This was a weekend of miracles and firsts. For two weeks leading up to Goliathon, the weather forecast promised thunderstorms all weekend. Race Director Doug Horton told me at 4 pm Saturday after all waves had nearly finished the course that God miraculously kept the bad weather at bay all day.
Today was Try the Obstacles Day (TTOD) at Goliathon. Participants had the opportunity to get on six of seven (nearly half) of the course obstacles before the main event day coming up June 2. We got about 20 minutes of unrestricted time to try out techniques, twists and sometimes tumbles, on some very tough obstacles.
Green, orange, and blue may not be the new red, white, and blue. But these are definitely the colors of a unique obstacle challenge in South Jersey. Mix in a little yellow and you’ve got the all-American Goliathon.
Goliathon put on their annual spring event and OCR photographer Bob Mulholland was on hand to compile the action for this photo essay.
Overall this is one of the best races around, aside from a great race, the proceeds go to providing clean drinking water to areas of the world that are in need. Aside from a few waits at obstacles, and with selling out 1,000 racers that can be expected, really can’t say anything negative about this race.
Quantity over quality or quality over quantity? How about both? If you wanted to play in the mud this weekend, there was no shortage of events! From our tried and true staples, Like Double Spartan Races, An epic showdown at BattleFrog Series, Warrior Dash, Terrain Mud Run and Rugged Maniac, to more specialized races to get excited about, like the end of an era taking place at Mud Guts and Glory, the always highly anticipated Goliathon and a welcome reminder of what we love most about OCR at Conquer the Gauntlet – this weekend had it all.
Goliathlon is a non-profit semi-permanent obstacle race outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The race is known for their unique course design and tiered obstacles for all OCR enthusiasts to enjoy. Last year, Mud Run Guide checked out this unique race and wrote this article: Goliathon: The Race That Gives Back. The core team behind Goliathon take no salaries and all work as volunteers.
The story of the weekend was the crowning of the new Spartan Race World Champion Robert Killian. While most of the obstacle racing world had their eyes on Lake Tahoe around the rest of the country a number of other races were taking place with new challenges and obstacles for competitors who couldn't make the trip to Squaw Valley.
Often in the world of obstacle racing those who have been racing for years start to see many of the events as essentially the same. There will be a few walls, maybe some barbed wire or other low crawl, fire, and probably something tall to climb or hang from. There is water and mud. Whether the event is timed or untimed overtime many of the events start to blend together, it is that one obstacle that stands out the masses clammer over online.
