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When you start training or take part in physical activities (e.g. running races or obstacle course races), it is important to understand the risks involved. With the right preparation, your race experience will be both better and more fun, allowing you to reach the finish line in a controlled and safe manner. Here are our tips for avoiding beginner mistakes so you can approach the starting line with confidence!

1. Muscle Strains
   Muscle strains are one of the most common injuries for beginners, especially in muscles not accustomed to heavy loads. These injuries often occur when transitioning too quickly from a low activity lifestyle to intense exercise.
2. Joint Injuries
   Beginners can also suffer from joint injuries, particularly in the knees and ankles. Improper technique or a lack of stability can lead to joint overload.
3. Stress Fractures
   Another common injury is stress fractures, which often affect runners and athletes who increase their training volume too rapidly. These are small cracks in the bone caused by repetitive overload.
4. Tendinitis
   Inflammation of the tendons, known as tendinitis, is also a frequent injury. This occurs when tendons cannot handle a sudden spike in activity levels.

Understanding common injuries is only the first step. Here are concrete and practical strategies to avoid them:

1. Gradual Progression
   One of the most effective methods for preventing injury is to gradually increase the intensity and volume of your training. Start with light weights and short distances, increasing them slowly as your body grows stronger.
2. Warm-up and Cool-down
   A proper warm-up prepares your muscles and joints for exercise, while a cool-down helps the body recover. We recommend always including dynamic mobility exercises before training and stretching afterward.
3. Proper Technique
   Learning the correct technique from the start is crucial. Many beginners skip this step, which can lead to bad habits and injury.
4. Recovery
   Sufficient recovery between training sessions is vital. Many beginners underestimate the body’s need for time to heal and adapt.

Do you need help? Create an account on Toughest’s own training portal, Get Ready for Toughest. There, you can create your own training programs according to your own level as well as get technique tips for our obstacles.

At Toughest, you are in control. We have race types for all levels, from untrained fitness enthusiasts to elite athletes. Choose the obstacle course that fits your ability (2 km, 4 km, 8 km, 16 km) and only tackle the challenges you feel comfortable with. Participate without pressure, you decide what your race experience will look like.

Too difficult? Skip the obstacle or take the penalty round (a short jog).

Too easy? Try our unique “Fast Lanes,” which are more challenging alternatives to the standard obstacles.

Need help and support on the course? Run with your friends, colleagues or family and help each other out to beat the obstacles.

More about our race types

Starting your fitness journey as a beginner can be a challenge, but with the right motivation and knowledge of common injuries, you can look forward to a healthier lifestyle and training that lasts long-term.

Kickstart your training and boost your motivation by signing up for Toughest, the training goal you’ll actually look forward to!

Find races near you

The votes are in! What an honor!!!

Thank you all for voting for us! We are humble to receive the award for “Best international race 2023”, voted by obstacle course runners across the globe. It’s our 7:th Best Race award yet, but every single one means the world to us. Let’s make 2024 even better!

/ Toughest Crew

In case you’re wondering which obstacle course race to run this year… Look no further!

OCR runners across the globe have nominated and voted Toughest the “Best obstacle course race in the Eastern hemisphere”! After five consecutive years of the title “Best in Europe”, we have now received this humbling award.

We’re incredibly honored and thank you all for your continued support throughout the years. This gives us the feedback and energy we need to keep on pushing, improving and innovating. You are all awesome! Thank you!!! ❤️

/ Toughest Crew

For many of us, races are a strong incentive for exercising. For this reason, we are offering those affected by a cancelled race the opportunity to experience an adrenaline packed Toughest race for a heavily discounted price!

While many other events are forced to cancel, we have this fall been granted permits and successfully hosted events which comply with the strict pandemic regulations. As restrictions continue to be lifted, we are now able to accept more participants to our races.

Send your confirmation or receipt for a race cancelled due to Covid-19 and you’ll receive a personal discount code entitling you to 30% off any Toughest race during 2021!

