5 Best Obstacle Races for 2014

Want to put yourself through hell? Here’s how to choose your torture arena—and learn which events to steer clear of.

Nothing breaks up 

the monotony of a 10-mile trail run like climbing a rope ladder, wading through chest-deep mud or dropping into an ice bath from 10 feet up. But obstacle races do more than make a run interesting. “The community is what keeps you coming back,” said Matt B. Davis, co-founder of ObstacleRacingMedia.com and author of Down and Dirty: The Essential Training Guide for Obstacle Races and Mud Runs(available July 1). “It’s a group of like-minded people spending a day helping each other out.”

Thankfully, the sport’s growth has led to a multitude of choices when it comes to running an obstacle race. We’ve got some tips on choosing the right one—and what races to avoid.

For your first race, stick with a short race from a well-known outlet. Davis recommends the Warrior Dash (warriordash.com) for its beginner-friendly obstacles and short distance (10-12 obstacles over roughly 3 miles). Looking or something longer? The Tough Mudder (toughmudder.com)—with around 25 obstacles over 10-12 miles—and the Spartan race series (spartanrace.com) are the two biggest, and both are well-organized with a series of engaging obstacles. Davis’ choice between the two? “The Spartan Race: it’s consistently challenging, they put on tons of races, and they time their participants. Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash don’t do that.” Also, the Spartan Race offers several distances, including the Spartan Sprint (15+ obstacles over 3 miles), Super Spartan (20+ obstacles over 8 miles), and the Spartan Beast (25+ obstacles over 10-12 miles).

If you’re looking for a lesser-known race, give the Savage Race (savagerace.com) a look. “They put on quality events,” Davis said. And with an average of 4 obstacles per mile, they’re tied with Spartan Sprint for most obstacles per mile. If you want to stay on pavement, give our own Men’s Health Urbanathlon a shot (menshealthurbanathlon.com). Held in the fall in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, participants run through tire obstacles, climb cargo net ladders, and scramble over cars and buses on courses up to 12 miles. For the ultimate challenge, work your way up to The World’s Toughest Mudder  (toughmudder.com), where competitors have 24 hours to complete a ramped-up version of a 12-mile Tough Mudder course.

They’re not all great, though—poorly planned, disorganized races can be frustrating, boring, or downright dangerous. Davis says that there are two main red flags to watch out for—no website, or a lot of TBDs on their upcoming races page. “Watch out if they’ve got a Facebook page but no website, or they’re announcing a lot of races before they’ve hosted their first one,” Davis said. Check out Obstacleracingmedia's list of races to avoid.

Davis’ final tip for getting the most enjoyment out of an obstacle race? Don’t wear cotton anything. “You’re going to get wet, and cotton gets really heavy when it soaks up water, and it takes forever to dry,” he said. “Go with a synthetic fabric, something that won’t absorb so much water.”

So you think you’re ready? Go here for our mud-run training plan—and prepare to get dirty.