Times Square Was Taken Over by a Mini Spartan Mud Race on Thursday and We Have 14 Awesome Pictures of It

As if running a race wasn't hard enough, throw in a dozen or so obstacles into the mix and you have a real challenge. The popularity of obstacle races among athletes is growing, and one of them -- the Spartan Race -- kicked off their season Thursday in New York City's Time Square, showing off some of the feats warriors would have to over come.

TheBlaze was on the scene picking up photos of the day's events, which included crawling under barbed wire through mud, climbing over a wall and flipping a giant tractor tire a set distance. Reebok's Spartan Race website describes it as "an event of pure primitive craziness."

Check out our photos by Rupert Manderstam:

The Spartan Race in NYC was originally scheduled in 2012 but postponed by Hurricane Sandy. This time the event was rescheduled to include a volunteer component to help victims of Sandy as well.

The Spartan Race 2013 kickoff in NYC was only a showcase of the obstacles. Typically, the races are more lengthy with varying distances. For example, here are bonus photos of TheBlaze's very own front page editor Jon Seidl participating in the 14-mile Spartan Race in Glen Rose, Texas, in 2012.

As for the obstacles, although some are mainstays at every race that occur in different locations around the country, the Spartan Race specifically wants to surprise and therefore challenge its participants.

"There is fire, mud, water, barbed wire, and occasionally Hell on Earth. There WILL be obstacles to catch you off guard. Curve balls, so to speak. Get over it.

"We’re here to rip you from your comfort zone. If you need a road map for each step of the way, then maybe this race isn’t for you," the website states.

Watch this footage from WPIX in New York showing the race:

Watch Spartan Race's official video to get more of an idea what the obstacle races are like: