Name: Hao Hoang
Age: 27
Lives: New Hampshire
Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Favorite OCR series: Spartan Race
Favorite Obstacle: Spear Throw
Least Favorite Obstacle: Gravel Bucket Carry
Ideal race distance: 5-7 miles
2016 OCR Goals: My 2016 goal is to podium or at least be within reach of podium
Social Media: Instagram, RAGIN_AZN. It’s fairly new so there not a lot to it yet but I’ll be updating it as I go.
Summarize your athletic background and how you got into OCR in a few sentences.
I did sports in high school and have lifted weights since college. I have always wanted to do an obstacle course race because the obstacles looked fun to me. Did my first one and was hooked ever since.
Why do you compete in OCR?
The obstacles are fun to me and it’s a way to stay in shape and test my limits.
Walk me through a typical week of you working out.
During the week I wake up around 4:30 to go to the gym. I do strength training for about an hour and then half an hour of HIIT cardio to work on my endurance and conditioning. I go for an outdoor run here and there on the weekends and when the weather is warm I do Strongman Sundays with my friends.
The race season generally lasts from February to October, but that leaves 4 months without racing. How do you fill the void of not racing for so long? Do you have any non-OCR activities that take priority during the offseason?
I still train as I would normally and I do road races in the surrounding area, mostly 5Ks.
The great thing about OCR is that you can’t just be a strong runner or a meat-head and expect to do well. Are you more of a runner who’s decently strong or a strength athlete who can run?
I’m a strength athlete who’s decent at running. I love the weights and running has always been my least favorite thing to do. I generally do well with the obstacles but have been making strides (no pun intended) to improve at running.
Have you overcome any significant setbacks, such as injury, personal trauma, etc.?
I had an ankle injury May of 2015. I was doing one of the swinging obstacles, lost my grip and landed awkwardly on my right ankle. I couldn’t really train for about a month and that was pretty disappointing. It has healed since then but not 100%. Every once in a while if I take a wrong step, there’s a friendly little reminder of that injury.
What is the farthest you’ve traveled to attend a race and what made you decide to do it?
The farthest I’ve traveled so far was 2 hours to Killington Vermont to do the Spartan Beast to get my 2015 Trifecta from the Spartan series. This past month I traveled to California to do a BattleFrog race with my little brother.
What is your 15 seconds of fame moment?
Being interviewed for MudRunguide.com
Do your friends still consider you crazy for “doing all of those mud runs?” How many people have you been able to convince to join you at a race?
A lot of my friends still consider me crazy for doing all of these races. I have been able to convince a friend or two to race with me from time to time but I’m really excited to race with my little brother.
Pretend you’re a race director for a day. Describe the course you would design (including pre- and post-race festivals, if you’d like).
I would do a 5-7 miles course that’s heavily loaded with obstacles. Lots of climbing, crawling, dragging, pulling, carrying heavy objects and all sorts of “fun” things. There would definitely be a warped wall like the one featured in Ninja Warrior. It’ll be in the woods somewhere with a decent amount of elevation changes.
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