Mud Runs and obstacle racing
Get down and dirty with these mud runs, obstacle runs and survival themed events. Big names like Tough Mudder and No Ego Challenge provide a challenging experience.
Mud Run and Obstacle course races are fast becoming one of the most popular events that people in the UK want to take part in – and once you do you’ll soon see what all the fuss is about. If you are thinking about taking part or just want to know a bit more about these exciting races then we’ll got all the info you need here.
Length of Obstacle Course Race
Muddy runs and obstacle races can come in a variety of lengths depending on how challenging they are designed to be. The easier ones typically start at 5/6km. Medium difficulty obstacle courses increase that to 10/12km and then to 16/18km for the more hardcore challengers. Some such as the Rat Race Dirty Weekender are even longer and very physically challenging.
The length of an obstacle course will be a good guide to how hard the race will be to complete. If this is your first one then you are probably best starting off with a smaller length and then building up to one of the more challenging ones. Obstacle events take a lot more effort than running, so even though you can ace a 10K run, you will face a much greater challenge from a 10K obstacle course. The muddy terrain, water and climbing require your whole body to be fine tuned, and not just your legs.
However, obstacle runs typically favour camaraderie and team building. If you are stuck getting over fence or making it through a trench there will be a queue of people lining up to help you through it.
Types of Obstacle Races in the UK
At their core an muddy run is simply a footrace that will have a variety of obstacles placed along the route. Some popular obstacles can include:
- Climbing walls or fences
- Monkey bars
- Trenches of water
- Mud slides
- Crawling nets
- Water slides
- Generally mud everywhere
There are variety of different events you can take place in – and like other fitness events, muddy runs can come in a range of lengths with differing amounts of obstacles that can make even the most accomplished runner crawl to to the finish. Let’s take a look at some of the general things to consider when choosing an mud run event.
Speaking of teams – one of the types of obstacle race is in fact Team races. As mentioned, the challenge of obstacles can mean going it alone could lead to a lot bruised egos and broken bones. The challenges you face will be much easier in a team – even just two people can help each other out a lot. A lot of first time mud runners may want to go with a partner or group of friends as this will really help to ease you into this style of race and the helping hands will be a great boost to get you across the finish line.
That’s not to say you need a team though – plenty of people enjoy the challenge of finishing these kinds of events solo. You’ll need strength, stamina and the will to make it, but there is no reason why you can’t complete an mud race by yourself. As you look at going to one, you will see there are many different providers who tailor their challenge towards either teams or solo runners – this is something to bear in mind when you are choosing your event.
If you are after an even bigger challenge, you can look for a lapped obstacle race. In these events you don’t just run the course once – you run the course as many times as you can within the time limit. Whilst this might sound insane – and quite, frankly it is – you will get a great sense of satisfaction from not only finishing an obstacle course, but doing it multiple times in the same sitting!
Of course if you’d prefer to keep your own shoes clean – you could always send your kids to run the race for you? The popularity of mud races among adult races has inevitably led to children also wanting to participate – and kids seem to enjoy playing mud anyway, so it seems like a natural outcome really. Obviously the fun runs are shorter and obstacles smaller, but nevertheless your children will be pushed to their limits as they compete around a muddy, messy course.
Themed Muddy Runs
Mud run races have become very, very popular – so how do you make it stand out? Well like that Doctor Who themed wedding you didn’t really want to dress up for, event providers are starting to explore more and more ways to make their events unique and exciting. Nuclear Races take place in the mysterious Essex Secret Bunker, the Major Series are all run and managed by Majors from the Royal British Legion and Rat Race Coast to Coast is, well just running, swimming and kayaking in Scotland – but you get the idea.
If you want to feel that you are running for a reason, why not try a zombie survival run? Runs like the Inflatable 5k Survival Run in London pit you against thirsty zombies that are trying to catch you and take one of your three lives. You will have to evade and dodge the zombies as you make your way through the assault course.
Themed mud races are just as tough as any, and you will need to prepare just as much for these as you would any other mud challenge. The themes do give the races an extra sense of challenge and completing a Nuclear Race or zombie survival run has a pretty nice ring to it.
Top Mud Runs
We have picked out the best Muddy Runs and Obstacle events taking place in 2021. We have lots more listings available, just click on the ‘Muddy Runs & Obstacle Events’ tab at the top of this page to find them. Some other good events to look out for are warrior dash, spartan race, wolf run and rough runner.
Tough Mudder North West
Well let’s face it, we could have picked any of the Tough Mudders events as they are all similar! This event series is what all obstacle races are judged against, now with extra events like the Tough Mudder Half and also kids events it’s got something for everyone. We also went along to one of these events so check out our review here
Find out more about the Tough Mudder North West event.
