Rugged Maniac obstacle races, mud run, and OCR information, distance, cost, dates, calendar, discounts, obstacles, reviews, and more

Awesome!!!

Absolutely awesome! I love this run. People coming together, cheering on & helping each other - stuff you don't see in everyday life! Kids & adults do this run. Would definitely recommend this. I plan on doing this again!!

This was my first adventure race and it was a blast! The hills were a bit much but no complaints. Great race!

Amazing time

This was my first run and it was an amazing time. It was a lot of fun and pushed me to the limit. I successfully finished even though it had taken longer than I originally hoped but since this race I am hooked on them.

Had a blast!!! Well organized! Lots of obstacles and no waiting at each obstacle like other mud runs. Perfect amount of challenge. Cannot wait to do it again!!!!!!

Very well run event. Fun and challenging for the novice! Great time with our gym group with mixed fitness levels!

They finally have medals!!!

DIFFICULTY = Beginner

PARKING = B
Parking was onsite and there was a $10 charge. You park close to the festival area in the grass.

FESTIVAL = B
They had a DJ, vendors, food, and merchandise. Probably the best festival area to date for Rugged Maniac.

BAG CHECK = C
Bag check was secure and there was a fee.

STARTING LINE = B
They had a DJ to hype you up (he was good), 2 arches, 2 obstacles, and you went under the cargo net which ended the race. Instead of starting in an open area near a starting line, this felt like you were entering a corral or alley. They did not have the clock from previous years.

COURSE LAYOUT = A
Rugged Maniac has a great course layout of dirt, grass, wood, mud, gravel, hills, and man-made water. Their course is 3.2 miles of back to back obstacles (and obstacles are the reason why most people do races).

OBSTACLES = B
Rugged Maniac has 25 obstacles which are almost back to back for the entire length of the course. They have the average obstacles that you see at a race (walls, A frames, over/unders, weight carry, cargo net, tunnels, fire jump, mud hills) and some new ones (a giant inflatable rectangle with a rope on the side called Blobstacle, monkey rings, fox holes). Missing from the last 2 years was my favorite obstacle, the mud pit jumps.

Best Obstacle = Blobstacle
Worst Obstacle = Cage Crawl

WATER STATIONS = B
They had 2 water stations in 3.2 miles. The spacing for the stations was good. Water only, no food.

FINISH LINE = C
They had a great final obstacle (quarter pipe into water slide), an arch, and a crowd. Missing was the timer.

SHOWERING/CHANGING = B
They had showers set up and a changing tent.

SWAG = B
Finally, Rugged Maniac offers medals! The medals are large square medals that are black and red with the Rugged Man on it. Of course, you also get a tshirt.

CONCLUSION:
Rugged Maniac is still one of the best races. This year’s race didn’t have as many obstacles and wasn’t as muddy as previous years but it’s still an awesome race for the 3.2 miles of back to back obstacles and still is one of the muddiest races I have done. They finally stepped it up and started offering medals. Rugged Maniac is constantly improving. They change up their course, their obstacles, and their terrain so each year is almost like a new race. Even though this is an easy race, I still love doing it. It’s the best race for a beginner, too.

A Good, Well-Organized Event

This was my first Rugged Maniac and I had a really good time.

Let's take it category-by-category:

Price: Compared to some of the other mud runs/obstacle races it was a bargain (and even more of a bargain with the early registration price AND the discount code I found on this site). I also really like that there were not a bunch of other costs such as insurance or "processing fees" which add 20% or more to the total (as there are for most events put on by other companies).

Registration: Simple. The online registration had a couple less steps than the competitors. My time is valuable, I appreciate that.

Reliability: Unlike the locally scheduled Atlas Race (which was canceled about a month beforeheand--something which is increasingly more common for these types of events), this one went forward as planned.

Parking: Not bad. Only $8 charge (make sure to bring cash) and plenty of spaces that weren't miles away.

Check-In: Only had two people in front of me and we were all processed quickly. Couldn't have been in line more than five minutes and the staff was very friendly.

Festival Area: I would give this category 5 stars. It wasn't huge but it was fun and most of the activities were free. This was a HUGE bonus given that we had two kids that needed to be kept occupied (with a friend of ours) while my wife and I were out on the course. The contests were actually pretty fun to watch and the music was good.

Race Organization: Despite having nearly 5000 racers, the waves went out right on time and had just enough people to keep the course well populated but not cause traffic jams at the obstacles. We never waited longer than a few minutes for any obstacle and had no wait at all for several of them.

Race Course/Obstacles: Was it the most challenging course? No. Was it fun? Yes. Most were pretty easy--but not so easy to be boring--and there were a couple that were a bit of a challenge (including the sloped wall at the end) and most all of them were fun. It was also nice to see 26 of them in a race of this length. The course was also pretty flat so the running should be manageable for most anyone.

Post-Race Swag: The t-shirt was kind of thin and cheap but the finisher medal was actually quite nice. There was a bit of a "bait and switch" with respect to the free beer (was promised a "premium" brand beer and got a Bud) but after conquering 26 obstacles and running for 5K, "cold and free" is nice regardless of the brand.

Overall: A fun, relatively inexpensive event that caters to a broad range of participants. If you are a hard core OC racer and go in expecting to be challenged, you will probably be disappointed. However, if you go in with the perspective of wanting to have a lot of fun while getting some exercise, you shouldn't be disappointed at all. This would also be a perfect entry-level event for someone interested in OC racing.

Well done, Rugged Maniac!

RM is an AWESOME Race - and it continues to add more obstacles and challenges every year! I have done numerous RM races around the East Coast, and Southwick has been a family favorite. And the reason I give it only 4 stars is because there needs to be MORE MUD at the Southwick venue !!

Always the best!

Once again, this race proved to be the perfect combination of challenging and rewarding! Same easy process to check in at the race, minimal (if any!) back ups at the obstacles, very friendly staff/volunteers. The new obstacles were awesome!! Trampolines, warp wall, bag carry among others added a new level to this event. Cant wait to do it again next year!!

Most Fun

This race is fun, fun, fun! A great race for all ability levels. Want to avoid a bunch of super intense, skin-head dudes? Then this is the race. The vibe was great, everyone had fun, and, most importantly, there were so many obstacles and they were all amazing.