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

I signed up for the Terrain Mud Run in Temecula (SoCal), California with zero expectation. None. Nada. Zilch. This mud run thing was something I had never done. What could I expect?

The idea of competing in a "mud run" came to me after seeing a Spartan event on television while slowly working out late on Tuesday evening. Over the course of a year I had lost nearly 100 pounds and working at the gym had become a little easier, but I no longer had a goal.

I need a goal.

After watching the Spartan event I immediately went home and on-line, watched videos, did research, and discovered the Terrain Mud Run SoCal to be the next, closest event.

So I signed up.

Upon arrival at the venue (the dry dirt and wash behind Storm Stadium) I felt apprehension. Being a little older...okay a lot older than the average runner I felt out of place. But only briefly.

As I warmed up I got excited. It was a clear, warm day and lots of happy people milling about. People of every shape and size ready and willing to go.

At 1130 I wandered to the starting line and discovered the pool we would start in. Not happy. But whatever. In a blink we were off and running. And panting. I had not trained well-enough for the running. Note to self.

First obstacles were walls and I made it over relatively easy. Except the 12 foot. A little trouble there.but made it. Then more running. And running. And a wide variety of obstacles I had never experienced. Short rope climb (fail), very low monkey bars (fail), mud pit, tire climb, wreck bag carry, balance thingy, cargo net, and so on. And, at the end, the thing over the water with the hand grips and balls and whatnot. Immediate fail. Apparently my elbow injury is not entirely mended.

In the end I had fun. The goal right?

How was the course? I dunno. Good? My first time. So good for me. Not enough hills. I do actually run in the hills by my house and enjoy that a great deal. The festival area was meh, the tee-shirt okay and the medal bitchin! (Totally)

Would I recommend? Yeah, absolutely. It wasn't easy, it wasn't amazingly hard...it was the bed on the end...just right.

Will I go again? Yes. I have a time to beat and an age division (old man) to come in first.

The location and terrain of the race was the best part. Obstacles where very basic. The course was confusing to map. Orange tape wasused to try to navigate racers but by the 1 o clock heat much of it was torn down and made it very difficult to know where to go next. It took a week for race times to be posted on their website and whoever is running their social media/email never responded to a single message. Granted this was their first time in florida but frankly if they want ppl to come back, they need to step their professionalism up.

The 2014 Flagstaff run was good but left me wanting more and wondering if I was going to come back. In between then and now, I had a chance to interact with some of the Terrain team and Lashay Marks. Their dedication to the sport convinced me to try this one again. I can honestly say, “I’m glad I did”. I had a great time, the run was well put together, the festival was one of the best I’ve been to. The one little glitch I experienced (there is always one) was quickly handled with no muss or fuss. Top notch customer service by the registration personnel.
Camping near the race grounds, in town discounts for the racers (nice touch there), and the extreme adventure course on Sunday really made our Racecation complete.

I had already signed up for Phoenix and Las Vegas, but if I hadn’t I would have signed up right away.

Wow, what a fantastic event in the pines of Flagstaff! This was a challenging and well designed course that was perfect for all abilities. The weather was perfect!

There were a lot of great things about the event overall I'll comment on like the layout, vibe and the course. The vendor tents were stocked full of great gear to purchase and they gave away so many items that helped out a lot. They had a pizza truck show up with deliciously over sized slices for only $4! The beer was super cold and delicious and all of the volunteers were phenomenal. The porto potties were easily accessible and very clean as well. Let's not forget parking was free! The medals are the BEST I've ever seen and we always get super comfortable shirts to wear. If you do extra laps, you get a secret pin as well. Because I did 2 races this year, I got a second medal and I'll get another unique medal when I complete my third race in October. Overall, this was so worth all the money paid and way better than Spartan.


