Down and Dirty Obstacle Race obstacle races, mud run, and OCR information, distance, cost, dates, calendar, discounts, obstacles, reviews, and more

Everything was great except for the medicine ball wall. This wasn't thought through very well. There were lines of people going one after the other. For short or average heights people you can't see over this wall. You would throw a 25 or 50lb ball over the wall. Well a lot of people left their medicine balls there and when you jumped over you came down on the medicine balls left there by others. 2 of us in our 4 people group landed on a ball and twisted our ankles. Not only that I'm glad I didn't get nailed in the head with a 50lb ball by the person behind me not knowing I was bending over to pick up my ball and remove it and then blindly throwing the ball over the wall

DIFFICULTY = Beginner

PARKING = A
Parking was onsite on concrete and was free. They did offer VIP parking which was only 20-50 feet closer but you had to park on the grass.

FESTIVAL = A
The festival area was big and had a lot of vendors, free stuff, and a DJ. There were multiple food vendors as well as High Striker (the hammer and bell carnival game) and Operation Gratitude (write a letter to a military member). They also had a human car wash. Since it was in a park, there was also a bunch of playgrounds for children. It was definitely a family fun event and because of the crowd and number of vendors and activities, you wanted to hang around.

BAG CHECK = A
Bag check was secure and free. They used the tear off tag from your bib to keep track.

STARTING LINE = C
They had an arch and a DJ to hype you up. You started in small waves (1 large wave broken out into smaller waves). There was no starting obstacle.

COURSE LAYOUT = D
The course was in a public park so the entire race was on flat surface. It was all on grass (although there was mud on obstacles only). Because it was like running in the park with obstacles, it’s a good race for first timers. There were mile markers too.

OBSTACLES = D
I ran the 5K and they had 15 obstacles. Most obstacles were ones you have seen already (crawl, mud pits, weight carry, tunnels). They did have a new take on 4 foot walls where you were given a 50 pound medicine ball and had to carry it with you and bring it over the 4 foot walls.

Best Obstacle = Monster Rope Climb
Worst Obstacle = 20 Push Ups

WATER STATIONS = B
On the 3.1 mile course, they had 2 water stations. Each station was placed after a “hard” obstacle. Water only, no food.

FINISH LINE = B
They had the final obstacle (mud pit crawl), a crowd waiting for you, and an arch. You could clearly see the finish line from a distance. A series of obstacles were back to back leading up to the final obstacle.

SHOWERING/CHANGING = B
They had hoses and lots of them. There was a changing tent. They also had the human car wash as a pre-rinse.

SWAG = A
You received a tshirt, a medal, a bandana, and a goody bag with food and goodies. I was surprised on how much stuff you received for this race.

CONCLUSION:
Down & Dirty does basically all of the extras right (swag, parking, bag check, etc.). The big downfall is the terrain and obstacles. This is a big deal because those are the main reasons you do a race. It’s in a public park so the entire terrain is on grass. They only had 15 obstacles for the 5K (5 more for the 10K) but it did offer a taste of what the OCR world is like if this is your first race. Going forward, I would only do this race again if I could do the 10K (just to experience the extra 5 obstacles). I do recommend this race for first time racers and family members as it is very family oriented (your children will not be bored as there are activities and a kid’s race). Veteran racers should skip this one.

Very well organized right from the beginning with lots of emails, pre-race info, etc. Same on event day. Well organized, timing was excellent with time between groups so no long waits at obstacles. Enough of a challenge ,but not at the elite level like some events. Clean up are was excellent as well. Hope they return to Hartford again!

Very well organized. Good 6 mile trail run. No lines anywhere....bib pick-up, bag check, obstacles, etc. They offered free race photos which was nice. Had a great time!!

Lot's of challenging fun!

Only caveat was the "balance beam".....it was not square, it leaned a little to one side, when stepping down from the higher bar to the lower bar....I expected it to be level.....I don't think that was supposed to be part of the challenge :(

Would ABSOLUTELY participate in a Merrill Down and Dirty Run again!

This event was well organized and everyone was super helpful. They offered free photos that they would email to you immediately for free, which is nice because no one has to worry about checking their phone to get a good FB shot. The obstacles were a bit easy, and would love to see a competitive wave with more difficult obstacles. I will do this one again either way.

This is the best event that I have done that was not one of the big name companies. Registration was good. I liked that they staggered the waves to 20-30 racers at a time. I did not have to wait at a single obstacle. Every person that I talked to was nice and helpful. This was also the first time I had been to one where my 5 year old could compete in his own race.

The obstacles were quite easy but that was ok because I was trying to encourage people to come out and race that have never done it before. This was a great starter race. I will do it again next year

The location was gorgeous, and it was a fun day with a friend. My son also did the 1 mile course.

While it was generally fun, the obstacles were sooo easy and there was a very long stretch with none at all. Most people were walking and it was clear this was designed to be super easy. That was OK since I hadn't trained, but even I, who hasn't seen the inside of a gym in forever nor put on my running shoes, would have liked the obstacles to be greater in both number and challenge. My son thought the 1 mile was boring, and he's only 7. There were only four obstacles and it was mostly running. All in all, it was OK, because we were just out for a nice day in a nice park, but they could make it a little more...exciting.