It is pretty hard to look at Facebook these days and not see one of your friends participating in an Obstacle Course Race. Events like the Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder and Spartan Race have catapulted their brands to the forefront of recreational athletics through the use of social media. To their credit, these particular races succeeded where many, many other have failed. This might lead you to believe that they are the forefathers of OCR but, the roots of tackling muddy obstacle courses for fitness go back much farther. Before becoming the proving ground for a new kind of fun sport, obstacle course were used for training military members. So, it should be no surprise, that the first obstacle course race for fun here in the United States took place at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California. I was lucky enough to be apart of that race with three good friends. While the big three races mentioned above continue to dominate social media great local events like Storm the Beach; the Ninja Challenge, MARSOC Mud, Sweat and Tears; and the Ultimate Challenge Mud Run are representing the roots of OCR in true military fashion. So, to help you find the best race for you, we put together this guide that highlights the key elements of each genre.
– The Editor
Race Key
Distance defines cost at most running events and triathlons, but not so at obstacle races. Sometimes, there are ninjas! You’d want to know that, right? You would also want to know if you’re going to party like you’re at Woodstock (the muddy one, of course) after the race. To help you pick the best race, we created a key for a few defining aspects of your next fun run.
Don’t wear your best clothes – there will be mud!
Leave the marshmallows at home ’cause you’re jumping this flame!
Bring a Q-tip to swab the mud from your ears, there’s gonna be music!
If you are of legal age to consume alcohol, there’s beer. (Purchase required at some events. Check the race website or bring $$ just in case.)
Wear white and go home with a Jackson Pollack-inspired shirt.
Don’t have a Zombie Survival Kit? Get one! You’ll need it here!
GoRuck Tough Challenge | Raleigh – April 8 & May 27
The founders of GoRuck believe the good life is an active life, socially and physically. That means get out, “ruck” with friends, learn something new, smile, drink a cold one, and live your short life to its fullest. And once you join the rucking revolution you’ll never stop. GoRuck features a variety of challenges including the GoRuck Tough Challenge. At the upcoming Tough Challenge you will experience teamwork, leadership, camaraderie, smiles, and a gut-check worthy of Special Forces training. But the beauty of the Challenge is that it’s not about you, it’s about the people by your side, the individuals that become your team. Ruckers have called it an introduction to themselves and a West Point graduate said it was the best leadership training he ever had.
Spartan Sprint | Charlotte – April 9
Located on the 100+ acre Porter Farms, this course is over 3 miles, ripe with obstacles. It takes long days to uphold the farm, as well as demanding, strenuous, and backbreaking battles with nature. In that same sentiment, the vast and open farm is filled with troubles sure to test any Spartan’s will. Always look ahead. Don’t quit. Accept the challenge. Dominate.
Bulldog Taste the Rainbow Color Run 5K | Winterville, NC – April 10
The Bulldog Family Fun and Run Day features a color run and awesome afternoon start time of 3pm. There will also be a Family Fun area with a bouncy house and face painting.
Color Vibe 5K | Charlotte (April 16); Greensboro (August 27); Raleigh (August 27); Jacksonville (September 24)
Get ready to experience more color on you than your happy levels can handle! All color is 100% safe, edible, biodegradable, and beautiful. You’ll get color blasted with blue, yellow, pink, purple, and green as you run, or walk, through the Color Vibe zones and you’ll feel like you’re floating in a cloud of double rainbow happiness while you’re doing it!
Grifton Shad 5K Mud Run | Grifton, NC – April 16
The GriftonShad 5K Mud Run features 10+ unique and challenging obstacles while keeping safety in mind. After the race, free food, beverages and/or cold beer for triumphant runners to unwind. There will be cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in both men’s and women’s divisions. Teams are welcomed and encouraged to participate.
Foam Glow 5K™ – Charlotte | Concord, NC – April 16, 2016
Foam Glow 5K™ is a fun filled experience exposing runners to glowing foam and a ton of blacklight’s all over the course. Glowing runners come from all different ages, shapes, sizes, and speeds. Whether you are a long term runner or a walk around the park stroller, the 3 miles of the Foam Glow 5K™ course will have you shining bright and waiting for the next run.
