Spartan started with the obstacles right from the get go on this race. After the initial climb, you had a ridiculously long barbed wire crawl through mud and water. It felt like a quarter mile, but the water felt great with the heat. My arms and knees were torn up after this one. The next obstacle was the monkey bars. I gave them a shot, but I couldn't hold on, since the “bars” were more like pipes, and I have tiny hands. So on to the burpees for me.
Ever since they entered the scene in the Spring of 2014, they have been everything you can could ask for in an OCR. The staff embraces everyone at every level, creating a friendly environment for everyone participating, making you feel like part of their B-Frog family.
This was the fourth straight year BoldrDash was being run at Yawgoo Valley Ski Area & Water Park in Exeter Rhode Island and it was easy to see that BoldrDash had a great idea how to best use the ski mountain as an obstacle course. They designed the course to use the mountain in a zigzag (snake) pattern which took you up and then down the mountain many times. This was great for several reasons as it created a course that was a challenge, and as well used every inch of the mountain to its fullest potential. The four mile course consisted of over twenty five obstacles on a mountain that has some very challenging vertical ascents and descents.
As we wove our way in and out of the vineyards obstacles became apparent. Some of the obstacles were hay bales, cargo climbs, walls, monkey bars and tunnels. None of these required our Burpee pass so we continued on in hopes of using them at the more advanced obstacles. There were tire drags, spider webs and sand bag carries
Participants were immediately faced with a deep and slippery mud pit that had people laughing and taking melfies (mud selfies). The trails were well marked and the terrain was fantastic with streams, hills and trails cutting in and out the conservation area. With over 1200 acres of woodlands, there was a lot to choose from.
I researched City Challenge and what separated them from other OCR players. The first thing I noticed was that the course has no mud or water obstacles. What also caught my eye where some of the obstacles such as Battle Rope Jumps, Sumo Squat Kettle Bell Swings, Slam Ball Strikes, Caravan Parkover, and Heavy Bag Guantlet
Brian explained the NY course is very different from the New England course, for starters almost every inch of the course is on some form of micro terrain, meaning there are almost zero flat spots on the course except for a few and that is where they are placing most of the obstacles so runners legs are going to be smoked early and often. The course is going to be 8.7 miles long, and packed with the hardest obstacles they have. The actual race will take place on three separate properties that all connect to each other.
As I was reflecting and perusing photos from this weekend's Reebok Spartan Race World Championships, I couldn't help but visibly notice the lack of standardization in a race where so much was on the line. Spartan Race, I do sincerely love your events and believe you guys put on some of the most difficult and awesome physical sporting events in the entire world... this is a constructive piece of criticism that I've been distilling with my observations over the past few years with the growth of this company and sport.
I arrived excited but after talking to these seasoned Tough Mudder's (those that have completed two or more are known as Legionnaires) I was now even more ready to rock and roll. Time passed pretty fast and before I knew it I was at the first starting line and ready to go. At this point we had someone really pumping up the group and getting us to stretch. We were then allowed to begin and I started to get myself in gear and noticed the group was stopping a short distance ahead as we had not actually started the course yet. The group was now being pumped up by Tough Mudder Motivator Sean Corvelle and he is very good at his job.
I did a fun race this past weekend with a girlfriend. It was the Lozilu race which took place in Broomfield, Colorado. Normally I steer away from girl only runs as they are not as challenging as I would like. But that is because I have over 50 OCR's and these runs are great for 1st timers, with no pressure of elite anything. It is to go out and laugh your butt off and to play, like when you were kids.
