Without a doubt, Obstacle Course Races have gained Worldwide popularity. They will test your physical abilities and mental toughness. Not to mention, Obstacle Course Races are fun, challenging, and a reliable vehicle to reach your fitness goals.
Obstacle Course Races are extreme sports events where participants are faced with a variety of challenges like rope climbing and barbed wire obstacles.
Race organizers include their own obstacles, like mud pits, spear throwing, fire jumping, and more. The goal is to successfully complete every obstacle until you cross the finish line.
From the ancient Greek Pentathlon to the Spartan Race Ultra Beast, obstacle course races have evolved and become very popular among athletes of all physical abilities and levels.
Find out the different races and distances you will find in your first obstacle course race or mud run.
What makes Obstacle Course Races different.
Obstacle course races or mud runs, in my opinion, are one of the most complete sports out there at the moment. They offer a variety of challenges and distances to choose from.
To be successful in this sport you will need to acquire and develop different sets of skills, like running, vertical jumping, balance, strength, endurance, grip strength, upper body strength, coordination, and mental toughness.
The one thing you will notice as you enter an obstacle course race is that most of them are set in a remote open field, it could be a mountain or a farm.
Most likely you will be running or power hiking on “single track” and hilly terrain. And please, let’s not forget the mud, water obstacles, barbed-wired, and rope climbing among many others.
The most common distances are 5k, 10k, 1/2 marathons, and 50k’s. Some events like “World Toughest Mudder” are a 5-mile loop with obstacles. The goal is to complete as many loops as possible in 24 hrs.
The obstacles that you will face on race day are in the vast majority military-type obstacles. And as I mentioned before, to make it interesting, organizers will inject their own signature obstacles.
For example, the Spartan Race has the “Spear Throw”, Tough Mudder has the “Block Ness Monster”, the Savage Race has the “Davy Jones Locker”. All races offer something different to make it fun and challenging at the same time.
| Spartan | Tough Mudder | Savage Race | Rugged Maniac |
| Spear Throw | Entrapment | Twirly Bird | Off the Rails |
Barbed Wire | Leap of faith | Holy Sheet | Full Tilt |
| Rope Climb | Funky monkey | Inversion Therapy | Accelerator 3.0 |
| Mud Pit | Birth canal | Savage Rig | Warped Wall |
| The Rig | Everest 2.0 | Wheel World | Jacobs Ladder |
| Twister | Gauntlet | Battering Bird | Barzan |
| Olympus | Blockness Monster | Davy Jones Locker | Pull Your Weight |
If you need more information about the different types of obstacles that you will face in a mud run, go and read my post “What obstacles will I find in a mud run”. The list is by no means extensive, however, it will give you a great idea as to what obstacles you will be faced with on race day.
I also love the fact that mud runs or obstacle course races level the playing field. What I mean by this is that you could a be great runner, but you might be afraid of jumping from a 30 feet high platform into a water pit. This would be considered an incomplete obstacle.
Without a doubt, obstacle races will expose your weaknesses, will test your ability, and it could help you to overcome your fears. And these are some of the aspects I love about the sport. It is an ongoing journey for self-improvement.
Once we know what those weaknesses are, we can start working our tails off until we overcome and conquer that one obstacle. So the next time you are staring at the water from that 30 feet high platform, you are ready to make that jump.
For me, working on my grip has been my ongoing journey for self-improvement. When I first started participating in the OCR arena, I felt confident during the running, the lifting, and carrying heavy stuff, but I had such a hard time with the upper body obstacles like the monkey bars and swinging ropes.
I have gotten better, but, when you think you got it and you are done, they throw you a curveball by introducing a new obstacle. And you see yourself back in the burpee “penalty box”. It is always room for improvement and that is why I keep coming back.
“Sometimes it is good to be in uncomfortable situations because it is in finding our way out of such difficulties that we learn valuable lessons.”
― Idowu Koyenikan
Mental Toughness
Another aspect that I love about obstacle course races is the way they challenge and help you to develop your mental toughness by pushing your way out of your comfort zone.
I remember my very first Spartan Race back in November 2013. A good friend of mine and I had signed up for the Spartan Beast in South Carolina. We were excited and pumped about this race. The Beast is a 21K or 1/2 marathon with 30 plus obstacles.
At the starting line, I remember the first reality check, it was around the 34-36F. It had frozen overnight, it was a very cold morning, and I knew there were several water obstacles. We were going for a ride.
I was excited, pumped, and nervous at the same time, I did not know what to expect. When the “gun” finally went off, 150 plus souls started running along with the dirt road.
About a third of a mile into the race, we came up to this small hill. And then I saw what I was not expecting, the first water pit obstacle. I knew it was going to suck, but I did not give myself the time to think too much about how bad it was going to suck.
The moment I got in the water, my whole body felt the shock of the freezing water that had been sitting there all night. When I got out of the water pit obstacle, I realized I was going to be running a 1/2 marathon in wet, freezing clothes. This is what I had signed up for and I knew it was going to be a welcoming challenge.
After a “few” more obstacles, I crossed the finish line at 3:15 minutes, feeling proud of myself for enduring such a hard test, something I had never done before. And from that point on I was hooked to this sport called OCR.
Other OCR races.
Spartan Race Stadion
If mud and trails is not your thing, I get it. We all like different things, and for that reason, I love what Spartan has done by creating the Stadion Race Series
. This obstacle course event is held inside stadiums and offers 20 obstacles over a 5k distance.
I have never participated in this event, but I hear great things from other Spartan competitors. There are no mud or water obstacles, however, you will be running stairs up and down, climbing walls, swinging on the monkey bars, and completing many lifting and functional type obstacles.
Epic Series
Epic Series events are designed for the cross fitter, strongman, and the OCR athlete in mind. This event has the shortest distance I have ever come across at under 2 miles, with an impressive 40 obstacles to be completed.
Did I mention, one of their challenges is to pull a truck with a harness? Well, if you sign up for the Elite heat you can give it a try, and please let me know how you did. That would be epic.
The Great Inflatable Race
I remember watching the popular show “Wipeout” and falling to the ground laughing, watching people getting wiped out. The Great Inflatable Race is not like that. But it looks like a lot of fun.
This race offers 12 inflatable obstacles over a two-mile distance. I think this is a great race for getting kids moving and for adults as well, who might not like the mud or are trying to start a more active lifestyle. The goal here is to get moving.
Team-based builder.
Every time I go to an obstacle course race event, it is really amazing to see the many groups that compete as teams. I love the camaraderie and the vibe is always upbeat. Go to Facebook and you can easily find an OCR group that you can join and get more information.
If you are not part of a group, please bring a friend, it always helps to have someone there with you for support and it is more fun. You will have something to talk about after the race.
Conclusion
Obstacle course races are more than fire-jumps, rope climbs, and mud-pits. They are character builders that will show you the things that you are capable of when you are pushed out of your comfort zone.
Take action, and sign up for your next mud run. You will be challenged, but will also feel empowered from such an accomplishment. Send me a message on Instagram @ocrandtrails and let me know about your experience. I’ll see you on the course.