1) TARAWA LANDING
The Central Pacific campaign during WW II opened in November 1943 with the 2nd Marine Division’s assault on Tarawa Atoll. Here, for the first time, tracked landing vehicles were used as amphibian troop carriers. The frightful price of over 1,000 dead for the half-square-mile lump of sand shocked the American public. Nevertheless, the bloody battle proved that the Corps had developed the right doctrine and equipment to enable it to overcome even the strongest enemy resistance at the water’s edge.

2) STRAWSER’S STAIRCASE
The original STRAWSER’S STAIRCASE was constructed at the first VOLKSLAUF site south of Arvin, California in 1997. Because it offered a “unique” challenge to the runner, we re-constructed STRAWSER’S STAIRCASE at our present site on Lerdo Hwy, north of Bakersfield, Calif. This obstacle is named in honor of 1stSgt Robert Strawser USMC (ret.), one of the original VOLKSLAUF Committee members (and who is also credited with the original concept of VOLKSLAUF) who still resides in Bakersfield and exemplifies all that is a Marine. Oorah, 1stSgt!!

3) THE WASH BOARDS
A classic favorite series of hills to surely take the wind out of your sails early on as you attain your pace. Built utilizing the standard berming techniques our Engineers use for your enjoyment!

4) KHE SANH
On 19 January, 1968 a platoon of Marines patrolling toward Hill 881 North had to withdraw in the face of strong enemy opposition. This marked the beginning of the siege of the remote combat base in Viet Nam. The Marines would receive incoming shells and rockets every day for the next 77 days. The siege essentially ended on 30 March, 1968 as much of the NVA force withdrew from its trenches and bunkers built to surround the Marines. The Marines lost 205 dead with estimates of NVA dead at over 1600.

5) VIPER
In mid-January of 2003 the Marines of Bakersfield, CA were deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Approx. 250 miles from Baghdad, the largest bulk fuel farm of its kind was constructed and its fuel was used to support the US and Coalition forces as the “Push to Baghdad” ensued. Over 120 miles of hose reel was deployed from this base camp or LSA (Logistical Support Area) known as “Viper”, a feat that the manuals said could not be done. This obstacle is in honor of your local Marines who operated out of Camp Viper.
6) SGT. HAWK'S WALL
Emblazoned on both sides with the famous USMC in Marine gold on a Marine crimson background, SGT. HAWK'S WALL stands on the north side of Lerdo Hwy to greet all who pass with our now-famous Devil Dog mascot. Named after another of the original VOLKSLAUF Committee members and construction foreman, former Sgt. Joe Jaquez, USMC, (whose genius at causing much pain in the form of challenging obstacles has become legendary) SGT. HAWK'S WALL offers yet another challenge to all who dare to take on VOLKSLAUF, The Ultimate Challenge.

7) THE RAZORBACK
On 16 September, 1966 two companies of Marines were ambushed as they moved toward the Nui Cay Tre ridgeline (later named Mutter Ridge). This opened a series of intense fights around the Rockpile, Mutter Ridge and another feature called The Razorback that involved 1st and 3rd Bn, 4th Marines and 2nd Bn, 7th Marines. The battle lasted until 4 October, 1966.

8) DEVIL DOG’S DITCH
One half mile long, 8 ft. wide and between 3' and 4' in depth, DEVIL DOG’S DITCH offers the VOLKSLAUF runner an opportunity early in the race (about one mile) to use those quad muscles. With ankle-deep mud to suck your shoes off, it’s not a bad idea to apply copious quantities of duct tape and go lightly. Sometimes, however, even duct tape has its’ limitations.

9) CHUCK’S WALL
Named in honor of a former Commandant of the Golden Empire Chapter of the Marine Corps League, MSgt. Chuck Alberti, USMC (ret.), CHUCK’S WALL appears almost out of place on the extreme west side of the VOLKSLAUF course. Here runners encounter CHUCK’S WALL just as they are beginning to believe they have before them an easy, slow, relaxing run before the final mile at the “Y”. To quote a former TV Marine, “Surprise, surprise, surprise! Apparently they have forgotten that the last easy day was “yesterday”.

10) MONKEY BARS
The Monkey Bars are a classic Marine Corps obstacle that will test your upper body strength/hand eye coordination. The obstacle is simple yet demanding. This 15 foot wide by 30 foot long transition (4 lanes) is a classic in the military obstacle set up. (Pay no attention to those blisters).

11) SIDE STRADDLE HOP
The side straddle hop is another classic obstacle out of the Marine Corps Boot Camp obstacle course. The standard issued 4 foot high multiple parallel hurdles get you going as you have to alternate the direction of your legs as you “hurdle” yourself over all obstacles the Boot Camp way!

12) MUTHA #&%#$@
This obstacle gives the classic Vietnam era feeling of opening a good ole can of pork and beans exclaimed with “Mutha #&%#$@!!!…as you cross these obstacles. Two ways to negotiate: First and most anticipated will be simply to go over. Second, if you can’t get over, go through the long way. Simply put.

