Top 10 Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) Stories of 2015

This past year was my most active in obstacle course racing (OCR).  In addition to running a number of races in the local Miami area, I was on the road twice for a series of races on the east coast and Atlanta areas with a final short trip to Orlando for the BattleFrog Championship.  Somewhere in there I found time to work as part of the build crew at the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship (OCRWC) in Ohio as well.

This is a list of my favorite articles from my blog for 2015....hope you enjoy them as much as I did sharing them with you!

BattleFrog on TV.....Here We Go Again! - BattleFrog's first attempt at bringing their OCR race brand to television with the first College Championship OCR sprint on ESPN.

OCR...Growing Pains, Competition, Money and Egos - Some early year observations on the how far the industry has come since it's relatively recent begininngs

Lessons Still Not Learned....Why People Don't Really Care What You Think! - The potentially devastating affects of sharing personal opinions on your business pages

My First Tough Mudder - Western, NY 2015 - Race/Challenge Review - Running my first Tough Mudder

Sometimes Being a Smartass Can Lead to an Extraordinary OCR Experience - BattleFrog at Pittsburgh 2015 - An extraordinary experience at this BattleFrog race with some of the people that make OCR so special

You May Be In the Wrong Business if You Think of Your Customers As F**ktards! - Another example of people who don't quite get the destructive power of the Internet on their businesses

Spartan Race Build at Asheville 2015 - I Finally Get to Build Some S**t - The first opportunity this year to get out and build some obstacles!

Spartan Race and OCR Back on TV - Here We Go Again....Again... - Spartan Race announces a casting call for another attempt at getting OCR on television with NBC Sports

Back To The Basics - Building a Savage Race - Atlanta 2015 - My first experience with Savage Race, in Atlanta

My Journey to the Center of the (OCR) World - OCR World Championships 2015 - An international spectacle at the World Championship!

Spartan Race Build - Atlanta 2015 - The Land of Mud…and Ants

Wintergreen, VA was the land of groundhogs…Asheville, NC was the land of giant granite quarry blocks…and apparently Union Point, GA is the land of ants!  Don’t get me wrong, the venue…Durhamtown Plantation Resort, another ATV Park…is a beautiful venue with rolling hills and lots of mud.  But there are ant hills everywhere…and not just at the venue…everywhere you drive you see these ant mounds popping up.  Thinking about it, that might also account for the giant ‘daddy long-leg’ spiders all over my tent this morning.  Since spiders eat ants…right??  Well, you need to pick up the pace a bit guys, because you are losing this battle!

"Half-dome"

I bring up the ants so that racers can be prepared with basic 'ant safety' procedures in case of accidental contact (or intentional I guess if you’re an idiot).  So, in the event that you do face-plant into an ant pile during the course of the race (or at festival after a beer of two), follow these two simple steps.  One…jump up screaming and running in circles.  This will draw attention to you and will bring medical personnel or at least other racers to help.  Except those running for time…of course.  Two…run face first into the nearest  obstacle, or tree if an obstacle is unavailable.  This will render you unconscious and, more importantly, immobile and quiet so the meds and racers can attend to your ant problem unhindered by your panic.

Now, about the build!  For anyone following the weather in this area, there has been torrential rain for about a week before I got to the venue.  Bad news for everyone having to work it before I got there.  Even those of us coming in Wednesday were still greeted by the leftover mud…everywhere.  Just getting into the parking lot was a challenge in off-road driving…forget the volunteer tent.  It was going to be long day!

This particular build day was spent again in the festival area.  I’m not sure what sort of  attendance they’re expecting, but these festival areas just keep getting bigger and bigger.  Great for letting a crowd spread out a bit, not getting that claustrophobic or overcrowded feeling that might cause people to leave prematurely.  But not so great when you have to walk from end to end…seemingly all day.  I can’t be sure, but I believe they arrange for the materials we need to be dropped at the furthest point from where they need to be used.  Never mind the trucks…we’ve got volunteers to move it”.

We moved barricades and fences all over that place!   And I swear, the festival area must be at least 150 yards long…and we walked it endlessly.  We moved and put up barricade banners.  And we even set up the bag check area…again!  I must have ‘Bag Check Installer” on my forehead.  This is the fourth one I’ve set up and each one was different.  Who’d have thought  One thing though, I am now fully qualified to set up bag check on any venue…anywhere…let the phone calls begin!  And with all that barricade and fence moving, grip strength workout for the week (month?!)…done.

Thankfully, we had a nice size group of volunteers!!  As always, meeting and working with the other volunteers/racers is always a highlight.  John, Michael, Kevin…just to name a few.  And there were some newbies there too.  Of course, all the veterans offered their advice on prepping and helpful hints for racing, along with a rundown on the course and obstacles.  I’m not sure why, but those newbies may not be back Saturday….go figure.  And Chanel….after mulling it over, I don’t think you made a bad decision for the course.  In fact, I’m pretty sure you were set up.  They knew you would have to choose the tougher option (after all you are a Spartan!) and even if you hadn’t, they would have anyway.  See all (or most) of you guys on Saturday!

