Rugged Maniac 5k Obstacle Run

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 online). 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. As another reviewer mentioned, there was a bit of a «bait and switch» with respect to the free beer (was promised Harpoon, got Budweiser) 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 having 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!

Rugged Maniac is a well executed obstacle event! I’ve done a couple of different programs (you’ve heard of them) in the last couple years, so I know this is a good one. I like the obstacles and the distance. It was organized fun for my team and me.
I signed up for RM 2 years ago but didn’t compete due to a foot injury. I missed last year to avoid getting hurt before a full marathon I’d been training for. So 2015 is my year to finally get to run it, and run it I did! Sprained wrist and all, I loved it from start to finish. Rugged Maniac is a great event that anyone can participate in and have rugged, good time!

First of all, the main reason I signed up was to get the beer at the end. The beer at the end was *promised* to be harpoon or ufo. Instead, it was budweiser or bud light. So basically, the promo emails LIED.
I ran a stupid amount, climbed a bunch of tall things, went through a sloppy few ponds of mud to get budweiser?
LAMEST fucking run ever

This was my second Rugged Maniac and I loved it even more this year. Who packs 25 obstacles into a 5K? Maniacs. I registered early so the cost was stupid cheap, compared to other mud runs. There was a bit of confusion as I stopped getting emails & my team was all assigned different starting waves but the organizers were very chill & just let us all go in a later wave.
The waves were spread out evenly, so there was never much of a wait for an obstacle. I love the climb & crawl over obstacles and there were at least 8 of them. I haven’t launched off of a trampoline in years, antigravity was a blast. My greatest achievement was making it across the ringer. The frog hop took some timing & skill. The gauntlet was hilarious, shaky ladders over water with people tossing huge inflatables trying to knock each other off. The mud crawls were challenging with really low barbed wire and tons of rocks. I got a few good scratches on those.
The warped wall is tallllll. I was so intimidated but just took off like a rocket & landed safely at the top. The cargo net crawl over other waves of runners was a nice touch! Then you get to take a ride down the accelerator, a huge slide that lands in muddy water.
The showers were barely a trickle but I always bring my 5 gallon & a cyphon to be safe. The medal rocks. I’m wearing the t-​shirt right now and that beer tasted divine. Well run, so fun — we will be back again!

3.1 miles and 25 muddy obstacles (aparently). I guess this is their watered down version of Tough Mudder right down to climbing over a wall to get to the start line was like one big TM rip off. You could volunteer and run for free. Entry included a T-​Shirt and Beer post Run.
There was very little Running at this event, more waiting at obstacles then anything. Some of the obstacles were fun (Mud Crawls, Monkey hoops, Climbing Walls ect) but then some were just really lame. Walking through a muddy puddle or a pile of foam is not what I would call an obstacle and there was not 25 of them, a couple listed on the map were nowhere to be seen. The final was pretty fun though — you climb up to a large slide that goes down to the finish line. Gives you the mutha of all wedges though.
This event you had the option to be timed and run for prizes, I would usually be all for this but as I was with my Husband and he’s a lot slower than me I didn’t bother and instead let him set the pace.
I felt really bad for those that did pay extra for this though as they ran the same course as everybody else and had to stand and wait at obstacles. It’s in instances like this that they need a separate course or a special section for those people to bypass the waiting. I ended up letting a few of those people ahead of me just so that they could shave a few seconds off of their time.
The Guy getting everybody ready at the start line was pretty cool though and did a good job at getting everybody amped up for the event and a big bonus for me was that all professional pictures taken on the course are free and will be available later on in the week.
Also:
— No signs to indicate where restrooms were.
— Wanted to charge $ 5 for changing your wave time. We got here really early and just joined when we could as did many other people. Some ran later some earlier so it all evened out. The organizers were just trying to make extra money out of people.
— Only 1 Water station on the course.
Sign up was easy but had a few small issues:
— Paid an extra $ 20+ in hidden fee’s when registering in February only 6 weeks later for them to do away with those extra fee’s. So what. those who sign up earlier get penalized?
— Was sent an email the day before the event a stating course map has been added to the racer info packet only it hadn’t. I really wanted to see the course before the event. more for my Husband than for myself so that I could make sure he was prepared. It wasn’t available until the actual day.
Would I do it again? Probably but only if I got discount again (got a Groupon). I would not pay the full price of $ 70 or so when I only paid $ 85 to run Tough Mudder again in August.