This was mine and hub’s second year of tackling the course at Tough Mudder in Whistler, B.C. Last year we went into this mostly unprepared and paid for it by being sore for many days afterwards. The bruising last year was epic, and although I was proud of my bruises, I wanted to see if I could be better on course this year.
Mud Ninja is a little race in little itty-bitty South Salem, OH. Or so that’s how it seems when you take a look at their website which hasn’t seen a real update in years. You decide, it’ll be fun to get a small local event in and not take things so seriously for a weekend, so you register and plan for a casual weekend amongst all the machismo, competitiveness, and brutal courses in this sport.
After years of running around Haspin Acres in Laurel, IN for the Indianapolis Sprint, Spartan pulled a fast one on us all and changed the venue to Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, IN. The initial reactions were negative, there was no way they found a venue that would be more challenging than Haspin which was often regarded as one of the toughest sprints and also, what was the deal with moving the event to a site that is actually far closer to Cincinnati, OH than it is to Indianapolis as the name implies?
Indian Mud Run is the epitome of the term “Home-grown race.” Founded in 2012 in an effort to raise funds for the local levy that had recently failed, it has seen steady growth in each subsequent year. This year the race boasted 700+ participants, sure that’s far cry from the numbers that Spartan Race pulls week after week, but when you dig a little deeper you find that 20 different states were represented among the runners. What in the world could be bringing in racers from all across the country in what otherwise seems to be a small and obscure event?
Mount Snow, Vermont has been the location of Tough Mudder New England for the past several years and this year showcased perfect weather and a beautiful backdrop for the event. The setup for mudder village was at the base of the mountain and drew a large crowd for the weekend. Along the course, there were more than a handful of rainbow flags carried by mudders in support and recognition of the victims of the recent Orlando shooting.
The Ohio Savage Race is an event that I have been looking forward to all year after having attended last year at the same venue. Those of you following along at home may remember that last year I gave high praise to the event and was so bold to suggest that Savage may need to be considered a serious contender to “The Big Three”. I can firmly say that numbers be damned, Savage is securely one of the top obstacle course racing series in the business.
Scott Wierzycki of The Battle Corps crossing the rig like "Spider-man". This past weekend BattleFrog Series (BF) made their journey to the outskirts of Chicago for another one of their events. Their race was held at the site of Dirt Runner a permanent obstacle course facility which puts on some awesome events. Seriously, check [...]
Alpha OCR Series held their first of three events this year recently in Toronto, Canada. This OCR World Championship qualifier combined a mix of fun and challenging obstacles created by elite OCR athlete and 2015 OCRWC and For Those Who Would Humanitarian Award recipient Jesse Ward Bruce, as well as his cadre of staff and volunteers. Read on and find out what went down on race day.
This past weekend marked the 2nd race in the NBC Spartan Series, the Spartan Super in Monterey, California. As such, it drew a huge crowd to this otherwise sleepy coastal town, and this included a completely stacked elite field. I don't normally pay too much attention to the elite runners; in many ways they are almost a different species from the rest of us and I'm usually on the course before their race is over. This time around, a little later start time of 10 AM afforded me the opportunity to watch the end of the elite races and it couldn't have been a more exciting finish!
This was a great course! The light rain made for a perfect storm of both challenge and fun. In 2016, Tough Mudder has thrown more team-building obstacles into the course. In a non-timed event, the teamwork element allowed many mudders including myself, a chance to hang around obstacles and help others out. I am already excited for my next Tough Mudder event!
