Summer Sticks in the Mud

For many folks, first-person video games offer all the thrills they need. But others crave the tactile realness of an actual obstacle course with knotted ropes to climb, mud pits to crawl through and walls to be surmounted. The typical ingredients of adventure races include a military-style course, a river of mud and whatever torture tests a perverse mind can conjure. Throw in a small legion of weekend warriors and you’ve got yourself a fresh baked adventure — or a hot mess, depending on your point of view.