You are a star. You’re an athletic legend. You have accomplished your fitness goals, you’re looking fantastic and feeling great. What’s next? Endurance.

Endurance events are often measured by the length of time it takes to complete them. Though there is something to be said for those people who are strong and crazy enough to train for, start and complete a huge event like a 100-mile ultramarathon or double distance triathlons, massive bike races or a marathon-length swim – it isn’t super achievable for many of us. Most people lack the free time, the inclination or the ability to make training a full time job, but there are plenty of way more accessible sports and events that we can get involved in. Maybe join a local triathlon training club melbourne offers. If you’re ready to take on a new challenge, but also have a life to live outside of sports and fitness then read on… We have 3 hardcore events to consider taking up.

1. TOUGH MUDDER

With about 12 miles of obstacles, including 12-foot “Berlin Walls,” a dive into a “Chernobyl Jacuzzi” (a dumpster full of ice water) and an “Electroshock Therapy” crawl or dash through charged wires. Tough Mudder is considered not as a race but a team event to be faced in groups. It doesn’t include timing chips. Most challengers take around three and a half hours before picking up an esteemed orange finisher’s headband for their success and efforts. Tough Mudder was created as a Harvard Business School project by a counter-terrorism worker for the British government, Will Dean.

2. SPARTAN RACE

Not the same intensity as the Spartan Death Race – which has no cap on the time limit – knwon to have lasted as long as 67 hours!! – This Spartan Race comes in many challenging formats. Race creator Joe DeSena, who once completed 12 Ironman triathlons in 12 months, stresses that the Spartan Race is no mud run nor a team-building event. It’s a brutal race. Athletes must lug around five-gallon buckets of gravel, climb walls, flip tires, pull chunks of concrete and run a race-ending gauntlet of Spartan warriors swinging double-sided mallets. A cheeky inclusion of thirty Burpees for each obstacle not finished is an added bonus.

3. RAGNAR RELAY

Named after a 9th century Norse Viking who was famous for being incredibly adventure seeking, the Ragnar Relay was created in 2004. Pile into two vans with you and 11 of your closest mates, or best runners you can possibly find, and spend the next eighteen to thirty-six hours stinking, sweating and running for extended distances around the clock! The total course – many races taking place at locations all around the US – covers a massive 200 miles. Ragnar event are a magnet for those people that love shift work, with runs being done in shifts, don’t mind a bit of sleep deprivation and can survive in a body odoured van with 5 or 6 other people for two days. Each part of the relay race is between three and eight miles long with the initial leg launching around 6am and 3pm on a Friday. You can expect to be finished in the early hours of that Sunday morning.

By Skyler West

Piper Skyler West: Piper, a sports medicine expert, shares advice on injury prevention, athletic performance, and sports health tips.