Spartan Race, the global leader in obstacle course racing, has recently announced the acquisition of Tough Mudder’s U.K., Canadian and German events. This is the first step in an effort to merge both obstacle course race leaders. Events in these countries will continue to be operated by the same team and under the same brand name, but they will be organized under Spartan ownership. They will focus on teamwork and be organized as non-competitive festival events. The competitions will be handled by Spartan, which will continue to work with Tough Mudder’s founders, Will Dean and Guy Livingstone, to complete the acquisition and the renewal of Tough Mudder’s U.S.-based events and operations. Kyle McLaughlin, chief executive of Tough Mudder since July 2019, stepped down on Dec. 20. The company was struggling to pay vendors towards the end of 2018 but is said to have turned around in 2019. However, tickets for events in North America were no longer on sale on Dec. 23, when Spartan announced the merger.

Topics