Toughest is Swedens first, Nordics’ largest and Europe’s most liked obstacle course race, awarded best in Europe for five consecutive years. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience why!

The fineprint: Only races cancelled due to the pandemic are accepted. The discount is personal and can only be used once. In case of abuse, a penalty fee will be debited, matching the entire ticket cost. The offer is limited and will remain active during a limited period of time. The organizer reserves the right to end the offer without prior notice. Can not be combined with other offers or discounts.

As many major events have cancelled with short notice lately, many of you are wondering about how the current regulations affect our events and if we are arranging our events at all. The answer is: Yes – We are!

We keep a constant dialogue with authorities and follow all regulations and updates carefully. We have established a pandemic plan including adjustments on most parts of the event. In many aspects we go further than the requirements, just to be on the safe side.

Below is a short description of which rules apply and what adjustments you will meet at the event. As always, participants will receive a fully detailed e-mail a few days before the event regarding all practical matters.

As a race (“motionslopp”), we are allowed to have up to 900 persons at the same time in the start/finish area. We normally let around 70-100 people start every 5 minutes, however we have reduced our maximum number of participants to less than half of our capacity and will reduce starting groups accordingly. We will keep the allowed limits with a good margin as well as provide disinfectants and enough space for every participant to keep a safe distance.

Instructions on how to behave and what procedures to follow will be sent out to participants and we will assign pandemic hosts that will remind and make sure distance is kept and disinfectants are used.

We thank you all for respecting these guidelines. Together we will make this a safe event!

/ Toughest Crew

After a long year of restrictions and uncertainty we are now at the last phase of a very special time. Swedish authorities (Folkhälsomyndigheten – FHM) have now released their plan for opening up society and events. With upcoming race dates this fall and close discussions with local authorities we are ready for hosting events again!

What’s new?

FHM recently announced a plan for outdoor sport events with new regulations on participant numbers. The new plan is divided into three phases where the first stage allows 150 participants at a time, second level 900 participants and the final stage no limits on number of runners/participants. The first level is to be initialized on June 1st and FHM then estimates level two to be taken into effect in July, followed by the last “no-regulations” stage to be entered in August/September.

What does it mean for me?

The core concept of our races will be the same and course maps will be released within the next few weeks. The joy, adrenaline, obstacles and mud will all feel the same regardless of regulations! The limits will come down to number of participants, crowd management and might lead slightly shorter courses in terms of running, but rest assured that the track will still be packed with obstacles. We can also reveal that some of our ”Toughest 2.0 obstacles” will make their world premier this fall!

It has been a long wait, but we are extremely happy for these positive news. Registration is open so make sure to visit our registration page to secure your ticket for the upcoming events this fall!

Toughest Crew

Hello!

As a follow-up to previous information sent out in mid February, we have now come to the hard decision to re-schedule the upcoming events according to the table below.

With the restrictions enforced due to the pandemic, our assessment is that it is simply unlikely and moreover inappropriate to host an event amidst the current circumstances.

Approaching this fall, we will focus our efforts to fine-tune our security measures and keep a close dialogue with local authorities and land owners to ensure that we are able to host an event in the most safe way possible in terms of infection spread.

We realise that this may cause some frustration and believe us when we say that we are equally frustrated. We are more than ready deliver our world-class obstacles to our dedicated participants and as soon as we get the go-ahead, we will fire up the Toughest engine att full speed for a spectacular comeback. For now, we must respect the situation and do our best to stop the spread.

See you at the OCR track this fall, when we celebrate the end of Covid!

Best regards,
Toughest Crew

Hello OCR lovers!
Hope you’ve kick-started 2021 in the best possible way.

The past year has been humbling for most of us. Our daily routines and social interaction patterns have been pushed down the Ramp, into a deep and bottomless Mudland. What previously seemed odd and abnormal has now settled as the “new normal”.

