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Listing Physical Competitions on a Resume?

On the February 20, 2017 episode of The Adam Carolla Show, host Adam Carolla sat down with Scott Keneally to discuss his new documentary, Rise of the Sufferfests, and one of the primary focuses of the documentary is the analysis of tough mudder competitions. I only recently heard about these things from a friend, so for those of you not aware, a tough mudder competition is a sort of obstacle course where people subject themselves to a long, arduous sort of trek through mud. Definitely doesn't sound like they're for the light of heart.

Midway through the interview, Carolla poses a question: why not list something like having completed a tough mudder on a resume? This could be expand to other physical contests like marathons or Ironman competitions.

 As somebody currently training for a marathon, I think this is an excellent idea. Why? People just don't waltz into these competitions off the street and complete them on a whim. No, training for physical competitions always involves a level of training and discipline. There's just no getting around it. As much as I would like to say I can run a marathon today, I just can't.

 The disciplines associated with training is something that does indeed carry over to the work world. Think about it. Let's look at the disciplines below and how they manifest themselves between health and business.
  • Ability to restrain self from detrimental behaviors
    • Health: Keeping to a healthy diet and not overindulging in unhealthy foods
    • Business: Holding to business practices that are effective and ethical even if there is an "easy" way out
  • Ability to consistently provide high performance in monotonous work
    • Health: Exercising every day
    • Business: Regularly performing recurring tasks, even ones that are seemingly boring
  • Ability to mentally overcome seemingly impossible hurdles
    • Health: Sticking to a diet / exercise regimen that enables you to run a marathon
    • Business: Working hard at a project effort to produce fruitful results
  • Ability to take initiative in undertaking long projects
    • Health: Saying yes to running a marathon, and then working hard for months to train that marathon
    • Business: Saying yes to running a project, and then working hard for months to bring that project to a completion

We could really go on from here, but I think you get the picture. The competencies developed (or shown) within physical competitions translate quite well into business. The behaviors are one and the same, regardless of the context in which they are applied.

 I don't know about you, but I think this is an excellent idea, especially for people with little work experience. It's a way to show employers that you have certain skills that would make you competent for a position even if you haven't had the opportunity to demonstrate that in a former job. What do you all think? Should people start putting these things on a resume?
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