I've done the last two years. With 8 months of training, you are going to be laughing. My concern was running because my cardio was not up to par, but my strength was decent. I trained towards a comfortable 45 minute 10km. For the TM, I ran much slower than that pace (it took 3 hours) and I found the experience surprisingly easy.
I recommend the Salomon Speedcross shoes. They are very lightweight, dry easily, and are as close to cleats as you can get without being cleats. I didn't slip at all. I don't think gloves are necessary; it's just one other thing to get wet and possibly cause blisters. Just wear Dri-fit clothing and you'll be fine.
This year's race had a lot of prone-crawling on rocks. My knees were quite butchered but I can't imagine there's much you can do to protect yourself without looking like a wimp.
Just go and enjoy it and don't get hung up on your time. We stopped atop the half pipe for about 20 minutes and helped all the ladies up (wish I was single for that) and it was a blast. It was just as fun interacting with everyone else as doing the course itself.
Oh, they offered a one-time only $59 registration for next year's course. If you want to do it again, it will never be that cheap. We didn't bring our wallets so we missed out.
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