally: Oh yeah, they absolutely led with that, for the shock factor. And it worked. It got everyone’s attention. But I feel like they’re trying to make the events more accessible, to give more people access to that sense of achievement. For instance, when I first did my first Tough Mudder at Squaw Valley in 2011, we hiked up the steepest slope I’ve ever been on. It was so steep, and on such loose terrain, we all had to bear crawl. I would imagine that obstacle would scare off as many people as their other one called: Electroshock Therapy. Nowadays, it feels like Tough Mudder’s course leads participants up mountains in a more gradual manner, like up fire roads as opposed to a double black diamond. Not that this is a bad thing. They want this to be accessible to the average person. And if one finds himself needing something more extreme, a 24 or 48 hour non-stop obstacle race for example, there are plenty of niche offerings: Tough Mudder has World Toughest Mudder for example. Spartan Race has the Ultra Beast, Hurricane Heat, Hurricane Heat 12 Hour and the Agoge which is supposed to last for as long as 48 to 60-hours. The Barkley, in running, could be an equivalent to those last ones. None of them is particularly accessible and they don’t really attract many people. Many of us are driven by our ego here and we all need the opportunity to finish an event. Nowadays you see people walking through the entire course. It’s like everyone can be a Tough Mudder.
Gaël Couturier: What make those two brands different from each other’s? Is it their lengths? Is it the difficulty of their respective obstacles?
Scott Keneally: There’s a big philosophical difference between the two brands. One is a race and the other is a challenge. Spartan Race is a race. It is about timing, about beating other people and pushing your physical limits. Tough Mudder is about teamwork. It is more about breaking through psychological barriers. Like Tough Guy, Tough Mudder’s obstacles pray upon your fears of ice, fire, heights, electricity, claustrophobia and such. I find myself pushing harder at a Spartan Race for example, which is why I like the Tough Mudder better. I’m a little bit of a slacker. I don’t like to be at my max heart rate.
Gaël Couturier: What is the biggest financial investment for these organizers?
Scott Keneally: At this point, everything is a big financial investment for these companies. Marketing. Course builds. Insurance. Research and Design. It all costs money.
Gaël Couturier: Which would be the newest meanest obstacle that has recently emerged?
Scott Keneally: Tough Mudder’s tear gas obstacle, “Cry Baby”. The last time I went through it, I thought I was going to suffocate. Literally. Tear gas is the most dramatic shock factor thing that has ever happened in this industry. But on a whole, I think many of the new obstacles are becoming more fun. Like the things you’d see on American Ninja Warrior. The show’s popularity has definitely influenced these courses.
Gaël Couturier: So in the end which franchise is crafting the best obstacles?
Scott Keneally: These days it’s Tough Mudder. Their obstacles are scary, intimating and fun. Spartan Race has a different focus: creating a sport. They’re more into what you can train your body for. Tough Mudder is not at all about what you can train for: you can’t train for electricity, you can’t train for tear gas! At the end of the day, Tough Mudder will deliver the better stories that you would want to share with your friends in a bar. Spartan cares about creating fitter human beings. There’s a place for both in this industry. And there’s definitely a place for Tough Guy, from UK, which is more like the spiritual center of the industry.
Gaël Couturier: Let’s talk about your movie, Rise of the Sufferfests. What is it about?
Scott Keneally: It’s the first feature documentary about the global obstacle race phenomenon. The film explores the history of the sport, the psychology behind it, the personalities that drive it. It also asks what obstacle races say about the world we’re living in. A lot of news organizations have been covering the fact that obstacle racing is a thing, but I haven’t seen much in-depth analysis as to why it’s a thing. And this film is my attempt to explore that question. It feels like a distinctively modern phenomenon, filling a void in people’s live. It is a symptom of life in the digital age and also perhaps, an antidote.
Gaël Couturier: When and why did you decide to make a movie about obstacle races?
Scott Keneally: Initially I thought I was going to write a biography on Mr Mouse, a pseudonym for Billy Wilson, the creator of Tough Guy (1987). I think he’s a brilliant, eccentric and fascinating man. Very quickly, with a few late night whisky conversations with friends asking me WHY people do this, I realized I just didn’t have a great answer at the time. So that’s why I went onto this journey. I thought there was a bigger, deeper story about this phenomenon.
Gaël Couturier: How did you finance the film?
Scott Keneally: I scratched and clawed along for the first couple of years – begging, borrowing, and crowdfunding – until finding a production partner in January 2015: Echo Entertainment. They are based in Los Angeles and do a ton of sports programming for television. I’m lucky I found them. They have provided me with an editor and staff and of course put up a lot of the capital to help continue the shooting that I started back in 2013. I have no idea where this project would be without them.
Gaël Couturier: Tell me what will Scott Keneally do after the release of that movie?
Scott Keneally: I’ve worked 15 years as a freelance treatment writer in music videos and commercial production. I worked with directors off and on sets, helping them write and craft pitches for music videos and commercials. I worked Rihanna first music video and Paris Hilton’s controversial burger commercial. I even wrote the treatment for Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.” This is my first foray into filmmaking, and I love it. I don’t have any upcoming projects that I have my heart set on, but I love storytelling. So I’ll find other stories to tell.