Over the past half-decade, Obstacle Course Racing has taken the fitness world by storm, adding handfuls of physical challenges to normal running courses to create intense endurance hybrids delivered by multiple brands globally.

Togetherness and Community

A major contributing factor to the popularity of Obstacle Course Racing is the emphasis on teamwork, where many OCR events encourage participants to work together to overcome obstacles and some events even require participants to assist each other to complete some of the obstacles. This focus on camaraderie sets OCR apart from other endurance-based individual sports and has contributed to the meteoric rise of OCR globally.

The Middle East has been no different with OCR and hybrid racing growing in popularity, in the number of events as well as the number of brands over the last few years.

The spirit of teamwork has been taken to new levels with the UAE’s Government Games – a short course OCR that must be completed as a team, being run annually in Dubai. This event has attracted teams from around the world and has had new divisions added annually with one of the world’s largest prize pots on offer.

Global Showpiece

Another contributing factor is the Middle East’s desire to present and host global events, as seen with the Spartan World Championship in Abu Dhabi as well as the Tough Mudder in AlUla which is one of the best OCR events run globally with the largest selection of the world’s top OCR athletes.

What does the future of OCR look like in the Middle East?

We believe that the number of international events that attract a global audience will continue to grow as new brands and event formats are launched in the region. These international events will be supported by several community-based events that aim to increase the number of opportunities for new and aspiring athletes to try OCR.

In addition to the event series, 2024/5 will introduce a school series that will complete the ecosystem of sports development, community events, and international-level competitions in the GCC.