I know most people hear the words OCR (Obstacle Course Race) and think mud, barbed wire, fire, bruises, pain – but not all Obstacle Course Races are created equal. My husband Ryan had discovered the Insane Inflatable 5km race online and signed us up as it looked like fun. We love our mud and challenges, but once in a while you just have to embrace your inner child and bounce.
The midwest continues to be a hidden gem of obstacle racing in the United States. Two companies recently came together to create a one of a kind event; Conquer The Gauntlet, the Midwest’s OCR series, and KC Extreme Timber Challenge, a permanent course teamed up for the CTG-XTC Mega OCR, 10k, and 65+ obstacles.
Tough Mudder Tri State made its return to the Mecca of the event. Raceway Park hosted the weekend event this past weekend taking advantage of the surrounding woods as well as the enormous dirt track with manmade hills/jumps for the motor cross bikes and trucks. The hills/jumps while small in size were challenging as there were so many scattered providing the only vertical climbing on this otherwise flat course. Depending on which day you ran, you most likely had 2 very different experiences. If you were fortunate enough to run both days, you will not forget the weekend spent at Raceway Park in New Jersey.
For a brief moment I hesitated in writing this recap. This had nothing to do with the event itself, but more my disappointing results. I ran both days at Strong Viking, Odin race wave Saturday and a later 19km wave on Sunday. Or at least, I tried…
In the obstacle course racing industry when a race organization announces it is redesigning, restructuring, or reassessing the chances that the industry will see that group again is slim based on historical events. However, this fall, Civilian Military Combine reemerged from the ashes like a Pheonix rising on the southernmost tip of Brooklyn, New York.
Earlier this year I received an invitation from Don Devaney to participate in a beta test of his new endurance event, the RYNGE. I was promised an event that would challenge physical fitness, problem-solving skills, mental grit and teamwork. The event was described to me as a cross between live action role playing and an endurance race, with the participants writing their own story during the event.
Sunday, the weather changed and the rain rolled in. In fact, forecasts were calling for high probability of thunderstorms in the area, and because of this, staff at the OCR World Championships had backup plans B, C, and D ready... as you can imagine, climbing metal obstacles on top of a mountain is not a wise decision if there is lightning in the area.
This was THE race of the year; whether you were one of the fastest elites, an age grouper, or part of the journeyman division and regardless of whether you completed all the obstacles and kept your band or not, be proud of yourselves. You were part of something truly special.
A crazy dream of Adrian Bijanada, many people laughed when he stated back in 2013 that he was going to launch an independent world championship. A standalone event that didn't derive from any particular race series, at a time when Spartan Race was having its own World Championship and World's Toughest Mudder was moving to Vegas. Then in 2014, he pulled it off. A truly international event with strict qualifying requirements and an atmosphere that no-one in our sport had felt before.
This weekend we did a double race weekend. Saturday the RAM run and Sunday the Spartan Race Beast Windsor. This was going to be my first ever Spartan Trifecta, so I was really excited! My knee got a bit worse overnight, but I felt up to it! We were on a tight schedule, having to return the car at 7 and fly home at 8, so we were happy to be able to start just before noon. At the starting area, we met up with two RAM friends volunteering there.