Step Up for Soldiers Combat Mud Run | Wilmington, NC – April 16
The Combat Mud Run is a 5K course with obstacles and of course, mud! Serious competitors can opt for the “Meat Head Mile” which is the 5K course with a one-mile extension offering an extra challenge for the person who likes to punish themselves. Some of the obstacles include 4-, 6-, and 8-foot walls, mud crawls, a 12-foot rope climb, chin-up station, monkey bars and lots more! Military, Law Enforcement & Firefighters and Disabled Veterans get discounted entry fees.
MARSOC Mud, Sweat & Tears 5-Mile Mud Run | Jacksonville, NC – April 23
Mud, Sweat & Tears is exactly what you will get when you run this 5-mile mud run. The Marines from Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) pride themselves on physical superiority and mental toughness. See if you can hang with them! The Mud, Sweat & Tears off-road course includes forest terrain, dirt paths, winding trails, fallen tree obstacles and mud! For 5 miles, this challenging race will test your strength, stamina and endurance. Be forewarned – you will be challenged!
Down and Dirty Adventure Run | China Grove, NC – April 23
This is a 4.5(+/-) mile trail run through the beautiful Lake Corriher Wilderness Park. The course will take you through the woods, creeks, marshes, hills and “some” mud. There will be obstacles along the way, though the course itself is an obstacle! It is both competitive and family oriented. You will be challenged, you will get wet, you will get muddy, but you’ll have a blast doing it…. guaranteed! All participants receive a high quality dri-fit shirt and a free meal.
WCS Glow Run 5K | Wilson, NC – April 23
The WCS Glow Run 5K to benefit Wilson County Schools staff, students and parents to promote healthy lifestyles and fitness in the community! Feel free to dress up and wear bright colors! Glow sticks will be provided! Teams are encouraged!
CamTech National Honors Society COLOR RUN | South Mills, NC – April 23
Produced by high school organization, this event is raising money for various charities including help for a young girl diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia who has 2 years of treatment left. Your participation in this color run and/or donation will assist the family with medical expenses
Cures for the Colors | Goldsboro, NC – April 23
Cures for the Colors features a timed 5K for individuals, a 100-mile untimed event for teams, and 1-mile untimed event for beginners, children and families. There will be medals for all participants and all proceeds will be used to assist cancer patients and their families in Eastern North Carolina.
Wintergreen 5K Color Run | Greenville, NC – April 24
Wintergreen Intermediate and Wintergreen Primary PTAs are hosting a 5k Color Run to raise money for their media center and classroom technology needs. Your participation will directly benefit 1600 elementary school students. Join them for an afternoon of fun.
USMC Ultimate Challenge Mud Run | Columbia, SC – April 30 & Fall Date – TBD
Don’ t be fooled by “mud run” in the name, this is no 5K with a couple of mud holes. This is a real obstacle race that’s been held since 1993 – that’s right, this race has been around for over 23 years! Designed and built by a Marine drill instructor, this race includes a whopping 36 obstacles spread over 6.2 miles. Actual Marines are positioned throughout the course to help motivate your team. No empty promises, you will sweat and you will probably bleed but, somewhere on the Leatherneck obstacle you will find the point where you think you can’t go any further and you will push on. If you conquer the course, your sense of accomplishment and pride will be with you forever! The USMC Ultimate Challenge Mud Run does NOT accept individual enlistments, only teams.
Princeton Color Crazy Fun Run | Princeton, NC – April 30
The Princeton Color Crazy Fun Run, a 5k event, is being held in downtown Princeton, NC in support of Princeton High School Class of 2016’s Project Graduation. Project Graduation is a program offered by many high schools in the United States, in which organized, adult-supervised and alcohol-free activities are offered as part of a post-graduation party, as an alternative to student-run events involving alcoholic beverages or other drugs.
