Why in the name of Odin would you want to do something that would even have the possibility of reducing attendance? Did this not occur to anyone? The feedback from the average racer, looking to move up a notch in challenge has been overwhelmingly bad! And remember, people "vote with their feet!". For every comment, there are dozens who feel the same and just won't be considering your race.
The Cooldown is a weekly show produced by the team over at Athlete On Fire specifically for the crew at Mud Run Guide. Get ready to hear from the athletes that competed last weekend as well as the most interesting news we could find and a little training advice mixed in. Enjoy this first episode of many to come and don't forget to give Mud Run Guide some love for sharing this show with you every week!
Since the inception of BattleFrog’s BFX, there have been several changes to tighten and hone the design to accommodate the growing numbers. But since the very first representation, the one thing that the athletes have called out for, was mandatory obstacle completion. Okay racers…you spoke, they listened. We spoke to David Moore, BattleFrog’s wearer of [...]
This would be my first Armageddon Ambush in Hialeah, FL (think City of Miami and go west a bit). But it wouldn't be my first trip to Amelia Earhart Park. Several races have been held there. With this in mind, my first challenge was to keep my expectations in check. I didn't know much about this race, and I didn't want to influence the experience by comparisons to other events there.
This is the race SO many of you have been waiting for since the season kicked off. While Saturday racers had to rely on the insanity of the course itself, Sunday racers were treated to proof that Norm Koch has indeed made some dirty deals with a particular underground entity. Rain, wind and cold took out many a racer on this already incredibly challenging course, and even without all that on Saturday, when it came to numbers on the UB, over 800 started, but less than half finished.
These thoughts and many more rattled through my mind as I stand in a crowd of hyped-up mud-run athletes, their rapt attention on the zealous stump-mounted race host/hype man hybrid who’s every prompting brings a raucous roar of “I AM A SPARTAN!” I’m Alex Huth, I’m not a finely-tuned athlete, and I’m standing next to my buddy Will at the beginning of our very first obstacle course run, the Austin Spartan Race Sprint in Burnet, Texas, and we have no idea what we’re doing.
The Quarry Crusher Run is in its 5th year? Why haven’t I run this before? The Quarry Crusher Run Series is held in 4 states (SC, GA, AL, MD). The SC run was held at the Vulcan Materials Company Quarry in Columbia. The race started a few city blocks from the quarry. Once you hit the quarry you went down into the quarry all the way to the bottom (they’re still digging!) and then painfully all the way back up. The out and back course averaged a 10% grade over about 3.7 miles.
Year-in and year-out, Warrior Dash proves its worth as being one of the best mud runs for beginners, as I wrote in this article on that subject last year. One could argue their obstacles and event is somewhat formulaic, and that's exactly what I want! When I'm recommending a race for first-timers or fun-seekers - whether to millions of people* or a group of parents and teachers at my daughter's school, I want to know they are going to get a safe, fun, experience that I know each and every one of them can handle. Period.
Normally I sign up for as many races as I possibly can but I came across a race that I just couldn’t sign up for, literally. As hard as I tried to persuade the nice folks at the Dirty Girl Mud Run to let me run their race they stuck to their theme of a girl’s only event. My last ditch offer was made to run in drag but that request was also turned down. So I did the next best thing and I signed up to volunteer for this female only event that focuses on educating women about cancer prevention and celebrates those who have battled the deadly disease.
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.
