This 83-year-old has another Tough Mudder under her belt

Mildred Wilson competes in a Tough Mudder event.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Tough Mudder)

"Muddy Mildred" is her name, and getting dirty is her game.

Mildred Wilson, 83, completed her third Tough Mudder event earlier this month, finishing the Missouri 5K event. The Sikeston, Missouri, resident is the oldest person ever to complete a grueling Tough Mudder obstacle course. "I just enjoy them," Wilson told KFVS 12. "I've always enjoyed competition."

Wilson said that after watching her son Danny compete in Tough Mudders, she didn't want to stay on the sidelines anymore. She finished her first course in 2019 at age 80, and completed her second Tough Mudder in 2021 as a tribute to her late husband, Farrell. This time around, Wilson used the event to raise money to install a freshwater well in Africa, bringing in nearly $3,000.

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She enjoys being active and staying on her toes, and hopes others see what she's doing and give it a shot themselves. "There's a lot of people who think as they get older that they just have to sit down and quit," Wilson told KFVS 12. "It's not so."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.