Obstacle course racing

An obstacle racer, dressed in costume, crawls through a mud pit topped with barbed wire.

Obstacle racing is a sport in which a competitor, traveling on foot, must overcome various physical challenges (obstacles). They combine mud and trail runs designed to result in mental and physical collapse. Obstacles include, but are not limited to, climbing over walls, carrying heavy objects, traversing bodies of water, crawling under barbed wire and jumping through fire. Many obstacles are similar to those used in military training, whilst others are unique to obstacle racing, and are employed throughout the course to test endurance, strength, speed and dexterity. Races vary in both distance and challenge level, combining trail running, road running and cross country running. With race venues typically in large cities, organizers encourage athletes of all types to participate. According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2012, the number of events - typically all-day festivals is rising fast.

Adventure racing

The terms “obstacle racing” and “adventure racing” are often used interchangeably, but in reality, the disciplines are very different. The main similarities between the two are that both involve challenges (presented as obstacles) and both involve a running component. Adventure racing differs from obstacle racing in that the disciplines of swimming, mountain biking, orienteering, climbing, kayaking, etc. along with the hardships of sleep deprivation, limited nutrition, and team dynamics add to the difficulty of the event.

Obstacle courses

The key difference between an obstacle race and an obstacle course event is that the first is presented as a competitive race, the latter is not. In an obstacle race, competitors are timed and held to a strict standard of performance; when a task cannot be completed, penalty exercises such as burpees are assigned. Unlike obstacle racers, obstacle course participants are free to skip certain challenges as they please. Obstacle course events are often not timed (or allow participants to self-time).

Mud runs

Mud runs are often confused with obstacle races. Mud runs may or may not contain obstacles, because the events tend to focus more on fitness and muddiness. These events also tend to be less competitive. Obstacle and adventure racers often use mud run courses as training grounds because the conditions and terrain found at these events are similar.

History

From the stadion, the oldest event of the Olympic Games, to the contemporary era steeplechase, obstacles of some sort have been presented to athletes for thousands of years. The concept of using obstacles for an endurance event is a contemporary phenomenon.

In 2011, approximately one million people registered to participate in obstacle racing events in the Unites States (US) alone.

Training

Because obstacle racing involves a balance of speed, strength, and endurance, training for events can vary greatly from traditional approaches to fitness. While running is the main component of an obstacle race, runners need to have a balance of endurance and total-body strength. Functional, total-body exercises (rather than isometric, concentration exercises) are recommended to enhance strength. The "burpee" is a favorite exercise among obstacle racers because it engages the lower body, core, and upper body all in one fluid movement. With events ranging from 30 minutes to 5 hours, athletes must be accustomed to maintaining an increased heart rate.

Notable events

Tough Guy

Tough Guy claims to be the world's most demanding one-day survival ordeal. First staged in 1987, the Tough Guy Challenge is held on a 600-acre (2.42 square km) farm in Perton, Staffordshire, near Wolverhampton, England, and is organised by Billy Wilson (using the pseudonym "Mr. Mouse"). It has been widely described as "the toughest race in the world", with up to one-third of the starters failing to finish in a typical year.

Course

Taking place at the end of January, often in freezing winter conditions, the Tough Guy race is staged over a course of nine miles (about 15 kilometres). It consists of a cross-country run followed by an assault course, claimed to be tougher than any other worldwide, featuring 25 obstacles, including a slalom run up and down a hill, ditches, jumps, freezing water pools, fire pits and so on (see detail below). The organizers claim that running the course involves risking barbed wire, cuts, scrapes, burns, dehydration, hypothermia, acrophobia, claustrophobia, electric shocks, sprains, twists, joint dislocation and broken bones.

Although the course is adjusted each year, its features have included a 40-foot (12.2 metres) crawl through flooded underground tunnels, balancing planks across a fire pit, and a half-mile wade through chest-deep muddy water. Marshals dressed as commandos fire amphibious tank gun blanks and let off exploding flares and smoke bombs over the heads of competitors as they crawl under a 70-metre section of barbed wire. Until 2000, some runners took part in the event carrying heavy wooden crucifixes.

Spartan Race

Spartan Race was founded in 2009 by Joe Desena, Mike Morris, Andy Weinberg, Selicia Sevigny, Richard Lee, Brian Duncanson, Shaun Bain, and Noel Hanna. The first Spartan Race was held in Williston, Vermont in 2010.

Course

Spartan Race courses vary in distance and difficulty from 3 mile “Sprint” courses, to 8 mile “Super” courses, to the 12+ mile “Spartan Beast”. Projected finishing times for their events range from as quick as 30 minutes to as long as 6 hours, depending on the particular course and fitness level of the racer. Race venues have included ski slopes, state parks, paint ball parks, and more. Any competitor who completes all three race distances is said to have completed the Spartan Trifecta. The Spartan Beast, which is held in Killington, VT serves as the Championship event each year, with a $20,000 prize purse.

