Your Website

The Best Obstacles Course Races in the World

May 16, 2023 | Joel Runyon

Table of Contents

If you’re looking for a way to push your limits and do something impossible, an obstacle course race is a great way to get started and add something to you impossible list.

To help you out – we’ve compiled a guide to obstacle course races that you can start out today – kill your excuses and do something impossible.

best-obstacle-courses

The Big Three Obstacle Course Races

There’s no denying that in the world of obstacle course racing, there are three main players. The Warrior Dash, the Spartan Race, and the Tough Mudder stand far and above the rest.

Warrior Dash

Warrior Dash is sort of the “entry point” to obstacle course races. If you haven’t done one before, you can use this as the starter point on your impossible list. That said – most Warrior Dash races are only a 5k or shorter – so if you’ve done one – there’s probably not a huge incentive to do a second. Raise the stakes and start aiming at longer races.

=> Warrior Dash

Spartan Race

Spartan Race might be the perfect blend of obstacle course, adventure and actual racing. They’ve built out the spartan race brand from just Spartan racing to an entire fitness lifestyle. Also, Joe De Sena’s book Spartan Up – was co-written by friend of IMPOSSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE Podcast guest – John Durant.

Levels: 11

Costs: From $359

Twitter: @spartanrace

Instagram:@spartan

Website: https://www.spartan.com/

Tough Mudder

The Tough Mudder is the grand daddy of all obstacle course races. While it is maybe the most intense of all the obstacle course races out there – it is a bit over the top. The electric shocking at multiple “obstacles” seems more pain-inducing than actually difficult or impossible.

That said – if you haven’t done a tough mudder – you should – just for the experience alone.

Twitter: @toughmudder

Instagram: @toughmudder

Website: https://toughmudder.com/

=> Tough Mudder

Other Obstacle Course Races

GORUCK Challenge

The GORUCK Challenge is one of the toughest challenges on the market. Less of an obstacle course and more of a survival one – the GORUCK challenge is an urban adventure where you find your obstacles along the way. The original challenge was a 12 hour, 20+ mile sufferfest, but they’ve scaled this up to multi-day events and down to 5ks to make the experience available to a wide number of racers.

‍Instagram – @GORUCK

Website – GoRuck.com

Foam Fest

Levels: 5K

Costs: $124.99

Twitter: @the5Kfoamfest

Instagram: @5kfoamfest

Website:https://the5kfoamfest.com/

Beachside Dash

Levels: 5K 2K 10K

Costs:

Registration fees for the 2km are

$20 early bird ($10 child)

$25 general entry ($10 child)

$30 on the day ($15 child)

Registration fees for the 5km are:

$35 early bird ($25 child)

$40 general entry ($30 child)

$45 on the day ($35 child)

Registration fees for the 10km are:

$45 early bird ($35 child)

$50 general entry ($40 child)

$55 on the day ($45 child)

Twitter: N/A

Instagram: @beachsidedash

Website: https://beachsidedash.org.au/

Cerebrun

Twitter: @mudrunguide

Instagram: @mudrunguide

Website: https://www.mudrunguide.com/organizers/cerebrun/

Gladiator Rock N’ Run – Event Postponed

Levels: $5K

Costs:

Twitter: @GladiatorRun

Website: http://www.gladiatorrocknrun.com/

Men’s Health Urbanrun

Twitter: @menshealthmag

Instagram: @menshealthmag

Website: http://www.menshealthurbanathlon.com/

Mud Factor

Levels: 5K

Twitter: @MudFactor

Instagram: @mudfactor

Website:https://www.mudfactor.com/

Rugged Maniac
Levels: 25+ Epic Obstacles

Twitter: @RuggedManiac

Instagram:@ruggedmaniac

Website: https://ruggedmaniac.com/

Savage Race

Levels: 25+

Twitter: @savagerace

Instagram: @savagerace

Website: https://savagerace.com/

The Color Run

Twitter: @thecolorrun

Instagram: @thecolorrun

Website: https://thecolorrun.com/

Tough Mountain Challenge

Instagram: @tough.mountain

Website: https://www.toughmountain.com/

Reviver Challenge

Levels: 2.5 miles

Twitter:@ReviverRace

Website: https://reviverchallenge.com/‍

  • Devil Dash 
  • Dirty Dash 
  • Down & Dirty Mud Run 
  • Diva Dash 
  • Hell Run
  • Hero Rush
  • LoziLu Women’s Mud Run
  • Mean Streets
  • Mudathlon
  • MudMan X 
  • Pretty Muddy Run 
  • Race the Reaper
  • Racing Humans 
  • Ruckus
  • Run For Your Lives
  • Superhero Scramble
  • Terrain Mud Run
  • Original Mud Run 
  • Survival Race
  • Thunder Challenge
  • Iron Warrior Dash
  • Swamp Dash & Bash
  • Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest
  • Tough Guy
  • Death Race (You May Die)
  • Caveman Crawl
  • North Face Endurance Challenge 
  • Survival Mud Run
  • Rebel Race
  • Mud Ninja 
  • Muddy Buddy Series- 
  • ROC Race
  • Devil Dash
  • Dirty Dash
  • Down & Dirty Mud Run
  • Diva Dash
  • Hell Run
  • Hero Rush
  • LoziLu Women’s Mud Run
  • Mean Streets
  • Mudathlon
  • MudMan X
  • Pretty Muddy Run
  • Race the Reaper
  • Racing Humans
  • Ruckus
  • Run For Your Lives
  • Superhero Scramble
  • Terrain Mud Run
  • Original Mud Run
  • Survival Race
  • Thunder Challenge
  • Iron Warrior Dash
  • Swamp Dash & Bash
  • Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest
  • Tough Guy
  • Death Race (You May Die)
  • Caveman Crawl
  • North Face Endurance Challenge
  • Survival Mud Run
  • Rebel Race
  • Mud Ninja
  • Muddy Buddy Series-
  • ROC Race
  • Cerebrun
  • Gladiator Rock N’ Run – Event Postponed
  • Civilian Military Combine
  • Zombie Evacuation-event was 2020

Are we missing any races here? If so, let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

Picture of Joel Runyon

Joel Runyon

Joel is the founder of IMPOSSIBLE® and MoveWell. In addition to free fitness resources on Impossible Fitness - you can buy performance apparel and supplements on Impossible.co