A positive outlook

But in these struggling times, we are starting to see some light. With vaccines rolling out in a steady pace and more effective pre-emptive measures being implemented across communities, there are some indications and hope that restrictions will start to lift as we approach spring and early summer.

With this in mind, we have established a plan for alternative dates in 2021.

Hang in there

Finally, all we can say is hang in there and keep on training. Exercise and outdoor activities are especially important these days to stay healthy.

It has been a rough year, but we are hopefully starting to see the end. Make sure to follow recommendations from your local health authorities so that we can put this trial behind us and return to the “old normal”.

Hope to see you all on the race track later this year!

Best regards,
Toughest Crew

Thank you all for your support and all suggestions on alternative solutions. We have taken it in and come up with a package that we hope you will enjoy!

Your ticket for Toughest 2020 grants you the following:

• Digital Event – Late September/early October.
• Toughest 2020 Medal
• Big discount-ladder starting at 70% for 2021 (Value 200-500 SEK)
• 5 free trainings at Toughest LAB (value 1 000 SEK)
• Possibility to join local Toughest Short Course
• Free access to our online “Preparation Room”

Download document

About the package:

We have tried to put together the best possible mix of activities that we hope you will enjoy and appreciate!

Digital event

The digital event will be a chance to do “your own” Toughest-challenge together with us/others.

Local short course

The mini events will be small standardised challenges hosted in different local facilities (might be both indoors and outdoors). They will consist of a mix of running and obstacles/strength/agility. Not to be compared to a normal event but a way to test yourself on those elements and if you push hard – get that heart pumpin and maybe get that blood taste in your mouth!

Free trainings @ Toughest LAB

We also give you all a chance to train at our unique OCR gym Toughest LAB! Actually you will all get a 5 x training voucher. Make sure to take the chance! It is not only the best way to prepare for our races it is also probably one of the most fun training methods out there!

Medal

Medals will be rewarded to those participating in the digital or local events. Would you not be able to do this but still want a 2020 medal. Please contact us at info@toughest.se.

Preparation room

Many of you ask us how to best prepare for OCR and Toughest. There is not a short/easy answer since our races test a rage of abilities. We normally say that every kind of training helps out. But of course there are ways to train that really prepares you in an optimal way! To be able to guide you we built our own digital “Preparation Room”. You will get access so take the chance to see what kind of training schedule is suitable for you! The system takes your current status and your goal and gives you a personalized training program.

Discounts for 2021

Last but not least – we do hope to see you all at our future races! Of course you will get discounts for Toughest 2021. Earlier sign up means more discount. The following discount ladder applies:

Discount	Expiry
70%	Valid until October 1 st 2020
60%	Valid until December 1 st 2020
50%	Valid until February 1 st 2021
40%	Valid until April 1 st 2021
30%	Valid until June 1 st 2021
20%	Valid until August 2021

More information on how to sign up and claim these activities will come within the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Since our announcement on July 16th regarding our events in 2020 (read more here) we have received a lot of questions. We will therefore attempt to answer the most common ones via the link below.

Please read these through before contacting our support as we will simply refer to the information on the page below in case of any related questions. You’ll find the questions and answers under the “Corona” section.

Thank you for your understanding.

Common questions

After a very exceptional spring, with endless ideas and a number of adjusted event plans for how to make Toughest a Corona-safe event, we have now reached a dead end.

The way the authorities have enforced and interpreted the regulation of maximum 50 persons makes us unable to arrange any event in 2020. This is of course devastating, as we believe that our events are safer than others (held outdoors and can easily be divided into zones with fewer people) as opposed to going to any bigger mall/store or similar. It’s sad to see that the government doesn’t see the unfairness in this. We are frustrated, but unfortunately the decision isn’t ours to make.

