// The Format
What is run-and-gun?
Run and gun (also called "run n' gun" or "tactical biathlon") is a timed shooting competition that combines cross-country running with live-fire shooting stages. You carry your firearms the entire course, stop at designated stages to engage targets, then keep running.
// How It Works
Five steps.
- 01
Start
You begin at the starting line carrying everything: firearms, ammunition, eye/ear protection, and lighting. No resupply at your vehicle.
- 02
Run
Follow a marked course through Oklahoma fields, woods, hills, and creek beds. Distances range from 2K to 10+ miles depending on the event.
- 03
Shoot
At each shooting stage, a Range Officer supervises you through a course of fire. Engage targets with the designated firearm, then move on.
- 04
Repeat
Run to the next stage. Shoot. Run. Until you finish.
- 05
Score
Final score = total time: running + stage times + penalties for missed targets. Lowest total time wins.
// The Appeal
Two skills, one stopwatch.
Most shooting sports treat fitness and marksmanship separately. Run and gun doesn't. After running uphill through a field, your heart rate is elevated, your hands may be shaking, and you need to settle onto a target at 100+ yards. That combination is the appeal.
Unlike static range competitions (USPSA, IDPA, PRS), run and gun rewards athletes who can both run and shoot. You can't win on marksmanship alone if your run time is slow, and you can't win on fitness alone if you're stacking penalties at every stage.
// What Twilight Adds
At night. Completely unlit.
Twilight Biathlon takes the run-and-gun format and runs it at night, on completely unlit terrain. Three new layers of difficulty:
Navigation
The course is marked, but you're moving through Oklahoma fields, woods, hills, and creek beds in the dark. Light discipline and route-finding matter.
Target ID
Every target must be positively identified using your own lighting or night vision before you press the trigger. No firing at shadows.
Equipment
Lights, batteries, NV devices, IR illuminators — managing all of it while moving through darkness is a skill layer of its own.
Four divisions across two nights.
Friday is NV-only (NV 2Gun and NV PCC). Saturday is white-light (2Gun and PCC) — headlamps, weapon lights, and flashlights are permitted. This is one of the few events that dedicates an entire night exclusively to night vision competitors.
// Fitness
Do I need to be fast?
No. The run-and-gun community is one of the most welcoming in competitive shooting. Many competitors walk significant portions of the course. Finishing is the goal.
If you've never done a run and gun before, the Twilight Biathlon's 5K course is on the shorter end of the format (many events run 5–10+ miles). It's a good entry point.