My Top 10 Mud Run Bucket List

Run for Your Lives zombie-infested 5K (photo courtesy of MSNBC)

I've got a respectable number of muddy obstacle races under my belt:

• Muddy Buddy
• Warrior Dash
• Tough Mudder
• Spartan Sprint
• Mad Mud Run
• Devil Dash

Since my descent into mud-run madness began with the Muddy Buddy back in 2010, obstacle racing has exploded in popularity.  Races are popping up left and right across the country, each with their own funky twist. 

Ready to run the Spartan Sprint in Malibu

My Top 10 Mud Run Bucket List

1) RhinO Night Race - Most obstacle courses feature 10-20 obstacles.  The rhinO course has up to ten times that amount over the span of 4 miles. Climbing through log-jungles, crawling through tunnel mazes, hoisting yourself up through platform holes, swinging across ropes, and maneuvering obstacles… at night.

2) Las Vegas Halloween Weekend Urban Obstacle Run - This 5K run hits the streets of downtown Las Vegas in full Halloween form. Scurry up rope ladders, sprint through cornfields, and save your fanciest footwork for the tire row. Once you make it past the brain-hungry zombies, more than 14,000 people will gather to perform the "Thriller" dance in an attempt to break the world record.

3) Run for Your Lives - Run For Your Lives is an apocalyptic 5K obstacle race. But you’re not just running against the clock — you’re running from brain-hungry, virus-spreading, bloody zombies.

4) Rugged Maniac - Rugged Maniac is a 5K obstacle course race that combines the most rugged terrain with at least twenty obstacles. You’ll climb over walls up to 12’ high, crawl through mud under barbed wire, slide down a 50’ water slide, jump over fire and face many other challenges all while running through a combination of forests, fields, motocross tracks and ski slopes.

Diva Dash (photo courtesy of Diva Dash)

5) Diva Dash - Diva Dash is an adventurous women-only 5K obstacle race. You will jump, climb, swing, and DASH your way to the finish line where even more contests and prizes await at the after party.

6) R.O.C. Race - The Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge takes the challenges of a military obstacle course and combines it with the competitive game show themes from favorites like Wipeout, American Gladiators, Double Dare and MXC.

7) The Survival Race - The Survival Race bills itself as the Original Family-Focused 5K, Obstacle Course & Mud Run.

8) Civilian Military Combine - The CMC starts with “The PIT” (strength element) and transitions into a 5-mile mountain run with military obstacles positioned throughout. The difficulty of the course is determined by you, the competitor, whether you are a weekend warrior looking for the ultimate challenge or a competitive athlete looking to win.

9) Pretty Muddy - Pretty Muddy is another women-only 5K with "architectural" obstacles.

10) Ruckus - Ruckus offers 2-, 4-, and 8-mile courses, and each course features 20+ large-scale obstacles.

Runners up: Obstacle Apocalypse, Savage Race, Rebel Race, Man vs. Mud, Renegade Playground Challenge, Living History Farms Race, Down & Dirty, Del Mar Mud Run, World Famous Mud Run, Casper Zombie 5K, The Runnnig Dead - Zombies, RTAW Walkers, Temecula Zombie Walk, Zombie Stomp Mud Run, Mavericks Mud Music & Obstacle 5K Run, Lozilu Womens' Mud Run Series, Dirty Dog Mud Run, Mean Streets Race Series, Mud, Sweat &  Beers, and Suicide Hill Mud Plunge 5K Adventure.