Races vary in length from courses with obstacles close together to events of several kilometers[1] which incorporate elements of track, road and/or cross country/trail running.

Courses may include climbing over walls or up ropes, monkey bars, carrying heavy objects, traversing bodies of water or mud, crawling under barbed wire, and jumping through fire.

[2][3] Since the beginning of modern OCR in 1987, the sport has grown in popularity such that more than 2500 events are held annually across the world[4] and several run organizing companies are commercially successful.

This began when the setters of a drag hunt trail in the village of Beltrum organized a foot race that incorporated the natural obstacles of the course.

[8] There are now more than 30 annual survivalruns in the Netherlands which incorporate both natural and built obstacles and form an organized amateur competition.

[15] Spartan Race founder Joe De Sena set a goal to take the sport to the Olympics and tapped event and television producer Ian Adamson for the task in 2014.

In 2017, the UIPM (modern pentathlon) tested a laser-run course with obstacles and made an unsuccessful application to add it as a mixed team medal event for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

[27] In recent years, obstacle course racing has been emerging onto the college scene in the United States.

Muddy Buddy[29] (1999 - 2010) was the first national OCR series in the United States emphasizing man made obstacles and mud.

[30] Muddy Buddy ultimately went out of business under pressure from Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash which had simpler run-obstacle formats.

[31] In 2014, they were featured on ABC's Shark Tank and secured a $1.75 million deal with Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

It is designed to be more family-friendly and catered to people of all fitness levels, due to the shorter distance but larger number of obstacles.

The run ends with an all-day festival of beer, food, mechanical bull riding, adult-sized bounce houses, and sponsor exhibition booths.

Average finishing times for the events range from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on the particular course and fitness level of the racer.

[39] In the US, the Spartan Race World Championship was held in Killington, Vermont from 2012 until 2015 when it was moved to Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe.

Beginning in 2012, the Spartan Race World Championships were held annually in Killington, Vermont, and at Squaw Valley, CA since 2015 with a total of $500,000 in cash and prizes.

While Warrior Dash does not meet all the requirements to be considered a race, organizers do award their top finishers with non-cash prizes.

Founded in 2016 and named after the near-invincible battle formation from Indian mythology (Chakravyuha), the Chakravyuh Challenge is the first obstacle course race to be hosted in the state of Kerala in India.

The competition tests the participants' agility, bravery and problem-solving capability by pitting them against obstacles involving slush, water, ropes, inclined slopes, team-building exercises, fun mazes, and more.

The race is open to both men and women and held in three variations - Individual Competitive Category, Team Challenge, and Fun Run.

The obstacle race is part of a three-day adventure fest, held annually and the circuit itself is designed every year by former Indian Navy commandos.

[49] The self-named independent World Championship is an event owned and operated by Adventurey, a Brooklyn NY marketing and branding company.

First staged in 1987, Tough Guy claims to be the first official and toughest obstacle course race in the world.