The Canadian Mud Queens is one of the newer OCR groups I have joined on Facebook. These ladies are passionate about their races, and about helping others newer to the sport with questions ranging from the best gear to how to train hard for success. I had the opportunity to conduct an over Facebook interview with Kelly Ripley, one of the founders of the Canadian Mudd Queens.
Despite my limitations, I had a great time. The course was not as challenging as the Spartan Sprint, for example, but the obstacles were fun and interesting. There were several low crawls, two under barbed wire and one under a fence. The barbed wire crawl was a pit of muddy water, so the wire was high enough from the ground that you weren't forced to put your face into the water.
The Men's Fitness Ultimate Athlete Games held their inaugural race (contest? challenge?) outside of Chicago on July 19, and featured some truly unique obstacles which meshed perfectly with their different and exciting race concept - (3) different courses for athletes to complete that consisted of a 1-mile Strength course, a .5 mile Agility course, and the Speed course measunring in at .25 miles.
“Human Movement is committed to providing the highest quality experience for all Dirty Girl participants,” said HMM CEO Jeff Suffolk. “While we are pleased to have saved these eight events, we understand the disappointment this may bring to participants of canceled events, and are working hard to present alternative options to honor the original registration.”
With Warrior Dash being one of the larger race venues in OCR, I thought I would see how it stands up. With impending rough weather a good possibility on the forecast, I arrived at the event. The parking ($10) was well executed and very orderly. Creating lines of vehicles as we arrived, it was kept very organized. From there through the entrance gate to the event under the giant signage emblazoned with the Warrior Dash logo.
At this location for the Merrell Down & Dirty series I will have to say that the 5k distance was pretty easy for me and the obstacles were semi-challenging. Everything ran smoothly, I liked their setup, location, vendors, announcers, volunteers and how organized everything was. Also just the enthusiasm from everyone I encountered was superb and I will definitely do this race series again and recommend it to my friends.
As if it were not exciting enough with challenging obstacles and live demonstrations featuring U.S. Navy SEALs and a McDonnell-Douglas 600 Special Mission Bird helicopter, leaders of BattleFrog today announced that its NY-NJ-CT event is shaping up to be a United States of America vs. Canada challenge with top-ranked obstacle course race athletes from both nations announcing that they will compete on Saturday, August 2, 2014 in Englishtown, New Jersey.
This past weekend in Utah was huge for over 2 dozen Colorado Obstacles Racers. We all completed our Spartan Trifecta. For those of you who do not know what that means, it is completing the 3 distances in the Spartan racing series. The Sprint which is usually 4 + miles, the Super 8 + miles and the Beast 10+. By all accounts we completed a marathon of obstacle racing. My races were 27 miles total with over 90 obstacles.
Ever have a certain product that you use just about every day and can’t be without? Well for me, this is it. Geigerrig Hydration backpacks are simply one of a kind and stand-alone from the rest of the competition! Geigerrig Hydration packs are a total game changer! What makes these hydration packs different from others is its pressurized system to squirt out water wherever needed. All you do is pump it (it comes with a easy to reach hand pump) to create the pressure & you're ready to drink or spray it. They are one of my favorite things I own for OCR’s.
Upon leaving my hotel for Battlefrog’s Greater DC event the receptionist said to keep an eye out for deer in the road while driving to the venue. To me, nothing else can better explain just how “out there” this venue was. And it made for an excellent race. From the race, to the festival, to the volunteers and workers, this was one very well executed event. Despite being new to the OCR scene, Battlefrog has set a very high bar.
