British Obstacle Sports is a 100% volunteer-led organisation made up of members from the OCR and ninja community. Since 2019, we have been working to develop the sport and gain official recognition.
- Last year, we passed the UK Sports Councils’ Pre-Application Recognition stage. In April this year, we submitted all the required documents and information for the Full Application stage.
- We operate as a professional organisation, sharing financial reports at our AGMs and working under a constitution that gives real power to our members. We have also built a clear governance structure, which includes essential safeguarding policies and procedures.
- BOS created the UK’s first federated Coach Development Programme, and since 2020 more than 100 coaches have taken part.
- We also launched a Technical Official Development Programme. More than 150 technical officials have been trained, and in 2024 alone they volunteered or officiated at events over 500 times.
- Since the launch of our Youth and Ninja Championships in 2022, we have hosted 12 national championships. Until then, only two national championships (both classic OCR courses) had ever taken place in the UK, with the last one back in 2016.
- We supported the Scottish OCR Community Group in setting up the first ever regional OCR league. This year, BOS hosted the first national championship in Scotland: the British 3K Championship at Tartan Warrior.
- We now run or support seven national leagues across OCR and ninja, reflecting our commitment to supporting all formats of the sport — from short, fast 100-metre events to ultra-endurance races lasting 24 hours.
- The adaptive community has also been supported, with the first ever Para OCR competition held in 2023. Five competitions took place last year and we have a league based challenge running this year.
- We have developed and managed the international selection process for federated events, helping increase both participation and podium finishes. At OCREC Poland in 2019, Team UK brought home two medals. That number rose to 20 in Italy last year. We also have over 130 athletes heading to Portugal at the end of June. These achievements belong to the athletes, but the competition structures and national team support behind them have played an important role.
- Since we were founded, we have given away prizes worth more than £10,000 as a thank you to our members. We remain committed to recognising and rewarding the community for their continued support.
- We have partnered with events, training venues and activity centres, promoting them through our free licensing and affiliation programmes. Their backing has been a vital part of our progress.
- The work we have done across the UK has earned British Obstacle Sports a growing reputation as one of the leading obstacle sport governing bodies in the world. We continue to strengthen our international ties, with greater involvement in both the European Obstacle Sports Federation (EOSF) and World Obstacle.
This is not a full list of everything we’ve done. But it is important to reflect on how far we’ve come since 2019. Every milestone has been achieved by a community of volunteers who care deeply about this sport and want to see it thrive in the UK. The Board extends its heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to these achievements so far.
We also recognise how much more there is to do. Obstacle sport in the UK is still relatively young, arguably only around 15 years old*. We know we haven’t always got it right — in 2023, we published an open letter to all our coaches acknowledging that we hadn’t provided enough support. Indeed, we still need to do more here.
We will make mistakes. That’s part of the process. We are human, and through trial and error we learn and improve. We ask the community to accept that things will go wrong sometimes, especially in a volunteer-run organisation. But we also welcome honest feedback, whether it’s about what’s working or where we can do better.
When people give their time freely to build OCR and ninja in the UK, it can be tough to hear criticism. But listening and reflecting is how we grow — and we are committed to doing just that.
Since March, we’ve introduced a We Are Listening form to give anyone the opportunity to provide feedback directly to the British Obstacle Sports Board. Submissions can be made anonymously, though every message is treated appropriately, just as we would handle a formal complaint or whistleblowing report.
Thank you to everyone who has already used this or other feedback channels.
Below are some of the actions we have taken, or are currently taking, based on the feedback we’ve received:
Community Kit
We were asked to make technical vests and t-shirts available for non-competitive members. Thanks to our partnership with Surridge Sport, we’ve now been able to do this. These tops are for anyone in the community to wear and represent the sport.
We’re always open to ideas about kit. If you have suggestions, just get in touch. As long as minimum order quantities can be met, we’re happy to explore new items.
Focus on Competitive Athletes
“There’s too much focus on competitive athletes.”
Our mission is to ensure that everyone in the UK can enjoy the full range of obstacle sports. This includes everything from ninja’s furthest-fastest formats to 24-hour events like World’s Toughest Mudder.
We acknowledge that much of our content and activity does have a competitive slant. We often don’t share enough stories from the wider community.
In many governing bodies, a full-time or part-time marketing manager would help ensure a broad range of voices and stories are shared. As a volunteer-run organisation, our capacity is limited. As a result, international and national championships, as well as the leagues we support, often take priority in our communications—simply because they are tied to time-sensitive deadlines and requirements.
