Can you relate to Chloe's calluses?
The OCR Kingdom was shaken to its core as Orla Walsh yet again took first place at the DC Spartan Stadion event and also fell from two obstacles on Million Dollar Mile. The former kept her streak alive as the top elite female athlete in the Stadion Series. The latter almost cost LeBron James a million dollars. Well, not really Lebron. But by now you get the idea that if some cub off the street can beat a seasoned OCR athlete through five obstacles in just one mile with a two-minute head start, they could win a cool mil.
The Canadian Crusher, Faye Stenning added to Chloe Levray’s calluses at the Energy Bars. The shredding continued with the Captain, Robert Killian as he did likewise to Josh Hartman.
Then along came a young lady whose snowboarding career was cut short by a neck fracture. Kayla Kobelin recovered and took on professional triathlons as her next course. Orla “The Vermonster” Walsh was the Defender called out to curtail that chimera. Perhaps it was the off-season or the cacophony of the crowds and lights. Whatever the case, Orla fell from Hang Time. Then it happened again at Deep Water Solo. That gave Kayla over the allotted two-minute head start, a first for the show. By the time Kayla opted out with just one obstacle to go, she was nearly secure in winning $100,000. She held on and kept her 100K safe even though many felt she could have done the last obstacle since Orla was nowhere in sight at the time.
But we’ll never know. Captain Killian said it best to his challenger, “…more than anything it takes confidence and grit.” And that my friends, is the real story of the day. Matt “The Bear” Novakovich captured second place in the Red Bull 400. That confidence bit went through his head as he remembered some coaching advice from Yancy Culp. He said something like, “Run like there are five guys chasing you in a closed room, fighting to the death.” That’s the one thing still missing from Million Dollar Mile. The money stakes may be high, but the escape is too easy.