X-Racewear shorts are big on the scene and I attest that they are 100% OCR Ready. I have put quite a few miles on my pairs. I own both the zipper and Velcro black shorts but this time, I will talk about the black and gray camouflage with Velcro as they are their latest model.
Grit ‘N Wit was a combination of physical obstacles and mental challenges. The idea was great and the execution was pretty good for a brand new race. Unfortunately, turn-out was not high, but hopefully we will see this race back again next year as there are plans in the works for a spring race.
This race was 4.15 miles, 30+ obstacles, and had 12 mud/water pits. The Mainprize brothers definitely made this race their toughest event yet. This race was not set up for time purposes but completion purposes. The Tiger Trap on this course was the deepest mud pit I've been in so far.
The use of Trekking Poles has been increasing in the hiking world over the past few years, and is recently becoming more prevalent in Extreme Fitness Racing (Death Races, Catamount Games, etc,), Rucking, and now Obstacle Course Racing. Of course, a “normal” OCR doesn't give much opportunity for Trekking Poles to be of much assistance when you’re mostly running. But in this past weekend’s Virginia Spartan Super held at the Wintergreen Ski Resort, it was recommended that I use a pair to assist in my stability and exertion that would be required with the incredibly steep uphill and downhill grades I’d be facing, and I could expect very little running to actually be possible. Other Obstacle Course Races with hellacious grades to negotiate (like Vermont) might be good opportunities to have Trekking Poles provide assistance.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Reebok Spartan Race brought their 3+ mile event back to the New England area. The wildly popular race series spanned two days and was also being filmed by NBC for a future broadcast. After putting in a full day volunteering on Saturday, I was excited to return on Sunday to tackle the course that many were claiming was the toughest sprint distance race every held in the area.
As you descended the first mountain face the view was breathtaking and the base camp kept you motivated to continue towards your next obstacle. Over a 9’ wall we went and then down a slippery mountainside to repeat the climb 3-4 more times, each one adding elevation and difficulty to the challenge. Some of the standard Spartan obstacles were present, cargo nets, crawls, barbed wire and fire; they also added some new ones like the rotating monkey bar grab and others that await you in secrecy.
I was never a sporty kid, never an athlete. I was the chubby girl too afraid to even try bowling as I was convinced I would fail or embarrass myself. Until I found obstacle racing…
New Jersey based MudManX held it’s second event of the year on August 9th in New Windsor, NY at the sight previously used for Survival Race, Cousins Paintball. With this location having a mixture of permanent structures and those brought in by MudManX, the course was slammed packed with obstacles at every turn. The rolling hills through a variety of different terrain was challenging enough to keep your heart pounding through this 3.1 mile course.
I hope my being completely honest can help even just one person that reads this, I truly know what it feels like to feel hopeless and helpless and not want to live life that way anymore but I promise you its better spend every day killing yourself a little than to call it quits and remember... The only easy day was yesterday, embrace your beast and always be insanely focused.
“Are you ready for the suck?” was a question posed almost half a dozen times to me within the first 30 minutes of arriving to the venue at Fort Yargo State Park in North Georgia. As a solid obstacle racer I was thinking “yeah, yeah, I've heard this phrase all too often lately” but I must admit I was in for a rude awakening! The Special Ops Series Green Beret Challenge was an endurance event to test both the physical and mental strength of even the strongest competitors.
