F.I.T. Challenge has been on the New England scene for a few years now. The popular local series offers both spring and fall versions of its race and recently held their sixth event. I've missed the last few races in the series but based on the glowing reviews from previous events, I was excited to see how they've grown and improved.
Terrain Racing’s angry monkey medals invaded Southern California for the first time this weekend with 5k and 10k race distances outside the Storm Baseball Stadium in Lake Elsinore, CA. I’m a fan of this race series, and have run their Flagstaff race for the last two years, so I was eager to have them come to a venue closer to me.
Thick, soupy mud crawls under barbed wire were spread out on several parts of the course; just when you got the mud out of... wherever, you were crawling or swimming in the mud again. Once again, good show Rugged Maniac, there were a lot of water pits dug (and some were lined with plastic too) all over the damn course. Lots? Yes. Gratuitous use of mud pits in lieu of "real" obstacles? No.
TPK was a multi-stage Adventure Race with elements from Obstacle Races and the Death Race, held about an hour east of Phoenix. Most racers competed in two-person teams (mandatory male/female) but there were individual competitors as well. Tasks ranged from running to rock climbing and rappelling, to heavy rucking, orienteering, balance, grit, strength, and critical thinking. The terrain was a factor as well, the trails had solid elevation change and were pretty rocky.
The 7+ mile course was packed with 27 obstacles, including favorites such as the baddest monkey bars in OCR, Sawtooth, and last year's innovative Wheel World, ranking up there with Savage's famous Colossus and Davy Jones' Locker. 5 obstacles were innovative, brand-spankin' new ones making their Savage debut
Bermuda’s only obstacle course series, the Bermuda Triple Challenge kicked off this past weekend on the beautiful island. In its 3rd official year, the Triple Challenge has become a favorite of locals and one that is drawing attention from the international community as well. It consists of 3 days of events. The first race is Friday night, the second on Saturday morning followed by the final event on Sunday morning. Each event is unique, held in a different location on the island and challenge racers in different aspects.
There was something inevitable about being a part of this race for me. I've always been intrigued with OCR endurance races, even though I haven't had a chance to participate or even watch one. So when BattleFrog initially announced the BFX24 I knew that I wanted to be a part of that somehow. Initially, when BattleFrog announced the race though, I had planned to run the 24 hours or at least as much of it as I could.
In 2012, my wife Anne and a couple of her friends did a Warrior Dash as one of her first obstacle course races. At the time, I was sidelined with an injury, and although I've done dozens of different OCRs in the intervening years, I had never done a Warrior Dash before last weekend. As a result, I was excited to give this one a try, as I've heard for years about Warrior Dash being one of "the big three" and the "gateway drug to OCR".
March 12, just northwest of Houston, was the first time Spartan Race hit any city in Texas other than Burnet and Glen Rose. Spirits were high, as was the sun and the flood gauge. Nature decided to throw everything possible at the Spartan build crew. That means three things in Texas: rain, ants and snakes. Couple those in with a well laid out course and some great obstacle placement, you have yourself a great race for the first heats, and a progressively more dilapidated course the later you ran.
Berserkr Games is not your typical OCR. This race takes place annually in mid-March, in Kingsville, TX at Rifles Only. First of all, you take a thrilling helicopter ride around the property before dropping into a chilly pond to start the race. The course is a flat 2.7 miles, which you can do up to four laps depending on which of the four race distances you are running.
