As an obstacle course racing athlete, I often try to convince other people to join in the fun, whether that be in the competitive wave or the open wave. One of the following excuses often stymies my suggestions though. The only problem is people often do not say what they really mean when they provide an excuse.
Most of the major OCR's, like marathons and other large scale races, can cost a runner well over $100 to enter the race. Add to the entry fee all the extras, and you can easily spend $500 on race weekend. But it doesn't have to be that way!
Summer is in full swing and things are heating up on the competitive racing circuit. One major competitive race dominated the OCR market over the weekend and some have dubbed it a preview of what is to come later this year when the championship circuit begins. Racers from around the world flocked to Palmerton, Pennsylvania for the Reebok Spartan Race Super on Blue Mountain.
Tough Mudder Kentucky provided a nice mix of terrain including hard packed trails, muddy trails, streams, grass, concrete and gravel. There was minimal technical terrain that allowed for fast running, which made the course ideal if you are a World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM) competitor and looking to do multiple laps.
This weekend in the competitive obstacle racing world all eyes will be on Spartan Race Pennsylvania. This weekend marks the next stop on the road to the Spartan Race World Championships with NBC filming the Blue Mountain race this weekend. In addition to the NBC filming the Spartan Combine will also be taking place.
This was my fifth trip to Canada in 2015 for an OCR race weekend and this one started out with more drama than the others. I arranged a place to stay via airbnb and arrived in Ottawa just after 8 pm on Friday night, but unfortunately the person I had to meet for the keys to the place was not available and explained via text messages he unavailable until 10 pm. After hours of waiting he was a no show and we ended up having to drive to the Spartan Ottawa venue parking lot around 1 am and all three of us slept in my Prius. An interesting beginning to the trip.
This is not the first time and unfortunately will probably not be the last time this subject is written about. It has become far to common to see this at obstacle course races around the global. The problem, littering. The majority of the littering is from energy gel packaging’s being discarded on the ground. The bigger the race, the more garbage finds itself on course.
Recently Spartan Race Headquarters announced their annual Spartan Race Combine will take place this weekend in Palmerton, PA on July 14 & 15th. This combine is designed to benchmark an elite group of Spartan competitors with vigorous tests such as the rope climb and bucket carry and ultimately better understand their training needs ahead of this year’s World Championships in Lake Tahoe on October 3rd and 4th. Spartan Pro team members including Brakken Kraker and Orla Walsh, and a select group of Spartan Elite from around the globe have been invited to participate in this event.
Tough Mudder has developed their own niche within the obstacle racing community. They stopped timing their normal events and abide by the concept of “it is not a race, it is a challenge.” While I personally prefer the race aspect, like they have a World’s Toughest Mudder, I do appreciate this different approach. Earlier this year Tough Mudder unveiled some of their new obstacles as part of Tough Mudder Redefined including “Cry Baby”. Cry baby is an obstacle where you are required to crawl through tear gas.
As a competitive athlete, I have been nay saying activity-tracking bracelets for the last couple of years. However, when Fitbit came out with the Surge, I was finally intrigued enough to purchase one. The benefit of the Surge is that it is an activity tracker, GPS and heart rate monitor all in one.
