Did one with my daughter last year, it was a total blast. Everyone was having fun and laughing and getting muddy and wet. A lot harder than I expected and the course had some cool obstacles.

Just don't take it too seriously.

That's what I am looking for. Was thinking about taking my young daughter to have her do the kids race. I am way past serious with this stuff and just want to get out and do the course.

Of the three distances, I've done two sprints and two middle length. They are a lot of fun. It reminds me of the stuff I did as a kid. You can be competitive if you want,or cruise and chat with the hotties. One sprint race was hilly, the weather was rainy, even snowed a bit at the top of the climb (in Malibu FGS),but it was a blast fighting the elements, the steep muddy trails, the obstacles. Yes there is a weird diehard culture but I just do my thing. the longer courses are really tough if you want to take a top spot. Lots of strength involved, and since I'm a runner at heart, I gots no big guns. But you need agility and balance, not just strength and speed. I tended to lose time in strength events, like flipping a tire that weights twice my weight, but always make up time in the running between obstacles.

Try the sprint first. If it hooks you, try another. uTube some races to get a feel for it if you haven't already.

They look like a good photo op for your facebook page.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Few of my highschool friends are comically into it. Like an "official" training group with a name and banner that they take pictures with into it. It's undoubtedly a good workout though as many of them lost some serious weight throughout. That and the social aspect more than makes up for the goofy elements in my book. I'm sure they think I'm just as goofy in my bright colored kit on a road bike.

I did a warrior dash with my brother and it was fairly stupid, but the longer distances of these races looks pretty cool.

I enjoy these and have done 2 Tough Mudders here in the midwest with some friends. Love the obstacles but towards the end of 10 miles, the mud on your shoes and everywhere else gets kinda old :). It is much better with a team, some obstacles are pretty hard and almost require help from your teammates or other participants.

I talked my brother into signing up for Toughest Mudder, so we will see how I like obstacles course races after that.

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Max

Uh, what the fuck is this shit?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

I've done a couple sprints and the long distance one called a 'beast'. I had a blast in everyone of them. Just like tri's, you get all walks of life in the shorter distance races, but more dedicated folks at the longer distance.

Having some strength training in your background in good, but really it's not too difficult. As stated in other responses, it's all about getting muddy and having fun.

For a frame of reference, I'm a standard MOP tri racer at 1/2 and full IM distances, and I finished all the Spartan races in the top 5%. Just think of the Spartan races as a 5K, 10k, or 1/2 marathon distance event with a strength based obstacles thrown in every 1/4 mile.

I had my teenage son join for one of the races and he loved it. Go do it and have fun!

My wife and I have been racing Spartan events for about a year now. We are 20 year triathlon veterans who became board with the monotony of triathlon training and racing. We were just not excited about triathlon anymore and joined a Spartan training group at our gym. We did the medium distance race, the Spartan Super as our first race and had a total blast. We raced in the Competitive heat, starting behind the Elite field, and before the hordes in the Open heat. Despite having the endurance to cover the 8 miles of running, I struggled with many of the strength based obstacles. If you fail an obstacle, you have penalty burpees before you can move on to the next part of the course.

We enjoyed the experience so much, we quit our high priced gym and joined a smaller gym that focuses on Spartan and OCR training. We now train and race with a great group of people from all types of athletic backgrounds including triathlon, ultramarathons, rugby, and basketball. My strength has improved to the point where I have "cleaned" - no burpees in my last couple of races. I'm no longer a skinny emaciated triathlete and feel I have far greater functional fitness and balance. I look forward to going to workouts now, it is not a grudge like triathlon training became for me. Every workout is different. One day we will do 80lb 200 yard bucket carries followed by 5 minutes of going back and forth on the monkey bars followed by kettle bell swings. Oh, and we start the workout with a game of tug of war. Yeah, it is kind of corny, but we sure are having fun.

One thing I noticed when I started doing OCR are the people at the races. Everyone is really having a great time laughing at all the crazy obstacles, the mud, and each other. I cannot recall anyone having that much fun at a tri until maybe the finish line. We now train and race with a great group of people all pushing each other to make it through obstacles. All ages and genders can also race together so for the first time in many years other than running races, my wife and I can compete together. When my kids are old enough, I hope they will race along side us.

thanks, that all sounds very cool. I am the same place with TRI and while I enjoy the long rides and runs, the risk of riding anywhere on a bike these days has me looking for something else. Plus, as I get older, I want to put om more muscle and the skinny tri body just doesn't cut it. With tri training its hard to put on muscle and this looks like a good alternative.

I don't get into the rah rah aspect of these things so not sure I will that with the Spartan races, but I like the idea of adding a muscular component to the races.

The cost seems pretty high for the sprint I am looking at in the range of $140 but no one does tri and or really any hobby these days on a tight budget. Just got back into scuba diving and dropped a grand without even blinking.

Really like the idea of getting my little girl into doing these with me. ( the kid version the same day)