JUNE 6 • 2024 | 31
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bout seven hours into
a 12-hour ultra-
endurance run, and
in first place in the men’s 18-24
age group, Merrick Chernett’s
world came to a complete stop.
As he was swinging through
monkey bars in a chilly rain at
about 3 a.m. on a course obsta-
cle, he slipped and fell hard to
the ground. His entire body
cramped.
It took about 10 minutes for
him to get back on his feet. He
declined medical help because
it would have meant he no lon-
ger could compete in the run.
Somehow, Chernett finished
the course, including a plunge
into cold water appropriately
called the “
Arctic Enema.”

With help from two compet-
itors in his age group, he went
through the course one more
time, battling fatigue and con-
tinuing to walk with a limp as
temperatures dipped into the
50s. He couldn’t run.
Chernett met Pennsylvania
residents Burt Griffin and
Gavin Cameron as they hud-
dled around a fire in the run’s
pit stop area. Griffin and
Cameron could tell Chernett
was injured. They were hurt-
ing, too. So the three decided
to return to the course togeth-
er.
“It took me 3½ hours to
complete the course one last
time,” Chernett said.
That was much longer than
his previous laps.
At home in Bloomfield Hills
last week nearly two weeks
after the run and preparing
to graduate from Bloomfield

Hills High School, Chernett,
18, said his body was OK, but
he had blisters on his feet and
cuts from barbed wire from a
course obstacle.
It’s safe to say no other
Bloomfield Hills graduate
could make that statement.
Chernett was a 4.0
grade-point-average student
and two-time state champion
No. 1 doubles tennis play-
er at Bloomfield Hills. The
Blackhawks won their second
straight team state champion-
ship last fall with seven Jewish
players — including Chernett
— in their 12-player lineup.
Besides tennis, Chernett also

has a passion for ultra-endur-
ance races.
The run where Chernett
suffered from full body cramps
is appropriately called the
Toughest Mudder, put on twice
a year by the Tough Mudder
organization.
The 12-hour Toughest
Mudder marathon (8 a.m. to
8 p.m.) features a challenging
5-mile course with 20 crazy
obstacles. Chernett complet-
ed in the May 18 Toughest
Mudder in Coatesville, Pa.,
outside Philadelphia.
The objective of the
Toughest Mudder isn’t to fin-
ish it in the fastest time. It’s to

complete the most laps.
Much of the course in
Pennsylvania was on hilly
farmland. About a half-mile
was a flowing river with ankle-
deep water.
Each runner had a 10-foot-
by-10-foot box in the pit area
to stop in for about five min-
utes after each lap for rest and
to recharge and get hydrated.
“You need to replenish your
sugar and carbs when you
stop,” Chernett said. “Those
get depleted the most during a
run like that. You need to keep
your body healthy and ener-
gized.”
Chernett competed in
a Toughest Mudder run
in Minnesota last year. He
finished second in his age
group. He finished fourth in
Pennsylvania.
“I didn’t get the result I
wanted in Pennsylvania,”
Chernett said. “So I’ll be doing
the Toughest Mudder again.”
It won’t be this year, he said.
Two Toughest Mudder events
are held each year. The next
one this year is on Aug. 24 in
Chicago.
Chernett said he plans to
compete in an eight-hour run
put on by the Tough Mudder
organization June 15 in Oxford.
This run is called Infinity.
He’ll be attending the
University of Michigan this
fall, where he will study in the
Stephen M. Ross School of
Business. He said he may play
club tennis at U-M.

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to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

Bloomfield Hills teen Merrick Chernett doesn’t let
full body cramps and cuts from barbed wire stop him
from completing an ultra-endurance run.

He Was the Toughest Mudder

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

Merrick Chernett
(right) and his
ultra-endurance
run friends Gavin
Cameron (left) and
Griffin Burt.

JOREY CHERNETT