Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 59, June 2014 | Page 40

OBSTACLE RACING

Up for the Challenge?
Obstacle racing is one of SA’s
fastest-growing sports, so if you
haven’t taken one on yet, it’s time
to join the party.
– BY SEAN FALCONER

T

hese days there are so many events
on the calendar to choose between if you’re
a runner or fitness enthusiast: Road runs,
trail runs, cross-country, orienteering events,
adventure races, colour runs, biathlons,
duathlons, triathlons, aquathlons, multi-sport
events… but one of the most popular and
fastest-growing event types is obstacle racing.
All around the world this fun, challenging sport
is gaining more and more support, with more
events being added to the calendar all the
time, and here in South Africa we have a few
real classics already, which sees thousands of
athletes climbing over vertical walls, shimmying
up ropes, crawling under barbed wire, swimming
through thick mud and having a ball at the same
time.

net climbing, and work on upper body strength,
which many runners neglect while focusing on
leg strength.

To get through these races in one piece and
without being sore for days, you need fitness,
stamina and good muscle coordination, and it
helps if you know how to ‘attack’ the various
obstacles. A bit of strategy can go a long way
in you getting to the finish line faster and using
less energy. So it helps if you do specific training
before a big event, like rope climbing or cargo

But when you hit the finish line of an
obstacle race, you will experience a sense of
achievement that few other events can match,
because you will have pushed yourself to your
physical limit, challenged your fears, taken
yourself so far out of your comfort zone that
you will have forgotten where it is, and had a
whale of a time in the process.

Many obstacle racing participants are either
non-athletes, doing it for fun with friends or
work colleagues, or are runners or riders that
are not used to the tough challenges. It is
therefore highly recommended that you start
with the entry-level courses that have less
obstacles. If you get through that in a good
condition, then step it up at the next event,
but plunging straight into the longest distance
on offer with the most obstacles may be biting
off a bit too much at first – and could result in
a very unhappy race experience, or worse, an
injury.

Take on the Warrior
The Jeep Warrior Race series consists
of eight events spread out over the year
and each one offers three distances
with varying levels of difficulty: The
Brats race is 500m to 1km long with
eight obstacles, and is reserved for
kids aged five to nine, while the Rookie
is 6km to 8km with 15 obstacles, and
anybody aged 10 and upwards can
participate. The big one is called Blackops, and it really is like a special forces
training course: 18km to 21km long,
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