page_title: Obstacle racing
section_title: Modern history
hierarchical_section_title: Obstacle racing / History / Modern history
caption_attribution_description: English: First Lt. Cassandra Harris, company commander of the 40th Military Police Company, 185th Military Police Battalion, 49th Military Police Brigade, California Army National Guard, and members of her unit cheer a competitor of the July 21 Obstacle Course Challenge at Camp San Luis Obispo, Calif. The event was a morale builder on the last day of the 185th's annual training.
context_page_description: Obstacle Course Racing is a sport in which a competitor, traveling on foot, must overcome various physical challenges in the form of obstacles. Races vary from mostly obstacles such as Ninja Warrior "Ninja Races", to track races, to urban and cross country events. In cross country events, mud and trail runs are often combined and the races are designed to result in mental and physical collapse. Obstacles may include 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, while others are unique to obstacle racing and are employed throughout the course to test endurance, strength, speed and, dexterity.
  Races vary in distance and difficulty, often combining trail running, road running, and cross country running. With race venues typically in sports stadiums, ski resorts, cities and parks, organizers encourage athletes of all types to participate. Many military training obstacles were introduced into Cross Country Running at Tough Guy. According to the Los Angeles Times in 2012, the number of events—typically all-day festivals—rose rapidly.
context_section_description: It is widely thought that Tough Guy is the earliest contemporary OCR, with the first race held in 1987. The race has been running continually since its inception and continues to attract contemporary and professional athletes. The Survival Run also emerged in the late 1980s as a competition in the Netherlands. This originated as a way to run across the Dutch rural landscape, crossing streams, canals and other natural terrain. Events like Hang-On Run can trace their origins back to Survival Running. The HiTec Adventure Racing Series (1996 - 2002) was an early version of the contemporary race and included "special tests" (man made obstacles with walls, nets, etc.), mountain biking and kayaking. The Balance Bar races in the United States expanded on the success of the Hi Tech series, including a televised national series and championships. The Muddy Buddy races in the United States (results here) were a national obstacle race series produced by Competitor Group from 1999 to 2013 and was the first major series to introduce mud elements and remove additional equipment. Muddy Buddy was the event format that transitioned adventure racing to obstacle racing as we know today.
caption: Military Obstacle Course
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