Rest assured that we have tried. We really believe that our revised (and re-revised) plans, which we worked so hard on, were as safe as it gets. There would be no crowds, large control and strict hygiene regulations. But as for many other businesses (e.g. Swedish amusement parks which are now demanding 1,5 Billion SEK in compensation from the government, source SVT) there was no understanding nor interpretation of the regulations regarding closeness of people and no consideration on the surrounding factors (outdoors, size of area to name a few). The only thing that mattered was the number 50. For us, 50 people in a small store is a crowd. 50 people spread over several kilometers is not. Sick and elderly people indoors are a risk. Healthy relatively young people outdoors in small groups with lots of space are not. But as it is now the stores and restaurants are crowded. People cough and sneeze in public with no further regulation. But healthy people can’t go running in an organized event, even if separated in small groups. But it doesn’t matter what we think. It is what it is and hence we cannot host any normal events in 2020.

What will happen next one might ask. In the short term we will be able to deliver a digital event instead of a real event (more on that further down). Like many other event organizers, we will not be able push your registration to next year, nor are we able to issue refunds. Many of you will fully understand. But we know many don’t. So let us try to explain in full transparency:

Our business, alongside countless other event organizers, are using the very same business model. We rely on people signing up before the event. With the income from ticket sales, we are able to pay our rent, pay salaries to our staff, pay for costs related to event preparation etc. as well as eventually paying for the actual event production. Even though we have used every government issued “economic help package” which we have been entitled to, we still have a steady burn rate. This means that there is no money in our account to refund your ticket.

So, why are we not just transferring your ticket til next year? Well, the answer could be a bit tricky to understand. Let us try to explain. When you sign up for a race, that money ends up in our bank account, but it doesn’t end up in our (financial) books until we deliver the product (in this case the event). On the other hand, the costs end up in our books the same day we trigger them. This means that we have a lot of costs, but no income, until we actually deliver the event. The sad part of this is that we need to have the income this year (remember we need to deliver the event in order to register the income in our books) in order to cover our costs and stay alive. Without this, we will go bankrupt.

So why don’t we just register them this year and hand out free tickets to next year? If we do that, we will have no income next year, and that will put us out of business as well. Our Danish neighbours have understood this and the Danish government is now paying for all cancelled events due to Corona. We are very sorry the Swedish government still hasn’t understood the business model that all companies working with events are using – simply put: the Swedish government wants the individuals to pay for this…

We understand that this is far from an ideal situation, and we understand that some of you will be very frustrated with us and/or the government. Maybe a few of you will threaten us with lawsuits. Please understand that if this would go to court and you would be entitled to have your money back, that would force us into bankruptcy and thereby not resulting in the desired outcome.

ARN (Allmänna Reklamationsnämnden, The National Board for Consumer Disputes in Sweden) have issued a directive saying that Göteborgsvarvet doesn’t need to pay back the registration fee for their cancelled events (we can’t see any reason for other interpretations due to other legal structures as referred). We are leaning on that decision and think that it is the only valid interpretation without government bailout (again what happens in several other countries). There is nothing that we would want more than to host a real, physical Toughest event instead of a digital one. But just as the CEO of the biggest event/sports organization explained, “Marathon Gruppen” will go bankrupt if people claim their money back (source SVT). The same applies to us. If we don’t survive this pandemic, there won’t be any events, not now nor later. We believe that you, just as us, would prefer to have Toughest’s events back in 2021 and forward. Hence, this is the only choice we have.

This is a lose-lose situation and we are doing everything we possibly can to make something good out of this. As mentioned, we have decided to host a digital event and come up with some other initiatives/compensations. Initially we thought that there is no way a Toughest event can be held digitally. We still think that, but we have come up with a way to do this that we hope you will enjoy. We will go into details later on, but make sure you are ready mid/late September for this event.

Around mid august you will get an email from us, with instructions on how to move forward with this event. You will be getting a couple of choices of which you should tick one. The choices include a digital event as well as the best possible compensation packages at a level we can afford. And of course you will all get discounts on 2021 events. We hope this gives you some ease and we hope you understand that we do this to be able to continue our mission to help people beat their obstacles and deliver world class events!

