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.
I refused to let the fact that my SUV had a catastrophic breakdown, or that we arrived really late, deter me from having a great time and writing this great article. Even though the zombie participants were no longer on the course I decided to still run the course. I love “bling” (medals) so my plan was always to die one run and survive the other (so I could get both medals) and this seemed like the perfect run to do as infected. I took my time running the course and I was able to get a good feel for it prior to running the Black Ops (night time version).
After learning about BattleFrog I was thinking about going and running the course. While researching the event and obstacles I noticed the volunteer link on the BattleFrog website and checked it out. The idea of volunteering and getting to run the course for free made BattleFrog seem like a no brainier. BattleFrog would get awesome help (me) for the day and I would meet the staff, hang out with SEAL's, meet more OCR regulars, and run the course for free?
Ever since signing up for Wintergreen back around May of this year I have heard little jabs about how tough the course was last year. “Only wish it on your worst enemy,” and things of that nature. No amount of witty banter or raised eyebrows or widened eyes with dropped jaws could have ever prepared or accurately described just how intense this race is. There are those whispers within this community about Spartans being a different breed of OCR and this race turns those whispers into screams.
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.