13) PHASE LINE CALIFORNIA
This obstacle gives a BIG Oooh Rah! Named after the location where Marines were stationed during Operation Desert Thunder in 1998. A “line in the sand” geographically positioned between Mutla Ridge north of Kuwait City and Al Um Quasar in Iraq. This obstacle begins with the negotiation of a small wall that drops you into a “Sopca”, followed by another wall, with more “Sopca” simply to cross the third wall and continuing onto the course. Enjoy!

14) COLLEGE BOY
This is another classic obstacle that is the first obstacle in the classic Marine Corps Boot Camp Obstacle course; A single parallel bar at a height of 6 feet. Simply getting over the bar is all that matters…..by any means or method available…..get up and over.

15) THE ARGONNE
During November 1918 the 4th Marine Brigade joined the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France during WW I. The brigade attack overran all German defensive lines and created a salient forcing an enemy withdrawal all across the front. In pursuit, the division reached the Meuse River on 9 November. Two days later, 11 November, 1918 the armistice was signed, ending hostilities in the War to End All Wars.

16) CODE TALKER’S WALL
Placed at a strategic location just before the “Y”, CODE TALKER’S WALL is just a “warm-up” for STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, PELELIU, TENARU RIVER CROSSING and other obstacles just around the corner. During major battles of WWII, Navajo men were enlisted into the Marine Corps as Code Talkers, using their native language on the radio. The Navajo language was, and remains so today, such a “foreign” tongue to anything spoken by anyone outside the Navajo nation that their contribution to the Marines’ success in the Pacific cannot be overlooked. We honor these Marine warriors with CODE TALKER’S WALL; yet another page of Marine history.

17) MT. SURIBACHI
Four days after the 4th and 5th Marine Divisions landed on the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima on 19 February, 1945, elements of the 28th Marines seized the crest of Mt. Suribachi, extinct volcano and highest point on the island. Soon after taking the high ground, five Marines and one Navy Corpsman hoisted the American flag over the summit of Suribachi. Photographer Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of this flag raising electrified the United States and became the symbol of the 7th War Bond drive. A giant bronze statue commemorating the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi stands adjacent to Arlington Cemetery on the shores of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. and is known today as The Marine Corps War Memorial. Incised within a wreath on the front of the base of the monument is Admiral Chester Nimitz’s much-quoted tribute to the Marines at Iwo Jima: “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”.

18) STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
One of the most prominent obstacles on the VOLKSLAUF course, THE STARIWAY TO HEAVEN offers runners a brief eagle-eye view of the last mile of the course where the most challenging obstacles are found. It is here where many runners begin to realize VOLKSLAUF is definitely NOT for the faint of heart

19) HUE CITY
On 30 January, 1968 Communist forces launched an offensive that spread throughout South Vietnam by the next day. Attacks come against most major cities and province capitals. By infiltration and assault, they took control of most of Hue, the former imperial capital. By 1 February the 1st and 5th Marines began operations to recapture the city and focus on the area south of the Perfume River. The battle quickly devolved into building-to-building fighting, around, between and under piles of broken walls, corrugated rooftops and burned out homes and businesses. By 25 February the battle for Hue has at an end with Marine losses at 142 and NVA dead estimated as high as 5,000.

20) LOG WALK
Testing the skill and balance of VOLKSLAUF runners, by now thoroughly soaked and covered with slimy mud, the LOG WALK poses yet another opportunity to get wet...if you miss your step.

21) PARALLEL BARS, CARGO NET & ROPE SWING COMPLEX
Standard in Marine Corps Obstacle Courses, the PARALLEL BARS are really the first true test of VOLKSLAUF runners’ upper body strength. Though the obstacle can be overcome by one’s self, it is by far and away better to enlist the aid of a team mate...anyone standing nearby will do nicely also.
The CARGO NET and the ROPE SWING tests a VOLKSLAUF runner’s coordination as is demonstrated by the runner who missed the rope and landed, well, in the mud...this IS a mud run after all.

22) INCHON LANDING
The one major amphibious assault of the Korean war, General MacArthur’s brilliant strike against the port city of Inchon in mid-September 1950, featured the same amphibious tools as the preceding war: shallow-draft LST’s to negotiate the narrow channel and treacherous mud-flats, plus LVT’s and Higgins boats (with wooden boarding ladders—Inchon had few beaches, mostly seawalls). The veteran-led 1st MARDIV spearheaded the way ashore, fought through the port and east toward Seoul by dawn the next day.

23) PELELIU
On 15 September, 1944 the 1st MARDIV launched its assault on the southwest coast of Peleliu in the Palau Islands. The three infantry regiments of the division sustained heavy casualties in fighting their way ashore, but withstood a Japanese tank-led counterattack late in the afternoon.
On 16 September, the 5th Marines in the center of the assault drove straight across the island, seized the airfield and reached the opposite shore. The battle continued with heavy losses by both the Marines and Japanese when the 5th Marines relieved the 7th Marines on 5 October around the Umurbrogol Pocket, scene of some of the fiercest fighting.
The final elements of the 1st MARDIV departed Peleliu on 13 November and the 81st Infantry Division (US Army) reported the end of organized Japanese resistance in the Umurbrogol Pocket on 27 November.