The course overall was perfectly designed. The obstacles started slow and a nice run through the woods got the body all warmed up. The hills were a nice grade to get the heart rate going and the descents were a nice way to cool down after the climbs. The thing I enjoy about Terrain events is that they run you through mud but balance it out with a lot of full on water obstacles to was you off. There were plenty of walls to climb, wreck bags to run with, tubes to crawl through and mud pits to navigate. The water was just chilly enough to shock you but also a perfect way to cool you off as the temperature of the day climbed. The runs were nice and long in a few section for some great forest running and the natural obstacles like logs, water holes and walls added to the challenge. They had 2 fully stocked water stations to serve the 10K course (1 for the 5K you could visit twice) and plenty of free water. The volunteers were also super nice and friendly which helps when you're out there hurting. In the end, the course was tough enough to tire you out but fun enough to make it an extremely rewarding experience.

There were a few things though that they could improve on:

Some consistent music would be great to keep the event moving and grooving. They should make the very first stop into the event a table/shade structure that has the waivers in it for people to sign before they ever get to the registration tent to help speed things up. Also, there was a mud obstacle that had extremely sharp rocks that people were getting hurt on. Maybe the grounds could have been tested before unleashing the racers. The slides are brutal to go down because they aren't slick enough and the rocks underneath them tear up your backside up. Finally, there were no showers to rinse off before heading home which aren't a really big deal since we get dunked before finishing but it would be nice to have that option.

In summary, this is a top notch event and way better that Spartan. Everyone involved is approachable, friendly and positive. I not only recommend this series to people, I also try to promote their events as well since they have shown me they are genuine and sincere people.

I'll see all of you in Tucson!

Unicornios Power!!!

Excellent run! My son and I will probably do many more.

The accessibility of the course was wonderfully balanced. There was something for everyone: long stretches of trail for runners, opportunities for team-work, individually-challenging obstacles, and everything in between.

Why are you now charging a mandatory insurance fee - I am paying as much for insurance as I do for 1 admission to run. The government already mandates that we have insurance - I certainly don't need to be told I need insurance to run an obstacle race. We have enjoyed many of your races and you are turning this into a money pit, charging fees for parking and insurance. You are getting no better than all the other mud runs in town and the obstacles are not as good. This will be our last season racing if this continues.

This was my first Terrain Mud Run and it was the first 10K I've ever entered as well. I've done Spartan, Warrior Dash and a few other races but this course was superior to them all. The water obstacles were everywhere and it was the perfect combination of getting muddy then rinsing off to get even more muddy. The walls were places perfectly except the one on the 10K course after the super deep water hole because people were slipping off the top and falling. The tire flip was great and I loved that you drench us before the finish line.

Thank you to the entire staff for being super nice and putting together a course that was very challenging but fun. I look forward to future courses and the in town courses.

This was my first Mud Run and it was AMAZING! My daughter and I were a little nervous to try it but had an amazing time! We are now addicted and can't wait for the next one! I have nothing else to compare it to but if the rest are anything like this I am going to every one that I can get to! It was challenging but the rest of the people there were very nice and very supportive. The team work from people you have never met before and may never see again was great to see. Thank you for the great time and great memories with my daughter. My only complaint is that there could have been another water station on the 5K course but other than that amazing time.

I did the 10k elite race in Flagstaff and it was awesome- Ive never been so tired. It is a smaller operation than some of the bigger series like Spartan and Tough Mudder but you would never know it because they do such a great job. The obstacles are none stop, and the terrain is tough, uphill, downhill, over, under, and plenty of mud. The stations had water AND gatorade and were well spaced. There is very little waiting, if any, at the obstacles like at some other races even if you don't choose the elite heat. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, you can tell they care alot about their operation. You get a nice shirt, medal and bars and fruit at the end. Cant wait for the next one!

I wanted to give this a review from a person who has only done Spartan OCR races. At first I was thinking this might be another "mud run" cheesy obstacles not very challenging. After speaking to a few other top athletes they said Terrain has really stepped it up. And I can honestly say that did that. Plus they also added an Elite start time. This was a great course. A nice runners course with some very challenging obstacles. The spacing on each were just about right. Only a few course direction problems but they all have that. I found this Phoenix location at Rawhide to be a great location for this event. I would only say it might be nice to have a few other photographers around the course. This one only had one. And I do like the medals and Terrain's are large which I like, plus they are orange!