Primarily, this article series was focusing on the individual efforts of the Badass Women in OCR, but when Amanda’s name was brought up to me as a nomination, I was excited. As I learned more about her and the group from River City fitness, the words that came to my mind were: motivation, teamwork, community, family, and strength.
In the OCR community, I find that more and more people are getting together from all fitness levels and backgrounds to form teams. The teams then take a course by the horns, ensuring that each team member starts and finishes together. I find teams of women empowering, and when I think of the UK Mudd Queens, three words come to mind: Empower, Encourage and Teamwork. I first heard about the UK Mudd Queens (an all women's obstacle racing group based in the UK) from members of the Canadian Mudd Queens and I was intrigued.
I was very intrigued when I heard that Nikki Call had achieved two podium spots at BattleFrog last year with two broken arms. At first, I was honestly surprised that someone could push through that much pain and still podium. After chatting with Nikki online and doing this interview with her, I realized that the story of how she both broke arms isn’t what I wanted to tell, but the story of a stay at home mom who strives to be the best she can.
Ekaterina “SOLO” (as she is known in the OCR community) is truly an amazing person. She is Canadian, and has accomplished so much within the worlds of OCR and extreme endurance events. I wanted to feature SOLO in my Badass Women of OCR series, as a lot of the little things she has done are inspiring.
I was fortunate enough to have Brenna brought to my attention by one of her teammates, Evan. I had fun learning a bit more about this Bad Ass Woman in the OCR community. Not only has she taken on many exciting challenges, but she is a strong voice for OCR and love for our community.
I was fortunate enough to have Brenna Calvert brought to my attention by one of her teammates, Evan. I had fun learning a bit more about this Badass Woman in the OCR community. Not only has she taken on many exciting challenges, but she is a strong voice for OCR and love for our community. Her athletic accomplishments are impressive, but she is super down to earth and it was fun getting to know her a bit better.
It is never an easy task for me to decide on whom to interview for this article series. All of the women involved in the OCR sport to me are “Badass”, as they are pushing themselves beyond what they thought was their limit, and inspiring those around them to be strong and healthier in their own lives. In the case of Johanna, I have been fortunate to get to know her online a bit through the Canadian Mudd Queens group, and what makes her a “Badass” is not one thing, but all the little things that she has done for herself, and for others.
All women have an obstacle in life that they need to overcome. For some, it is the pressure of society to act and be a certain way, for others, it’s the obstacle of being perfect. The main thing I love about the OCR community is that no one is perfect, and we are all strong in our own ways. For Kelli although she is strong, has done 105 races in over 5 years and wants to push for more, has to deal with Panic and anxiety on a daily basis.
Cynthia has had quite the interesting career within the OCR community. She started her journey in 2012 and has since tackled many OCR and running events, letting no perceived fears get in her way. Initially, as I started to learn more about her, I was intrigued. Not only is she a mom, but she was able to in 2014 at the Spartan Sprint in Toronto chase down Helene Dumais (and we all know that is a feat within itself).
Anyone that has ever done a Tough Mudder / World’s Toughest Mudder event knows the name “Sean Corvelle”. He is and has been the face and voice for Tough Mudder for many years now. I know personally, the first time that I heard his start line speech it helped calm some of my fears at my 1st event
