WORTH TWP — Mud, water, electricity and noxious gas.

Those were among the obstacles more than 8,000 brave souls conquered during the weekend when they took on the 10-plus-mile Tough Mudder course at Cooper’s Lake Campground.

It was the first year that the Tough Mudder for the region was at the campground.

Tough Mudder is a 10- to 12-mile obstacle course designed to test physical strength and toughness.

Obstacles included trekking through mud, scaling walls, swimming through ice-cold water, running through an enclosure containing a “tear-gas like substance” and running through a maze of wires that deliver an electric shock.

Since 2010 there have been more than 150 Tough Mudder events in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, according to its website.

The company, based in New York City, raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project and also supports local charities. Some of the money raised during the weekend supported the Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center in Pittsburgh.

Tough Mudder is not a race and the participants are not timed. Some walked the course, while others ran and they were also permitted to bypass any of the 21 obstacles.

Adam Grant of New Kensington, Westmoreland County, said he completed his first Tough Mudder.

“It was awesome, I didn’t think I could do it, but I did it,” he said.

Grant and friend Chris Collins agreed that “electroshock therapy,” the final obstacle of the course where runners get jolts of electricity, was the hardest part.

“I went down right away. It didn’t really hurt, but you lose control of your legs as soon as it gets you,” Collins said.

Hannah Diorio-Toth of Green Tree, Allegheny County, said it was her second Tough Mudder.

Diorio-Toth said she has run half-marathons, but the course at Cooper’s Lake was entirely different.

“In Pittsburgh you couldn’t do an event like this. Here you can put these big muddy obstacles and have fun and it gives us a good reason to come out to this area,” she said.

Ben Kolt and Mark Gaboivsek of Cleveland said they completed their first Tough Mudder on Saturday.

Both men are in their 40s and said they encourage people of any age to take on the course, even if they don’t consider themselves athletes.

“This is fun. Running is just painful,” Kolt said.

One thing they noted while doing the course was that teamwork was important.

“It’s all about teamwork. You need to have help from other people and you need to help other people,” Kolt said.

“You help everybody you can. It’s a big team effort, kind of like life.”

In addition to the thousands of participants, visitors also were permitted to walk alongside the course and watch.

Baxter Sheakley of Butler stood above “Mud Mile 2.0” Saturday to watch his two sons-in-law and their friends go through.

Mud Mile is one of the first obstacles and it ensures that the runners get wet and muddy early on. They must enter a series of water-filled trenches and climb over several slippery hills to move along.

“It’s pretty impressive. I kind of wish I was doing it,” Sheakley said.

Robyn Pigozzi, Tough Mudder operations supervisor, said a construction team was at Cooper’s Lake three weeks before the event to start setting up the course.

A group of 15 Tough Mudder staff were there one week in advance to work on the home base area.

For the two-day event they were assisted by more than 300 volunteers.

Last year the event was in St. Clairsville, Ohio, though the organizers would like to return to Cooper’s Lake next year if possible.

“This is a perfect location. It’s closer to Pittsburgh and the community has been extremely welcoming,” Pigozzi said.

On Sept. 12 Cooper’s Lake also will host Mudderella, a companion to Tough Mudder. It is a 5- to 7-mile non-competitive obstacle course.