But this is where the community can really help.
- Share your content with us. We’ve created Instagram Sharing Guidelines to show how you can tag and collaborate with us, making it easier to highlight your experiences.
- Tell us your stories. If obstacle sport has made an impact on your life, why not write an article for BOS? We’d love to share it with our community.
- Volunteer with us. We’re looking for volunteer Social Media Managers to help share content across our channels. With more hands, we can tell more stories and promote more events, venues, and people.
Technical Officials at Events
“There weren’t enough BOS Technical Officials at some events.”
We understand these concerns and agree that having more trained officials is beneficial.
However, there are a few challenges:
- All BOS Technical Officials are volunteers, and we can’t guarantee their availability.
- Many TOs also compete and want to take part in events themselves. Epic challenges like Spartan One Day Trifectas and Tough Mudder Holy Grails are a draw for all of us.
- Volunteer packages don’t always cover travel or other expenses.
The Technical Officials Development Committee is currently reviewing what we can do centrally to better support competitive events.
How can you help?
- Become a member. Your membership supports everything we do.
- Know the rules and follow them. Athletes have a responsibility to understand the rules of competition and ensure they are upheld through their own actions.
- We are looking for a Technical Official in the North of England or Scotland to join our Technical Officials Development Committee. Reach out if interested.
- Train as a Technical Official and volunteer, even just once a year. It makes a real difference.
- While we don’t ask members to report general rule breaches missed by officials, we do encourage you to report major misconduct or clear cheating. These concerns can be raised with the Chief Technical Official or Race Director at the event.
WhatsApp Group Moderation
As part of developing a national governing body, we introduced licensing and affiliation programmes in 2022. These allow events and venues to voluntarily come under the governance of British Obstacle Sports, which strengthens our case for official recognition with the UK Sports Councils. We are hugely grateful to the events and centres that have supported this vision.
Our policy has been to promote only those events and centres that are licensed or affiliated, both out of respect for their support and because our critical injury insurance only covers these locations.
Initially, we extended this policy into WhatsApp group moderation, but after receiving feedback, we’ve reviewed and updated our approach. We took this policy too far, and we apologise. Volunteer admins now follow revised guidelines, and the community are welcome to discuss any events or centres whether affiliated or not on our channels.
Indeed it is important to be clear: we do not pass judgment on events or venues that choose not to affiliate. They simply operate outside the formal jurisdiction of British Obstacle Sports.
Trans Women in Sport
Following the recent UK Supreme Court ruling, we’ve had questions from both cis and trans women about what this means for obstacle course racing and ninja.
The Board is reviewing the situation and intends to publish a formal policy for competitive sport. Note that this needs careful consultation and will take some time to ensure all aspects are fully considered.
In the meantime, we want to be clear: trans women are welcome within the British Obstacle Sports community. We are here to support and represent everyone involved in the sport.
International Governance
Many of you have raised valid concerns about the current situation, with three separate international bodies claiming governance over obstacle sports.
Governing bodies must operate with the consent of the communities they represent. The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) is acting unilaterally and does not have the support of the global obstacle community to take the actions it is taking.
We’re actively raising these concerns with both World Obstacle and World Pentathlon, who are currently in discussions about a possible integration.
British Obstacle Sports is open to any solution that enables the obstacle course racing and ninja community to retain autonomy. The sport must be led by individuals who understand it and represent its values. OCR and ninja are not the same sports as modern pentathlon, and while coexistence within a single world federated ecosystem could be considered, any proposed international model must clearly recognise this distinction.
Democratically we are one vote at World Obstacle Congress meetings, but we are doing what we can to protect the sport’s future on the world stage. Even small acts on your part, such as renewing your membership on time, frees up volunteer capacity to focus on these important topics.
Share Your Feedback
Do you have a viewpoint on what has been said? Want to share your own experience?
You can share your thoughts anonymously via our We Are Listening form:
🔗 https://forms.gle/xddWYE9hTpQb4gTH8
You can also get in touch or report concerns through any of the policies listed on our website.
The UKOCR Podcast is also hosted a Q&A with British Obstacle Sports in July. You can ask them to ask us a question by emailing admin@ukocr.com or contacting them on their social channels.
Thank you for reading and supporting British Obstacle Sports.
* There were a few trailblazers before 2010 – notably Tough Guy and Nuts Challenge.
