Welcome back to the OCR Crew newsletter, you wall-jumping, rig-flowing beasts.

We’re dropping the goods: Race Intel, gear updates, In-The-News, Q&A with Racers & Pros, and more.

We’re here to make you laugh, sweat, learn and train like your favorite Athlete.
Let’s dive in.

The 2026 OCR season is already roaring to life, even as half the U.S. is still digging out from snowstorms ❄

No true off-season in this sport guys.

Do we call the Winter Spartan Death Race OCR?!?!
I think it’s a stretch, it’s more like the Marine Corps Crucible or a Navy Seal Buds weekend.
But through the unrelenting cold, sleep deprivation and insane mental and physical tests. Only one warrior pushed through to the finish: huge congrats to Tom Alguire for claiming that lone skull.

Out west in the USA, the Spartan SoCal Trifecta Weekend went down with big names showing up and throwing down, with Anthony Kunkel, Chloe Melikian, Mark Batres and Natalie Miano.

Half a world away in the UAE, Spartan legends Sergei Perelygin and Alisa Petrova owned the podium at the Spartan Super in Dubai. These two continue proving why they're global OCR powerhouses.

And for a smaller, local OCR/Hybrid shoutout: we had the NativeX Obstacle Fitness Race down in Florida. Where OCR OG, Alvaro Vasquez took the win.

The season's just getting started.
So stay locked in, because the fire's already lit 🔥

The 2026 Spartan Medals have dropped, and the community is talking about this new "Hex Era."

Spartan went all-in on a fresh system, where every finisher medal now comes with a detachable magnetic Hex insert unique to that distance or achievement. And the Hex snaps into the center of the base medal.

The real game-changer?
These Hex pieces are fully interchangeable, so you can pop them out, swap them around, collect them, and build custom displays that scale up as you rack up more. It's designed to unify the whole Spartan family of events, let you showcase lifetime progress, and turn your hardware into a personalized, evolving trophy.

The vibe so far?
Most racers are digging the concept. It's innovative, collectible, and gives that "build your legacy" feel Spartan was aiming for. People love the customization potential, the cross-brand compatibility, and the idea of snapping pieces together to visualize their journey.

But... there's one glaring pain point everyone's calling out.
Those magnets aren't bombproof.
The Hex pieces detach way too easily when you're wearing the medal around the venue or tossing it in your bag after the race. We've already seen a bunch of reports of lost Hex’s from this first Spartan race of the year.

Pro Tip:
Snap your victory pics with the full setup, flex for the 'gram, then immediately stash that Hex safely in your bag.

Overall, solid evolution with a collectible twist, but treat the Hex like the precious cargo it is.

So 2025 is over and I wanted to really dig in and see how OCR Participation is looking. Not gonna lie… it’s mostly negative.
People have said things (especially in the US) like “OCR is dead”. And it turns out, they’re not completely wrong. 😢

But, at the end of the day, we still see thousands of people going through Spartan Races almost every weekend.
So I don’t think it’s completely disappearing or anything like that at all.
But it’s certainly TRENDING to the negative.
And everywhere.
All International markets (Except for Australia!) are trending downward.

If you haven’t seen the video, Check it out HERE.

And for some quick Key Talking Points:
- Total OCR Participation fell 8.6% between 2023 - 2025
- OCR Participation within Spartan Race accounted for 13.5% of this
- Some smaller OCR events, like Tough Viking and Savage Race saw positive growth from the races that were picked out.
- The Australia market is looking up, with a 13.1% growth from the couple events we picked out between ‘24 - ‘25.
- The international markets of South America and Asia were hit the hardest at 35.4% and 27.3% respectively.

Saving CASH means you can sign-up & travel to more races 🤘
Use these codes, Support the People & Brands that Support us.

“As ultra legend Kilian Jornet says about fueling:
‘Normal food is not a problem… but gels give that quick boost when you need it most.’

Our own Merch. More coming in 2026 😎
Check it out HERE.