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Obstacle Course Racing (OCR)

Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is a sporting event requiring an athlete to run through a variety of different obstacles as fast as possible. The obstacles are designed to test the participants' strength, agility, endurance, and mental toughness. The OCR courses can vary in length and difficulty, ranging from short courses with a few obstacles to multi-day events with dozens of obstacles over a long distance.



The OCR course can include obstacles such as monkey bars, rope climbs, mud pits, crawling under barbed wire, jumping over hurdles, crawling under barbed wire, running through a series of hanging stun guns, carrying heavy objects, climbing over walls, and many more.

Originally, races were inspired by military training methods designed to test endurance as well as the physical and mental limits of athletes. The first race was designed in 1987 by Tough Guy. In recent years, longer distance OCR events have become a popular form of fitness and recreation, with many events and competitions held around the world.

obstacle course some OCR events involve teams

Some of the most popular Obstacle Course Races include the American Events Rugged Maniac, Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, Warrior Dash and these European events Tough Guy, Bog Commander, and Legion Run. These OCR events can be competitive, with participants racing to finish the course in the fastest time, or non-competitive, with participants working together to overcome the obstacles and finish the course as a team.

Short sprint-type obstacle courses are also becoming popular, and can resemble the ninja warrior courses. Obstacle racing was among the sports contested at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. There were events over 100 meters with 10 obstacles, 400 meters with 12 obstacles and 5 km with 20 obstacles. The Olympic sport of Modern Pentathlon is also considering replacing the horse show jumping discipline with a short obstacle race.

Vocation-specific obstacle races are part of the Military World Games.



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