As to communication please await further instructions (preliminary mid august) and we ask you not to email us right now. Since we have reduced both in numbers and in working hours due to Corona, we ask you to not send questions regarding the above, but wait until we publish more information. If you have something outside of this topic that needs handling please understand that the response times will be prolonged.

Again, we are very sorry for this to ever have happened. It’s not our decision and the health of our nation/globe is of course a higher priority. We hope we will see you again next year and when we stand there at the starting line, with music pumping, Brian pep talking, you guys jumping and high fiving, all set to get out there and face the course, we will all forget about 2020 and feel the adrenaline again!

Stay safe, see you at our digital event and hopefully we’ll meet you all for real at the starting line in 2021!

Nils & Adam,
CEO & Chairman

Today the Swedish Public Health Authority announced that some outdoor sporting events will be allowed to take place starting mid June. We are of course very enthusiastic about this report and will immediately begin communicating with authorities regarding how we can adapt our events according to the new directives.

We would like to emphasize that this does NOT mean that Toughest has received a go-ahead from authorities to arrange our events. As stated, we must first coordinate with local authorities to find out more about how this decision affects our events. Nonetheless, the new directives are least to say positive.

According to our previously communicated action plan, we were supposed to publish updates regarding our events in Stockholm and Copenhagen today. However in light of the new information we will postpone these decisions until we have properly coordinated with local authorities.

We hope that you have understanding for this. We will publish updated information as soon we know more about the regulations and terms imposed.

Make sure to return to our news section and actionplan.toughest.se to keep yourself up to date.

Best regards,
Toughest Crew

Many of you are wondering about the current state of our events. As transparency is important to us, we will do our best to keep you in the loop. Below you’ll find all the information you need about the current status and possible scenarios for each event.

Click on the status buttons below to see more information.

Last updated: June 2, 2020

Event	Status	Decision before
Malmö	New date →	April 10, 2020
Vörå	Postponed →	April 10, 2020
Umeå	Postponed →	May 22, 2020
Stockholm	View status	TBA
Copenhagen	Cancelled →	May 29, 2020
Oslo	View status	TBA
Älmhult	✓ Race as planned!
Gothenburg	✓ Race as planned!

Regular exercise is important to stay healthy and maintain a strong immune system. Download and print our checklist to remind yourself and others of the importance of hygiene during training. Share this post with anyone who may find it useful!

English:
A4 (PDF) | A3 (PDF) | WEB (JPG)

Swedish:
A4 (PDF) | A3 (PDF) | WEB (JPG)

Dear Fans, Followers, OCR Athletes and FRIENDS.
It is with great regret that we have to make this address.

The Corona/Covid-19 outbreak has affected all parts of society. Although most of us experience little to no symptoms, the virus imposes an undeniable risk of severe illness. Medical personnel are working around the clock to manage and contain the spread. You are our heroes!

Regrettably, the pandemic also has devastating effects on businesses and jobs, Toughest included. Rest assured, we are assertive that our company and experienced team are resilient enough to withstand the current challenges, but we could use a little help.

As an event organizer, our whole existence relies on You.
By signing up and attending our events, we get the funding and motivation needed to create the best obstacle course race in Europe. Amidst Corona, registrations have abruptly declined and we are currently in an alarming downwards spiral. We are confident that everything will return to normal again, but until then, our situation is critical.

Despite the common belief that Toughest is a large organization, in reality, we are a small, entrepreneurial company devoted to making the best obstacle courses and events out there. Since the spring of 2013, when we introduced the phenomenon OCR and created the first large scale obstacle course race in Scandinavia, we have been working hard to make our events something extraordinary and spectacular. We are 10 employees based in Malmö, doing our best to make ends meet without institutionalized owners nor external funding. Our small team is responsible for everything, from planning and administration down to setting the last nail on the ramp.

We started with nothing, but the love and appreciation from you all made us excel in our field.
It has been an amazing journey. From the first race in Malmö 2013, with 1.200 brave participants, to the 30.000+ yearly returning racers Toughest is today, your love for mud baths and adrenaline rushes helped us grow and improve.