Color For A Cause | Manteo, NC – April 30
The Manteo High School National Honor Society and Student Government Association are sponsoring this 5K color run. The proceeds will be donated towards former student Ginger Shackelford’s medical expenses. Ginger graduated from MHS in 2015 and has recently been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
The Color Run | Charlotte – April 30; Fayetteville – May 28; Asheville – August 6
The Color Run™, also known as the Happiest 5K on the Planet, introduces its new “Shine Tour” this year. The Shine Tour is designed to uplift and inspire runners to stand out from the crowd, sweat glitter, and continue to live their lives in a happy and healthy way. Get ready for special sparkle attractions on the course, glamorous photo ops, and new shine elements at the Finish Festival! This is the year to unleash your inner sparkle! Participants will receive a limited edition Shine Tour Participant Kit including a custom Race tee, gold finishers medal, tricolor headband with blingin’ silver stitching, special edition glitter pack, classic color pack, new gold tattoos and more! Less about your 10-minute-mile and more about having the time of your life, The Color Run is a 5K untimed race in which thousands of participants are doused from head to toe in different colors at each kilometer. The fun continues at the finish line with a gigantic “Color Festival,” using more colored powder to create happiness and lasting memories, not to mention millions of vivid color combinations. Trust us, this is the best post-5K party on the planet! With only two rules, the idea is easy to follow: 1) Wear white at the starting line and 2) Finish plastered in color!
Run for the Mariners 5K and Obstacle Course | Pittsboro, NC – May 7
The Perry Harrison’s Run for the Mariners Family 5K is a great course with a mix of quiet streets and a few moderate hills to break up the pace. This is a family friendly 5K is designed with kids in mind but is also challenging for runners of all ages. Returning better than ever this year is the Kids Obstacle Course— a fun off road obstacle course through approximately 1 mile of fields and trails. Beginning at 9AM, kids will go out in waves to a variety of obstacles such as mud pit, tire run, tunnel crawl, hay climb, and more! Kids are not going to want to miss out on this awesome event! (They are not kidding about the mud so you may want to bring your child a change of clothes for the ride home.)
Bash Color Dash 5K | Mooresville, NC – May 7
The 5th annual Bash Color Dash 5K encourages all ages and levels to participate! Feel free to run or walk or even push a stroller! All proceeds will go to support the Back to School Bash 2016, a community-wide event providing free shoes and school supplies for area students. If that isn’t reason enough to come, they will also provide a white Color Dash t-shirt for all who pre-register by May 3rd. As you pass various intervals on your route, you can be sprayed with a different color of non-toxic washable paint! A prize will be awarded not only for fastest times, but also for most covered in color! And if you are a student and need yet another reason, we are going to have a trophy over 5 feet tall awarded to the Elementary School, Middle School and High School with the highest percentage of their student body registered! Bring the trophy home to your school! Sign up at www.bashcolordash.com.
Tackle the Tar | Rocky Mount, NC – May 14
The Rocky Mount Rotary Club is hosting this event and all-around fun day at the Rocky Mount Sports Complex. There will be a 5K obstacle course race that winds its way through the sports complex and the E.B. Grain Company property. It comes complete with a mud pit and 10+ obstacles. Don’t wear your Sunday best to run this course!
Rugged Maniac | Rockingham, NC – May 14
Rugged Maniac is returning to North Carolina with a brand new venue – Rockingham Dragway. All parking is now right on site so no more buses or shuttles. Get ready for another round of 25 epic obstacles, three fun miles and one rockin’ party! You’ll climb towers of stacked shipping containers, crawl through underground tunnels of mud, rocket down a massive water slide and experience a lot of big new surprises like trampolines! As if that weren’t awesome enough, before and after you run you’ll get to party with thousands of other maniacs in our day-long festival, which includes mechanical bulls, adult bounce houses, and lots of new games and activities!
