The Event: The Ultra Beast is the first marathon/marathon+ length obstacle race. Competitors had to go through an application process and not everybody was accepted. It consisted of 2 laps through the regular Beast course with time cutoffs to ensure competitiveness. Anybody finishing in under 11 hours was awarded a Spartan Race 2013 Season's Pass.

The Event: The Death Race is as much a mental challenge as it is a physical beating. Hard, grueling terrain mixed with strenuous challenges and combined with a healthy dose of mind games make this event unique in the newly evolving world of obstacle races, and as far as I know it, it is unique in the more established adventure race world as well. Competitors don’t have any realistic idea about course length in miles or hours, and the only given is that they’ll have to chop wood somewhere along the line.

The Event: Civilian Military Combine (CMC) is just what the name implies: a combine. It’s a combination of a lifting event followed shortly by an obstacle race. The lifting event is four exercises done for a minute and thirty seconds each with a rest period of thirty seconds between exercises. The exercises are done for max reps with max total reps being worth the most points. The exercises are thursters (75 lbs men/45 lbs women), kettlebell swings (20 kg men/12 kg women), burpees, and 20” box jumps. In an industry of copy cats, this is a refreshing and unique challenge.

The Event: Tough Mudder is currently one of the big names in obstacle course running. They combine distance, quality obstacles, strenuous terrain, and the freezing cold to challenge participants both physically and mentally.

They say they are “possibly the toughest one day event of the planet”, and while I wouldn’t go that far in describing their events, they are definitely tough and challenging. Tough Mudder is not a timed race. They make it well known they see themselves as a challenge and that your fellow Mudders are to help you through the course and not step on your head to get over an obstacle (unless you offer of course).

The Event: S.E.R.E. is a team event, and this is the basic level of their challenge. There will be Advanced and Xtreme levels to come. Basic is meant to be a physical and mental challenge where trainees carry a ruck containing 20% their bodyweight in sand and whatever other supplies that are on the packing list or that they feel they need. It is led by former/current military personnel and is inspired by the military’s S.E.R.E. school in that teaching survival skills also plays a role in the challenge.

The Event: The GoRuck Challenge isn’t a race. It is a team challenge that generally covers about 15-20 miles over 12-15 hours where classes are led by ex-Special Forces cadre through a series of challenges designed to tax the class members mentally and physically while bring them together as a cohesive unit. Class members carry a backpack (aka a rucksack) during the entire challenge with 4-6 bricks in it depending on their bodyweight. Classes are capped at around 30 people. This is their idea of “Good livin’”.

The Event: I suppose the best way to begin this review is to explain that S.E.R.E. Performance offers a multitude of different challenges and events. Their “Basic” is the baseline and starting point for everyone who wants a gut-check and a lesson in survival. It then ascends from Basic to Advanced, Elite, and then Extreme. “Only four levels?” – You wonder? Nay, nay. This includes four separate facets of Advanced. They are: Urban, Jungle, Desert, and Maritime. The idea is to complete each level before moving on to the next. Now before I go way off into the deep-end, let me be clear that this is a review of their initial challenge; Washington D.C. Basic Class 001B. We were affectionately dubbed “The Frozen Chosin Few” after the Marines that fought in the Chosin Reservoir in Korean War.