The Best Gear to Help You Crush 2022 Race Season

The Best Gear to Help You Crush 2022 Race Season

We've created a list of our favorite training and racing essentials to help you dominate the 2022 race season. With the latest technology in ventilated, mesh, compression fabrics, and trail shoes with unstoppable traction — all indestructible designs made for OCR athletes, by OCR athletes — this unbreakable endurance kit is made to demolish every workout and obstacle. No excuses. 

Best Obstacle Course Racing Gear to Crush It in 2022

FIRST, THE BAG

Packable Backpack

Every OCR athlete needs an indestructible pack to keep their race kit dry, organized, and easily accessible. (Trust us: There’s nothing worse than arriving on race day and then realizing you’re wholly unprepared.) The Spartan Franklin Packable Backpack solves it all. Its lightweight design features a roomy main compartment with ample side pockets to stash your gear. Plus, it has reflective straps for max visibility at night, it folds down into a travel-friendly size for easy transfer, and its rubber zippers are exceptionally secure.

THEN, THE ACCESSORIES 

Hydrate Belt

Run hands-free with the durable, ripstop-fabric Hydrate Belt that sits snug around your waist no matter what. Breathable mesh material ensures you don’t overheat, and the water bottle pocket makes quick hydration easy during workouts or races. (Hint: Try the BPA-free, fast-flow spout on the Franklin Plastic Water Bottle. It’s super easy to hold and drink from on the go, thanks to the silicon grip.) 

OCR Multi 2.0 Glove

Amp up your grip-strength game with the Spartan Franklin OCR Multi 2.0 Glove. Slip-resistant wet-grip PVC combines with dry-grip silicon to make clinging to obstacles like the Monkey Bars or the Tryolean Traverse easier than ever, even in the harshest conditions. Warm, padded, and fully covered, your hands will thank you. (Plus, you likely won’t have to burpee out from grip-strength blunders, thank god.) 

Cloud Neck Tube 

This Cloud Neck Tube can triple-function as hat, headband, or face shield, depending on your workout or racing needs and weather conditions. Cinch up the soft, breathable polyester to keep your noggin and ears warm, or pull it down to protect your face in super chilly (or mask-mandated) situations. Bottom line: less to think about, period.  

‘47 OHT Trawler Clean Up

Throw on the comfy Spartan ‘47 OHT Trawler Clean Up baseball cap after you cross the finish line and strut around proudly, knowing you're representing a good cause. Through its partnerships and branded merchandise, Operation Hat Trick (OHT) generates awareness and support for the recovery of wounded service members and veterans. The adjustable snapback closure ensures it will fit just about any-sized head, so no worries there as the ultimate stocking stuffer.

THE KICKS

Spartan OCR Speed Shoe 

The Spartan OCR Speed Shoe is the fastest shoe in obstacle course racing, hands DOWN. A lightweight ARC-Foam midsole provides responsive tuning as you stride out strong, and an X-shaped pattern on the forefoot ensures optimum grip on aggressive angles, so you can power over burly obstacles and uneven terrain with greater precision. Plus, the reverse-contoured heel form-fits to take friction, blisters, and achilles-tendon pressure out of the equation.

Spartan RD Pro OCR Running Shoe 

The Spartan RD Pro by Craft is absolutely (and quite literally) unbreakable. Seriously: Spartan founder and CEO Joe De Sena tried to destroy them with an industrial excavator among several other tests, to no avail, so ... these kicks have been used, abused, and refined to meet the harshest weather conditions and toughest obstacles. Superior traction, reliable drainage, insane durability, and responsive cushioning are just the beginning. With a pair of these on your feet, you’ll dominate any course, guaranteed.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Find more colors and sizing, available in both men’s and women’s variations, in the Spartan Shop

THE APPAREL

Pro Series Breakaway Tee 

This versatile tech tee was made for serious, and not-so-serious, OCR racers. When it comes to form, fit, and function, this T-shirt will power you through both gym workouts and tough races without fail. Its lightweight, breathable polyester fabric sucks moisture from your skin, while mesh panels at the nape of your neck and back of the sleeves ensure prime ventilation in the most severe weather.  

Pro Series Compression Tight 

Stride, climb, jump, lift, and crawl over the toughest obstacles with the Pro Series Compression Tight, designed as an essential layer for cold-weather racing. Killer stretch, combined with graduated compression technology, provides extra muscle support and stability, making these optimal for freedom of movement and quicker recovery from intense workouts and races. Don’t forget to double down and order it in women’s, too.  

Related: The 9 Essential Pieces of Gear That EVERY Spartan Newbie Needs For Their First Race

Pro Series Compression LS Top 

Just like its counterpart, the Compression Tight (above), the Pro Series Compression LS Top does much the same for your upper body. Providing excellent stretch to reach, grab, swing, and lift, you’ll navigate obstacles more seamlessly than ever before, and recover faster as it promotes blood flow to your extremities during and after activity. Snag it in men’s, too, as a “happy holidays” to your racing buddies. 

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