TRUE MUDD 5K Obstacle and Mud Run | Tabor City, NC – May 15
TRUE MUDD is not just an obstacle course and certainaly not just another 5K run.The Muddfit Series is a not so nice blend of running, Cross Fit exercises, obstacles, and more! The obstacles will challenge the most hardcore of athletes. Run as an Individual or as a team, but remember, the unique culture of the mudder community will find you hard pressed to run by a runner in need. The camaraderie here is above all others, giving you the sense of accomplishment and a feeling you can overcome anything.
Color the Hill Run | Chapel Hill, NC – May 21
The Color the Hill 4K Fun Run is the wackiest time you can have on a cross-country course! Make sure you show up at the start line as a blank canvas. White attire is best. Then run, walk, skip or dance your way to the finish line while you move through a rainbow of fun. All ages, skills, sizes and shapes are welcome and having a blast at the Color the Hill event is what it’s all about. By the finish line, you’ll look like a Jackson Pollock painting! As you make your way through the 4K course and encounter five color stations along the way – green, purple, yellow, pink and blue – you’ll be blitzed with non-toxic color by our volunteers. The finish line will feature an epic color extravaganza!
The Ninja Challenge | Raleigh, NC – May 21
The Ninja Challenge is a 5K obstacle race that will see if you are fit to walk the path of a ninja warrior. While anybody can run, only a ninja can run up walls. The Ninja Challenge goes beyond a simple race and will truly test your athleticism. Running becomes only half the battle when you face 15-plus obstacles that only a true ninja can complete. Obstacles will rely on your strength, balance, dexterity and stamina. There will be volunteers helping out at each obstacle and we recommend running in groups so you can work as a team.
USMC Mud Run NC | Pinnacle, NC – May 21
The Sixth Annual USMC Marine Mud Run NC will take place at Jomeokee Park in Pinnacle, N.C. The park will be buzzing and the participants will be groaning and grunting. But more importantly, they’ll be cheering… cheering and helping each other through challenging obstacles and muddy pits. The all-terrain course features mud holes, walls, trenches and other obstacles that require crawling, climbing, jumping and determination. Some people come to compete, many just come to complete. Do you have what it takes? Enlist now!
Dirty Girl Mud Run | Greensboro, NC – May 28
Dirty Girl is a 5K women-only run for women of all ages and athletic abilities. Don’t worry, it’s not a race in the traditional sense. It is an untimed obstacle course designed to push you slightly out of your comfort zone, but only as far as you are comfortable going. Forming teams is encouraged, and so is helping your fellow Dirty Girls get through to the finish. At a Dirty Girl Mud Run you’ll find excitement, laughter and camaraderie as well as lots of music and even some adult beverages. It will be a day you’ll never forget.
Mad Mountain Run | Hendersonville, NC – June 4
The Mad Mountain Mud Run is slated to be a madder and muddier, crazier and filthier obstacle course race and festival this year – all in Hendersonville, N.C. Teams of four will race the approximately three-mile course and traverse mud pits, creeks, gooey crawls, climbing obstacles (you will need your teammates!) and more. Those who dress in creative team uniforms will have the biggest smiles, and those who emerge the muddiest will have achieved a great victory (MUD RULES)! Afterwards there will be a full-blown festival with live music, food and local beer — all day! Fun for racers and festival-goers, and a fantastic way to spend a Saturday this summer.
Warrior Dash | Huntersville, NC – June 4
The Warrior Dash is a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run. This fierce running series is held on the most challenging and rugged terrain across the globe. Warriors conquer extreme obstacles, push their limits and celebrate with kick-ass music, beer and warrior helmets.
Storm the Beach | Nags Head, NC – June 12
The storm is brewin’! Run, crawl, jump, carry and endure Outer Banks Sporting Events’ Storm the Beach, a team-oriented, family friendly obstacle/challenge course in Nags Head, N.C. The number of obstacles depends on the race you sign up for. Five-milers will have the most and 0.75-milers will have very few and the three-milers will have a moderate number of obstacles compared with the five-milers. You will climb over and under things, you will get sandy, and you may even get wet. Sign up at www.stormthebeach.org.
