JUNE 6 • 2024 | 31
J
N

A

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. 

Send sports news 

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

