Obstacle Course Racing Hats

Obstacle course racing is a sport where people pay to be shocked, soaked and humbled in public. At a Spartan Race, failing an obstacle costs a penalty: 30 burpees for Open heats, and the spear throw is the famous place to earn them. The company began in 2010 in Williston, Vermont with roughly 500 participants as a spin-off of the 48-hour Death Race, and in 2020 it bought Tough Mudder's assets out of bankruptcy for $700,000. Tough Mudder's own finisher obstacle, Electroshock Therapy, runs a field of hanging wires, and a Spartan bucket carry means hauling a gravel-filled 5-gallon bucket 200 to 400 metres up a steep trail. These obstacle course racing hats are for the people who finish anyway. The SPARTAN RACE and MUD RUN badges name the sport, MIND OVER MUDDER and DISREGARD PAIN, ACQUIRE MUD borrow the team-name and slogan canon that race crews already print on shirts, and the longer lines confess to the headband, the burpees, the bucket and the beer tent. A teammate whose orange headband still means something will get it at once. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Wear one to the start line, or give one to the friend who keeps signing the whole office up for the next race.