Protected: The Rise & Fall (Again) of Atlas Race
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend and a special thank you to all the men and women who serve. With the holiday weekend the obstacle racing world was a bit quieter with three major races taking place in the US - Badass Dash Las Vegas, Mud Guts and Glory in Ohio, and a Spartan Stadium Race in Miller Park. Be sure to check out OCR World Championships World Rankings to find out who tops the list this week.
After interviewing Bridging Abilities Race Director Amy Reichenbach the race was one not to miss. The day before was Bone Frog Challenge had taken a toll on me and Sunday at Bridging Abilities would be a push. After finishing my last two laps of Bone Frog I plugged the address into my GPS and drove several hours and ended up arriving just after 1 AM and yet again slept in my Prius.
Located at Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, TX, this 1,300 acre property boasted lots trails, ponds/lakes and green scenery. This was a perfect canvass for the Spartan masterminds to plan a course. The site offered lots of space and a large covered pavilion overlooking a private lake. At first, it almost seemed that Spartan was not going to open the gates due to the wind, rain and lightning. There was a slight delay of entry, which caused the waves to become backed up. I was mentally preparing myself for a miserable day of wet spectating, but the rain eventually stopped and the clouds gave way to the sun later in the day.
I am not sure how others decide what OCR events they want to run or make a priority to take part and race, but for me it’s pretty simple, I love to try new events (large and small scale) and most of all I want to race any event/course that looks amazing and challenging. Rat Race Dirty Weekend fits the bill perfectly; it’s a 20 mile race with over 200 real deal obstacles, so from the moment I learned about it and watched the promo video I was caught, hook, line, and sinker!
This was one of the OCR’s I was not going to miss; Lynn Hall and her amazing team create both an amazing course and event every time they step up to the plate and I had very high expectations for this event The morning started out on the cold side and I was worried early on it may not warm up all day. It was funny to see so many racers at registration wearing long pants and a jacket when they would be racing shortly. Mother Nature was awesome and the day ended up being perfect weather.
High Rock Challenge in it's third year offered a solo version of the course this year. They are the state of New York’s oldest obstacle course race and have been putting the team event on for thirteen years. This also is another great event put on In memory of NYC Police Officer John Kelly who was killed in the line of duty, so being retired law enforcement, I was honored and excited to be running in this race.
BattleFrog Carolinas just took the top spot on my Race Resume as the toughest overall Obstacle Course Race I have ever done. I got my butt kicked. Repeatedly. “Misery loves company” may be a popular cliché, but I gained no solace from the fact that many “Elite” racers who seemingly NEVER fail an obstacle were forced to hand in their bracelets after hours of trying to comply with the “Complete all obstacles rule”.
Rugged Maniac unveils new finisher medals for events. One more reason Rugged Maniac is known as one of the best values in OCR.