24) TENARU RIVER CROSSING
Roughly 900 Japanese soldiers of the Ichiki Force attacked the 1st Marines on 21 August 1942 on the Island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands along what was thought to be the Tenaru River (actually the Ilu River). After repulsing the assault, Marines crossed the river and enveloped the remaining enemy, almost completely wiping out the attackers. Though the river might have been successfully crossed without the use of ropes, the fact it was full of crocodiles presented a serious, but not impossible, obstacle for the Marines.

25) THE WALL
Standard in all Marine Corps Obstacle Courses is THE WALL. At 8' in height, and with no hand or footholds, it can intimidate even the tallest and strongest Marine after weeks of intense recruit training. Placed at about the midway point in the “Y”, THE WALL presents the VOLKSLAUF runner with an interesting dilemma: “Should I try it alone, or ask for assistance (and look like a whimp)?” Here, more than any other place in the course, will the runner be tested in his (or her) upper body strength as there simply is no easy way over THE WALL. You just have to “reach down and grab some...” Or, in this case, you have to reach “up”.

26) CHU LAI
Marines fought their first regimental-size action on 15 August, 1965 in South Vietnam when, in an operation known as “Starlite”, the 7th Marines converged on the 1st Viet Cong Regiment located on the Van Tuong peninsula fifteen miles south of Chu Lai. Nearly a thousand Viet Cong were killed but the Marines learned how porous could be a cordon thrown around “entrapped” Viet Cong. This New and improved obstacle has tripled in length giving more “bang for the buck” as returning runners will see.

27) JUAN-MO-TIME
This wonderfully challenging piece of Marine Corps “art” has been dedicated to the late Lt. Col Ed “Juan-Mo-Time” Ramirez, USMC, another original member of the VOLKSLAUF Committee. Ed lost his life in a traffic accident in 1999 and it was with his untiring spirit in mind that caused this bit of insanity to be designed, because after the VOLKSLAUF runner leaves CHU LAI, (the obstacle immediately prior to “JUAN-MO-TIME”), he will think himself truly insane. Not surprisingly, Ed's son, Nick also a Marine, served with the Bakersfield unit for several years and his daughter, Alicia, is a member of the VOLKSLAUF Committee. Semper Fi, Eddie!! May you live for eternity in our hearts and minds!

28) CARL'S SLIDE 
VOLKSLAUF VIII (2004) will see yet another challenge in obstacles with CARL'S SLIDE.  Named after retired Sheriff Carl Sparks, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran (whose brilliant and gracious idea it was to move VOLKSLAUF to its' present site after the disastrous el Nino rains of 1998 which all but destroyed the original VOLKSLAUF site south of Arvin) CARL'S SLIDE introduces VOLKSLAUF runners to a truly unique Marine Corps obstacle (though somewhat modified for this event) called The Slide For Life.  Runners will have to "slide" down a length of rope from atop a tall dirt berm and enter the turbulent waters of  HAPPY VALLEY.

29) HAPPY VALLEY
The final obstacle in VOLKSLAUF, HAPPY VALLEY, begins with the descent from CARL’S SLIDE into the sometimes 3', sometimes 4' deep water and ankle-sucking mud found below. Though HAPPY VALLEY, to some, is a welcome site as it is here that all runners are recognized as they “pass in review”...some slogging, some swimming...HAPPY VALLEY is a real place with real memories shared by Marines who “paid the price” for their indiscretions while at Edson Range at MCB Camp Pendleton. A lonely, sometimes wet creek bed to the north of the northernmost barracks at Edson Range, HAPPY VALLEY was where countless Marine recruits found they really COULD do bends-and-thrusts and push-ups with their feet facing uphill and their faces in the muddy waters of HAPPY VALLEY.

30) JR. VOLKSLAUF
VOLKSLAUF IV (2000) saw the first year of the JR. VOLKSLAUF, a race run by children ages 4 to 11 years. The VOLKSLAUF Committee thought it a good idea to encourage “Jr. Marines” to become involved in VOLKSLAUF, just like their parents. As a result, VOLKSLAUF regularly has well over 200 children run the JR. VOLKSLAUF course, in separate heats each year. The course consists of many of the same obstacles found in the “big” VOLKSLAUF, though they have been considerably “down-sized” to accommodate even the youngest runner. There is no cost to JR. VOLKSLAUF runners (though they DO need a signed release from a parent or guardian prior to competing) and all competitors receive a ribbon at the conclusion of the race. The next generation of VOLKSLAUF runners are the children who compete in the JR. VOLKSLAUF and the Committee can think of no better way to prepare and motivate them than to encourage them to participate in this event which has become a highlight of the day.