A few years ago who would have ever thought that running obstacle courses with friends would be the next big thing. Reaching the mid-point of 2012 I’ve already had countless friends, co-workers, clients and even myself sign up for these races (just signed up for New Jersey Tough Mudder in October!). The idea is simple, gather a close group of friends and sign up a couple months in advance for a local obstacle course race. These can range from 3 miles, to 6 miles to even 13.1 miles for the serious competitors. By committing to these races with a group of friends you are enacting some the principles of true fitness. By running with a group of friends you’ve created a micro-community that will help support you in training and in the process, get you more fit. By signing up for an obstacle course, you’ve decided to choose a type of fitness activity that involves play and fun. In addition, training for the race can spice up your daily work out routine because now you can add more functional types of exercises that will help you in your race (i.e. planking exercises to help strengthen your core as you keep your upper body afloat while crawling through a pool of mud). Lastly, for you remarkable people bent on changing the world, these races are an easy and great way to fund raise for a good cause. Most of these races help support social good organizations and nonprofits relating to health issues and more.
If you are new to obstacles courses and are interested in learning more, here are a few of them that have been popping up around the country:
Warrior’s Dash – 3.2 miles of running, climbing walls, balancing on ropes and crawling through mud!
Run for Your Lives - 5K of running through obstacles while… avoiding zombies!
Tough Mudder – For the serious weekend warrior, 10-12 miles of 20+ grueling obstacles. Train hard for this one and achieve glory with fellow Tough Mudder friends!
Spartan Race – A description won’t do it justice. Click and link and check out the website if you dare to become a warrior of Spartan caliber!
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