The 50-foot waterslide is one of the highlights of the Rugged Maniac 5K Obstacle Race coming to Raceway Park July 12-13. Competitors will tackle 25 obstacles, including a tunnel and fire, during the 5K race. Raceway Park has been witness to legendary races over the years, but nothing quite like the Rugged Maniac 5K Obstacle Race.
The event will bring 11,000 runners and thrill-seekers to the famous motorsport park on July 12-13.
While the famed quarter-mile drag strip will be silent, the grounds around the track will be buzzing with runners taking on the challenge of negotiating a series of obstacles while completing 3.1 miles of running.
In recent years, extreme obstacle course races have been in vogue. What separates this event from the others, according to Rugged Maniac Chief Operating Officer Rob Dickens, is that this race is for everyone. You don’t have to be a fitness guru to enjoy it.
“We tried to strike a perfect balance between fun and physical challenge,” he said. “We have things that will push you that you wouldn’t normally do.”
That includes running through mud, jumping over fire or swinging pendulums and jumping on a trampoline. In all, runners will face 25 obstacles along the 5K course inside Raceway Park.
Dickens said the most popular obstacle is the water slide that comes near the end of the race. It can also be the most daunting, as competitors have to climb three stacks of large shipping containers before reaching the slide for a 50-foot drop.
The underground tunnels, Dickens noted, are the most dreaded.
“We try to do things that are unique,” he said.
Women make up 50 percent of the competitors at Rugged Maniac, by far the highest percentage of any of the obstacle-course events.
Dickens said Raceway Park is one of the best stops of the Rugged Maniac calendar. This is the fourth year the event has been there.
“[Raceway Park] is well-situated between Philadelphia and New York City, where there are millions of people,” he said. “It’s one of the best venues, with a creek and runs through the forest.”
The course is best suited for an 80- to 100-acre layout.
Dickens said his crew generally arrives the Sunday before the event to start constructing the course.
The 11,000 runners do not compete all at once, but over two days. Three hundred runners at a time will tackle the course, with groups of “rugged maniacs” leaving every 15 minutes.
“That’s the perfect amount of people [300],” Dickens said. “Everyone gets to the obstacles at the same time. There’s no waiting.”
It takes between 45 minutes and an hour for a competitor to complete the 5K obstacle course.
Rugged Maniac was recently featured on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, invested $1.75 million into it.
Dickens said Cuban will help raise the profile of Rugged Maniac and help it grow into one of the biggest in the country.
The first Rugged Maniac was held in October 2010 in Massachusetts. The next year, it grew to nine venues. In 2012, it grew to 14 stops, and for the last two years, there have been 20 events across the country. Dickens said Rugged Maniac will expand in 2015.
Tickets to compete this weekend are $90. In addition to registering online before race day, competitors can register the day of the event. Discount prices are available for students and military personnel with valid identification.
The first runners take off at 9 a.m. on both days.
The daylong event features music, mechanical bulls, adult bounce houses, craft beer from Harpoon Brewery, food and exhibition booths.
The New Jersey Rugged Maniac obstacle race can be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruggedmaniac and on Twitter at @RuggedManiac.