Wilson Swamp Stomp | Wilson, NC – June 18
The Wilson Swamp Stomp is an obstacle run with approximately 12 obstacles on the 5K course and another 6 on the 8K course. The Swamp Stomp has obstacles, belly crawls in the grass and dirt and a wet tunnel crawl. A significant portion of the 5K and 8K that runs through some swampy terrain and takes advantage of the park’s natural obstacles. There is also a creek crossing on the 8K course.
Lee County Color 5K | Sanford, NC – June 18
This 5K color fun takes place at Kiwanis Park in Sanford. 100% of the proceeds go to the Lee County High School Track and Field/Cross Country team.
Blackberry Glow 5K and Fun Run | Lenoir, NC – July 8
The Blackberry Glow Run and kids fun run will take place on a Friday night in downtown Lenoir. All runners will receive a glow t-shirt and glow bracelet! The 5K starts at 8:30pm or dark and fun run kicks off at 8:00pm. All proceeds benefit the Shelter Home of Caldwell cCunty!
Spartan Super | Asheville, NC – August 6
Grove Stone & Sand Company is one of the grittiest courses in the Spartan venue. With some of the steepest slopes and rocky terrains throughout the venue, it’s as difficult slowing down while running as it is to speed up on this 8+ mile course. Grove Stone has a variety of washed and screened granite materials which are traditionally used to help with building needs, but will be used for primal Spartan challenges during the race.
Big Muddy Challenge | Mt Ulla, NC – August 20
The epic Big Muddy Challenge at the Patterson Farm in 2015 is one of BMC’s slipperiest and sloppiest courses of the year. BMC aims to bring even more smiles this August at this unconventional family adventure race! The Big Muddy Challenge builds active outdoor memories for parents, their children and friends to enjoy together. Participants from ages six to eighty-two team up for an unbelievable day. Each BMC event provides a priceless family bonding activity along with an exciting new way to promote physical fitness, sportsmanship and a sense of accomplishment.
Big Muddy Challenge | Youngsville, NC – September 3
Returning to where it all started, Hill Ridge Farms is proudly hosting its 6th Big Muddy Challenge Hill Ridge Farms is one of the most spectator friendly venues of the BMC season with a centralized course viewing area and tremendous activities for family members of all ages to eat, play and laugh. Parking is $5 per car – so pack them full whether you are running or just enjoying the event at Hill Ridge Farms.
Bubble RUN™ Charlotte, NC | Concord, NC – September 10
If you’ve done a traditional 5K, you know they can be a bit lackluster. The Bubble Run™, however, is like running through Willy Wonkas’ factory! Clad in white t-shirts, adults, and kids run, walk, dance and play across 3 miles of absolute fun! Waves start every 3-5 minutes. Then, at each kilometer, participants will run through the Foam Bogs where there is enough colored foam to cover you from head to toe! Bubble-teers and charity partners will also be there to help make sure you get your share of the frothy goodness. Each of the four Foam Bogs are represented by different colored foam. So what if you should accidentally “taste the whimsey?” They don’t taste as great as they are fun, but not to worry. The foam is 100% safe.
Spartan Sprint | Fort Bragg, NC – September 10
Be prepared for miles of rocky trails, a multitude of elevations, water hazards, and unforgiving acres of Carolina brush. This 3-5 mile course will be historical for all of our Spartans! Expect to see the military in full effect, during this event!
Dirty Dozen Obstacle Trail Race | Charlotte, NC – October 8
12 obstacles and 12 kilometers stand between you and the finish line in the 5th annual Dirty Dozen obstacle trail race at the US National Whitewater Center. Looking for a shorter race? There is a 5K obstacle race as well. While this is not an official “mud run”, expect to get dirty along the way (wear an old t-shirt for this race). Put your strength, endurance, and coordination to the test as you navigate your way through several physical challenges along the USNWC trail system, then celebrate your accomplishment with a fun-filled day at Fall Finale.
