Chasing The Scandal

OneWorld is an amazing event that is held twice a year in Alabama. The event takes place at an old military base on a Saturday and Sunday in the spring. and the fall. Saturday is the day of the timed competitive race while Sunday is reserved for the Fun Run. It is a 4+ mile race that contains 30+ obstacles. Obstacles include pools, streams, log, hills, culverts, A-frames, spools, cars, tunnels, and many other things.

Our Experience:

Before the run:

We ordered out tickets for the spring run right after the previous fall run as this is the cheapest time to get them. The closer to the event, the more expensive the tickets become. About three months out from the event is usually when the tickets get sold out. If you are lucky, you can sometimes find people that can no longer attend and are selling them in the FaceBook group.

We thought getting their Friday night would have been a good idea, but we were wrong. People at the event told us that coming Thursday night was ideal. When we got there it was packed and we had a hard time finding a spot to set up out tent.

For us, going there for the first time in the dark on Friday night was not ideal. We did not know where we were going, there was limited light and quite a few drunk people walking their dogs in the road. So just watch out if you arrive in the dark. Everything turned out to be fine but we had to stop and ask where to camp. It turns out. that you can set up camp almost anywhere near the event. You will see a few signs designating camping area one, two and three but there were so many people and not enough designated space. Basically as long as you are not in the way of the event or the OneWorld Pet Resort you’re fine to camp anywhere.

OneWorld Pet Resort offers boarding of your dog for a fee. You can sign up for boarding when you sign up for the race, this is also where you can sign up to camp.

Running:

The course takes you through culverts which can really hurt your hands and knees so be careful! You are allowed to skip any obstacle that you want. Skipping an obstacle may cause you a time penalty. Most obstacle’s do not cost you time but the bigger ones including the water jump, the log carry and a few others will cause you to stand at the side of the obstacle while event staff times your penalty. Most of the obstacles are either in the beginning of the end of the course where the photographers are. There are a few obstacles that are scattered further out but most of those are natural obstacles such as the river and Heartbreak Hill.

Heartbreak Hill is a very long uphill obstacle. Make sure that you pace yourself, so you make it to the end. During our run in spring of 2026, Heartbreak Hill was at the very end of the run, but they decided not only to have this hill but right after it to have double Heartbreak Hill. Not only did they have two Heartbreak Hills but well before that we had a mini–Heartbreak Hill which was completely sun exposed and they had rope to help you climb it. Neither Heartbreak hill or its double had ropes, and they were both shaded luckily.

The S’s are a series of up and down on the trial making and S shape. One the start of the S you will be going up a steep hill which has ropes to make it easier. Once up, you must come back down it flattens for a moment and then down another steep hill, these have small ladders that help you get down. There are about 6 or 7 of S’s these total. I went with safe and steady on this but there were many people that were flying through these obstacles. Just make sure to stay safe and don’t do more than you can handle. When we were there a women broke her leg .2 miles from the finish line. There is not easy way in and out of the course so first aid is required they have to traverse whatever you did to make it there.

The river is another obstacle that is about half a mile where you are just walking or running through a slippery stream. It is muddy so watch out and many people were falling and not getting the correct footing here. Luckily it is completely shaded.

Every year they run this even they change things so every spring is different and every fall is the same spring course but backwards, it’s called Rewind.

After the Run:

After running is the perfect time to go and get some food that is located in the main area where you start and end your run. This is the location for food, venders, music, check in, first aid and anything else that you need. Many of the food truck have vegetarian options as well. We ended up getting ramen, street corn, and some great sugary drinks after the run.

The party happens later at night when everyone is done running, they have different themes every run, ours was neon and you could see many of the people and dogs’ neon outfits before, during and after their runs. The party reflects the theme. The party gets pretty loud and goes on late into the night.

Tips:

• Getting to the event on Thursday night is the most ideal day to go.
• They have no hook ups for water, electric or sewer to prepare in advance.
• There is a Walmart down the road if you need anything.
• Bring knee pads and gloves!
• Dogs are allowed to run in muzzles!
• There are about 3 or 4 water stations throughout the course and most of them have seating.

The Photographers:

Photo stations are clearly marked through your run. They will have signs up saying the photographer is right around the corner. These were really helpful to be able to gauge when a photographer is available to take your photos. You are allowed to wait or lag behind in order to make sure you are the one being captured as you are going through the obstacles. We were able to take our dogs muzzles off right before the photos and you can see us carrying them in the photos.

Sunday Fun Run:

Sunday is the day that is not competitive, because of that there are a lot less people. Most everyone has packed up and left that morning so it looks a bit like a ghost town. To our surprise when we finished the run all of the venders and food trucks had gone so do not bank on them being available when you come back. Overall, the Fun Run has the same set up are the competitive run on Saturday. Sometimes they will have you pick up and ankle tracker to track your time and other times they will not so just make sure to listen out for and changes.

GoPros:

Many people have go pros that they run with, even dogs have them! I’ve heard that the GoPro 10 and newer are the best for videos and capturing screenshots.

Hopefully you find all this information helpful. Feel free to comment if you have any more questions. I tried to hit as much as I could and answer some things that would help first timers.