For the 2020 season, we launched a massive initiative to raise the bar for the entire OCR industry, called Toughest 2.0. We can’t wait to bring these updates to you, but we are dependent on your solidarity to make them a reality.

In these challenging times, we need you more than ever!
With declining registrations, our organization is on its knees. Although governments have launched substantial emergency packages, these are not nearly enough to cover the large costs involved in building our events.

We are not asking you to fund us, nor to give us money. We are simply asking you to continue signing up for our races. We need you to gather those friends who always talked about doing Toughest one day. Now is the time to rally the troops and register. Each and every one of you can help us get through this. Show us that you want Toughest to continue as the number one OCR organizer and we will show you appreciation unlike any other.

We can’t stress this enough: If you want to support us and your fellow OCR fans in these difficult times, please make sure to sign up now. Not later. Now. If you already have a ticket, convince friends and colleagues to join in and share the experience! Everyone can help, and every bit of help makes all the difference.

We are sure that many of you are wondering about the status for the upcoming events.
Make no mistake: We are working around the clock to make sure that the events will take place, either at the original date or at a postponed date within this year.

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU to everyone out there continuing to sign up. Thank you for lightening the weight on our shoulders. You are a true inspiration and your solidarity is invaluable in these turbulent times.

For those eager to sign up, use the following discount code to get 30% off on any race, valid until April 30th.
BEATYOURCORONA
(Note: BEATCORO for our events in Finland)

In addition, all ticket transfers are of course free of cost from now on.

Thank you for reading this far.
Make sure to re-visit our news page where we will post updates regularly.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the course!

Nils & Adam,
CEO & Chairman

…and the entire Toughest team

Regarding COVID-19 / Corona

The Swedish government has temporarily decided to forbid gatherings with more than 500 persons. Since Toughest LAB is a training facility with relatively few daily visitors, we see no cause for cancelling our training sessions as of now. Trainings will be held as usual until further notice.

Of course, we urge our customers to be extra considerate regarding hygiene when you visit our facility. Wash your hands with warm water och soap before and after your training. Like any other disease, you should absolutely not exercise when experiencing symptoms in air ways and we kindly ask customers with any symptoms of sickness to stay at home.

Thank you for your understanding!
Toughest LAB

In regards to the development of the COVID-19 disease

The spread of COVID-19 is still increasing in many parts of the world, including the Nordics. As an event organizer, we follow the development closely and are in dialogue with experts and authorities to adjust our plans accordingly.

For now, many governments have recommended restrictions on events with more than 500 participants. This of course affects our events, but with most of them 2-7 months ahead, we cannot as of now give definitive answers regarding the outcome. We will post more information as soon as we learn more about the COVID-19 spread and its affects on our events.

You can always reach us at info@toughest.se if you have any questions. Please have patience and understanding that the response times might be prolonged due to the circumstances.

We can’t wait to meet you all on the race fields again, but for now our main focus is to make sure that we host our events when and were it is safe in terms of COVID-19.

So don’t stop preparing! There will be lots of Toughest events to participate in as soon as the pandemic is under control. We will update you when we have more information. Rest assured that we are working hard to have everything up and running as soon as it is safe.

Best regards,
Toughest Crew

It is on! Starting next week, we will start releasing the designs for our new obstacles. Don’t miss out! Make sure to follow us on social media and on the official release site, 2020.toughest.se, where we will be releasing the previews.

Toughest Crew

We have been named the Best European obstacle course race for the fifth consecutive year. It is such an honor receiving this award and we would like to thank each and everyone of you who voted. 2020 couldn’t have started in a better way.

Happy new year!
Toughest Crew

In 2020 we will be launching several major updates and we can’t wait to share them with you! Our code name for this project is “Toughest 2.0”. Follow us on social media to get the latest updates! Stay tuned for more info.

Toughest Crew

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for participating in our obstacle courses in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

Looking forward to next year!
Toughest Crew