LONDON, Aug 4 — Obstacle races like the insanely popular Tough Mudder race — dubbed “America’s fastest growing sport” by Outside magazine — are intense, dirty, and taking off like wildfire around the globe.
Races from companies Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash have been aggressively marketing themselves across Europe and the US the past few years and are now reaping the rewards with the eager masses signing up to run through icy pits, scale walls, crawl through mud-filled tubes, and sprint through fire.
The Guardian in the UK reports that last year, 1.5 million people competed in endurance obstacle races in the US alone, with the top three race organisers bringing in US$150 million (RM450 million). The sport is taking off in Australia, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Plus a slew of franchises are following suit, such as the UK’s Tough Guy, which involves scrambling under barbed wire, running through fires and dodging wires that deliver electrical shocks.
If running the Tough Mudder 10-12 mile (16-19km) challenges isn’t enough, the World’s Toughest Mudder ups the ante by extending the race to a full uninterrupted 24 hours. To participate, you’ll need to compete (and do well) in a standard Tough Mudder event, but even so, organisers only expect about 10 per cent of the participants to finish the Toughest Mudder. Next event happens in Englishtown, New Jersey, US, November 16-17.
Still not impressed? Check out the Spartan Death Race. This adventure race series offers a slew of shorter distance races around the globe, but for those craving more tortuous feats, the Death Race offers more than 42km with 50 obstacles, including challenges like eating a bag of raw onions and memorising US presidents’ names.
Next year’s races take place in the summer and winter in Vermont. — AFP/Relaxnews
