It’s ladies day again and not everyone appreciates a trash-talking chick. My advice is to simply overlook it and everything else the producers throw at you. Instead, enjoy the athleticism and humanity that the athletes show. That is something we all have in common. We quickly forget all the crap we experience on the course. We remember the achievement.
Amber and Aimee lined up for the first wave of Drag Race and Amber pulled Aimee and all the rope to her end. Aimee made a great last-gasp tackle at the end but Amber got the first bell.
Santia and Alyssa (OCR) dug in next but Santia got the early advantage by driving her legs forward like a defensive tackle. That was plenty enough to ring the bell.
Margarita and Corinna (OCR) jerked each other to the ground then they both pulled rope and went knuckles to knuckles. It was a mid-field wrestling match over two inches of rope for quite a while. Then Corinna got up and started the pull, wearing out her opponent. She missed her first bell tag but rose again and nailed it.
Mikel and April brought up the rear of the competition but these two ladies were fighters. Mikel just pounded away and moved forward to the next round.
Now I have to pause here a moment and comment on something Margarita said after she lost to Corinna. Margarita is a boot camp trainer. She said Drag Race was by far the hardest thing she has ever done. I’ll just say this about that, “Come on over to OCR. You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
The Wake faced the girls next. This is a brutal challenge. Lots of OCR goodies on this one with walls, water, and heavy carries all in one. Corinna and Santia went first. I sure hope OCR wins.
Sure enough, Corinna sailed over the walls and entered the water first, completed the heavy carry first, and locked her load just as Santia made her last turn in the water. Corinna left Santia all wet as she rang the bell high and dry. By the way, Santia was a fitness brand owner.
April and Amber unleashed on the Wake next. They were head to head over the second wall and entering the water. These girls were both super muscular and had no issues with the yoke carry. But April managed a small lead and took advantage of it, breaking away to the bell with Amber back at the first wall.
The Pit, of course, was last. April the face and body painter and Corinna the OCR grad student faced the Pile Drive. This whole-body challenge is prime turf for people who train with tires, buckets, and Wreck Bags. They pulled, dragged, lifted, and repeated three times then faced off in the Pit. April gathered her lungs and then drove in low to take down Corinna. Corinna reversed and drove with her legs to get April to the edge. A brutal wrestling match was taken by Corinna. Steve said it was the best Pit he has ever seen in all his years.
So OCR made it to the Skullbuster. It’s time for another comment. If you watch these shows and others like it, then you hopefully start to notice some things. You notice what techniques work and which are lacking. You notice what types of athletes win and who goes home. For instance, on American Ninja Warrior you’ll see the climbers dominate. Isaac Caldeiro simply shattered the courses last season. This weekend I’m going to interview him and find out his secret.
Of course, we know there is no secret. On the Skullbuster, it’s the OCR athlete who usually wins. But not all. Some have not paid attention to technique, especially when tired. Why would anyone climb that rope without using their feet? Except for Hunter of course. What will Corinna do?
She wanted to put the new record on the course. Cassidy came down to size up her frenemy. They race just a month prior and Corinna won by nine seconds. Today she had to beat 7:52. She didn’t want to win by a few seconds but well into the low sevens.
Her run was blazing fast. As I’ve said before, this is where you will win or lose this challenge. Corinna finished in 1:31, faster than most guys. Wow. She made it look easy with plenty of lungs left. The rope and cargo net were no problem for this OCR pro. She got on the Frame at 2:20 and got off at 2:49. Turnstile required body mass and leg drive that she accomplished by 3:31. But did that burn her legs too much for the landing pads? Oh no. She has clearly trained for endurance. But at this point, she was well past the halfway point in time. She headed to Heartbreak Hill and got on all fours to the top. She turned the post and zig-zagged, then changed to a slide, and finally to an all-out sprint down the hill. Those were precious seconds. She had no problem flipping the ribs. Finally, 
she dug in her feet and climbed Rope Burn and rang the bell.
Corinna finished the Skullbuster in 7:12, unseating Cassidy the reigning queen. She left the show with $80,000. No complaints there. Corinna met her goal. Like a true OCR champ, she sized up the course (“it was harder than it looks on TV”) and though she did not know what all to expect, she kept her mind and body in the game and took the crown. That 40-second margin was huge and I doubt anyone else will touch it.
Once again the ageless OCRMudmaster is spot on with his recap of the show. It is clear to anyone who follows BSC that OCR athletes dominate this event. Why? Simply put training. Strategy and technique are important components to winning any race. But nothing beats the endurance, stamina and mental toughness that proper OCR training provides an athlete.
A good friend of mine once said, “To be the best…you have to beat the best”. Kudos to Corinna for taking down the best in a great champion like Cassidy. Well done ladies. Keep training hard!
“Mikel and April brought up the rear of the competition but these two ladies were fighters. Mikel just pounded away and moved forward to the next round.” Should be April that moved on. Thanks.