Inversion Therapy
Race Day:
When I arrived at Hopkins Game Farm in Kennedyville, Maryland, parking was quick and easy as always at the Maryland Savage Race event. You have the option of VIP or standard parking. Leading up to the weekend of May 4th and 5th, the forecast was ever changing. I gave up and figured I would load the weather in the morning because it would be the best chance of something accurate. The forecast said dry, besides a 2-hour block from 9-11 am. The previous days had been raining, so there was a high chance that it would be a muddy day. Thankfully, the parking lot is a bit higher ground from other areas of the property though and getting stuck is not really a concern.
The Winners:
It was a close race for the podium in both Mens and Womens. Ken Corigliano took first place in the men's race with a time of 53:49. Second and third place were separated by only 1 second, with Joe Hayes finishing at 56:09 and Tyler McCredie with a time of 56:10. Women's first place went to Chrissy Mcfarland with a time of 1:06:55. Tiffany Palmer and Racheal Corigliano finished in second and third with times of 1:10:26 and 1:16:47.
The Race:
Saturday's event was about 6.5 miles long and the course included 27 obstacles. One of the first things we noticed when we started was the trail went right not left. This might seem silly but being my 5th time at this location, this was a big change in the course layout. We soon realized the designer had changed up a lot of the trails as we found ourselves knee deep in the mud. Then the sky let loose. For maybe 10 to 15 minutes it down poured. The less muddy areas became swaps and the muddy areas became almost impassable. This did not stop anyone from having a good day, from what I saw. Even owner Sam Abbitt took a lap on the course later in the day and posted up a picture of himself and a fellow runner waist deep in one of the mud puddles on the course.
What's New:
Savage Race introduced a few new obstacles this year. My overall opinion of them was that they were enjoyable. They all presented some difficulty and I saw mixed results of completion and failure from those running around us. Inversion Therapy was an obstacle low to the ground where you hung and crawled your way across pipes and a ladder. The rain Saturday made this a bit harder at times but was relatively easy to complete. Chopsticks and Piece of Queso are two other new obstacles and were the last two at the event. During Chopsticks, the hardest part was reaching the bell. If you did not hop onto the last stick with enough momentum, you almost had to wiggle yourself back and reach the previous stick so that you could push off of it to get a swing going. I did see a few open wavers pushing each other to get that swing. I would say Piece of Queso was the hardest of the new obstacles. A bit of coordination was needed at this obstacle since the plastic pieces and fabric grips were spaced out requiring a bit of swing.
My Feelings on the Event:
I always go into these events almost looking to find something wrong. I would give Savage Race Maryland a 5 out of 5. One previous complaint was the back up at the 8 am gate opening for those running the 9 am Pro and earlier open waves. They solved this by simply opening more lines at 8 am. The lines took not even 5 minutes. Photographs were up within 24-48 hours. The course was well marked. Volunteers were cheerful and helpful. Obstacles were solid and secure and felt safe. I find it hard to find anything to complain about besides the rain, which made it hard to see out of my glasses, and that is not in any way the fault of Savage. If you have not tried Savage Race I would highly recommend you put it on your to try list.