Competitors

Spartan Race seeks to attract competitors of all fitness levels. Competitors range from 14 years of age and up.

Notable competitors include:

• Hobie Call: In 2011, he won 13 of the 14 Spartan Race events in which he competed. He was awarded a prize of $10,000 for winning the season finale, a Super Spartan in Glen Rose, Texas.

Event features

All finishers receive a medal. The top three male and female competitors in each event receive swords, helmets, and shields - each a replica of equipment from the movie 300. At a Spartan Race, each event concludes with a “Gladiator Arena” in which a racer must run through a series of gladiators with pugil sticks, seeking to knock them down.

Peak Races/Death Race

Spartan Race's parent company, Peak Races, has hosted extreme events, most notably The Death Race. Most people who participate in the Death Race do not finish. It is a race that is meant to break even the strongest of athletes. While a Spartan Race may last a few hours, the Death Race may last multiple days. Athletes battle sleep deprivation along with challenges such as eating ten pounds of onions, solving a Rubik's Cube, lifting rocks for many hours, and swimming laps around a freezing pond with a lit candle.

Obstacle Racing World Championship

The inaugural Obstacle Racing World Championship was held in December 2011 in Glen Rose, Texas. An eight-mile Spartan Race course comprising 36 obstacles challenged a field of experienced athletes who were competing for a USD$20,000 prize purse. Beginning in 2012, the World Championships will be held annually in Killington, Vermont.

A costumed competitor in the 2012 North Texas Warrior Dash celebrates winning best costume on one day of the event.

Tough Mudder

Founded by 2 Harvard graduates in 2010, Tough Mudder's first event was held in May 2010. While the Tough Mudder is not technically a race, they do record the top finishers in order to grant them qualification into another event, “The World's Toughest Mudder.”

Course

Tough Mudder courses are between 10 and 12 miles and contain various military style obstacles. Tough Mudder courses are held on difficult terrain, but generally do not require athletes to forge their own paths like other obstacle races often do.

Defining characteristics

Unlike other events, Tough Mudder features an “electro-shock” obstacle, in which participants must run through live wires. The shock is moderately painful, but the amperage is too low to cause injury. In lieu of a medal, all Tough Mudder finishers receive an orange headband upon completion.

World's Toughest Mudder

Top finishers in a regular Tough Mudder event qualify for the World's Toughest Mudder. This is a 24+ hour event in which competitors will run a Tough Mudder course as many times possible within a 24 hours period. The athlete who completes the most loops within this time period is declared the World's Toughest Mudder. The winning male and female each receive $10,000. All other athletes on the course are given four additional hours to complete the same number of loops completed by the winner. Only then will one be considered a finisher of the event.

Warrior Dash

History

The Warrior Dash was founded in 2010. Because Warrior Dash does not assign penalties for skipped obstacles, it is often considered an obstacle course event rather than a race. While Warrior Dash does not meet all the requirements to be considered a race, organizers do award their top finishers with non-cash prizes. All finishers receive a “warrior helmet” - a hat with two spikes. Food, beer and soft drinks are sold at the event.

Course

As a shorter event, winning times for a Warrior Dash may be as short as 15 minutes. While Warrior Dash features many of the same obstacles found at other races such as mud crawls, water features, and cargo net climbs.

Obstaclecourses.org

World Organization for Obstacle Course Races and Challenges, called Obstaclecourses.org, was established in London, UK in 2012. Obstaclecourses.org promotes obstacle races around the world and supports Obstacle Racing as a new Olympic discipline. Obstaclecourses.org helps amateur athletes make a transition to a professional career. It collects information and provides analysis of obstacle events, including their location, distance and race vs challenge distribution. It aims to unify race organizers, help forming national organizations and turn obstacle racing into a professional sport.

See also

• Hobie Call

References

• Weir, Tom (December 14, 2011). "'Obstacle racing' is latest challenge for endurance jocks". USA Today. Retrieved December 22, 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• "Firefighters Design Public Challenge Course". Gazette/Washington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• "Obstacle Racing A New Fitness Trend". CBS Channel 6, Albany (Video). Retrieved December 22, 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
• "'Obstacle racing' is taking off". Canadian Running. December 15, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)

External links

• Mud and Adventure mud run and obstacle race event directory
• Racing Tough community, event listing, and training for all obstacle challenges and events
• Obstacle Racers Australia - online directory and magazine devoted to all things obstacle racing Down Under
• A weekly podcast about obstacle races and mud runs