Which brings me to another thing I’ve noticed during my OCR travels.  Spartan Race (SR) volunteer crews are usually larger than most of the other races’ entire build crews!  This came in handy too, because we also ended up moving some tents.  And I don’t mean some 10x10 pop ups…I’m talking about the big ones, the 20x20 big-top monsters!  3” posts you can barely grab…and only one person can get each leg, as you stumble through the mud and dried out ruts to get it in just the right spot.  Then swinging that sledge to re-stake the tent?…that would have been a video worth watching…twice.  Luckily, we did all this late in the afternoon when we were pretty much shot already. 

Last…but definitely not least…I wanted to mention the Spartan crew leaders.  Seeing some of the crew from previous builds was great….Steve Oh’ (and hey, thanks for the sweet tea!), Drew, Taylor.  Wednesday though, I got to work with two different crew leaders.  Tracy Thayer was our initial leader and we worked with her for most of the day.  It takes special people to be able to work someone’s ass off, and still keep things from becoming oppressive.  Tracy is certainly one of those few and we were very fortunate to work with her!

So is Henry, the other crew leader we worked with that day.  Apparently we must have worked together at the Spartan Race demo in Times Square back in 2013.  Also, apparently, Henry is an aspiring stunt driver and feels four wheels is an extravagance and two is more than enough for driving in mud.  Although, to be perfectly clear, his driving with ‘us volunteers’ was utterly safe!

Even though I didn’t make it out to most of the course, from all reports it will be a good one.  The terrain is rolling hills, so it should not be the killer some other SR courses have been lately.  But there is a wild card in there.  Weather reports indicate a good chance of rain Saturday.  Given that…and the fact that the mud has barely dried from the last storm...if it rains, this is going to be another total mud-fest.  Call it Savage Atlanta Fall 2015 II….except it will be even worse, because it will be another three miles of mud and obstacles.  Oh joy…..

See you all there on Saturday!!!

Savage Race Atlanta - Fall 2015 - Slogging Thru Mud!! - Race Review

Rain...rain...and more rain.  That's all it did from the last time I was on the course Thursday evening until I returned.  When I left, it was a dry, dusty, practically completed obstacle course.  When I arrived back Saturday morning, it was still raining and if there was anything still dry, it was kept well hidden.  But there was a Savage Race course waiting to be tested...and I couldn't wait!  Let it be known now though...this was going to be a mud run of epic proportions!!

Knowing how the weather was supposed to go, I actually agonized over whether trying to run this race was going to work out well.  Not that I was worried about getting wet...I mean, it's a mud run after all...duh!  But I was tent camping as usual and I just wasn't sure about the logistics of 'getting wet'.  I wasn't sure about being able to keep my dry change of clothes dry until the end of the race.  In the back of my mind though, I don't think there was ever really a doubt.  I was there to run (and write about!) my first Savage Race...and nothing was going to stop that.

The Savage Race did not disappoint!!  I found the 5-1/2 mile rolling terrain and well spaced obstacles to be another perfect course for me.  Enough of a challenge to know you'd been pushed, but not so much that you worried about injury or excessive wear and tear.  Although again, because of my shoulder injury, I was forced to pass on several of the overhead obstacles, there was still plenty to make sure you worked for that medal.  And today, with rain still coming down at the start, this course was the muddiest I'd seen yet and everything...everything...was tougher in that mud.  Every climb and every descent became nothing less than a slick mud slip-and-slide.

Of course they had their iconic obstacles, Colossus, Wheel World and Sawtooth...none of which I could do...after all, it was Everest at Tough Mudder that did in my arm just weeks before.  And that was disappointing, because I was looking forward to testing myself on those, particularly Sawtooth...although I did climb Colossus to do the slide...I mean, of course!  There were also a number of barbed wire crawls...challenging in themselves but again, made even tougher in the boggy mud.  

There was also an obstacle I hadn't seen before, the Teeter Tuber...a 20' tube, 24' across and balanced in the middle.  You had to crawl through, pulling yourself up with a rope until it tipped over and you slide out.  So...so...so much tougher with the inside and rope completely glazed over with mud.  Luckily, I had forgotten to put my gloves on for the rope...that was one hard, and fun, obstacle.  

Then they had a number of walls to jump, as well as a mud pit with an inverted wall at each end...interesting combo!  Their versions of the block drag and 'log' carry.  Challenging but not overly brutal.  They also threw in an inverted, transverse wall which was another intimidating obstacle...like climbing underneath a rock overhang.  Needless to say I would be dead or hanging from the lifeline if that were real!

What did surprise me a bit were the number of obstacles either involving water or where falling into water was the penalty.  Davey Jones Locker was the most spectacular, a 15' high jump into the deep pool below.  More than a few people were very intimidated on this one.  The Nutt Smasher (balance beam), Wheel World, Pipe Dreams and Sawtooth were all attempted over water.  Besides the dunk walls, they also had the Savage version of an ice bath...never one of my favorites personally.  Possibly the most feared obstacle on the course, believe it or not...if you listened to the comments of racers!

With all those water obstacles, Savage Race clearly made safety a crucial issue and their efforts clearly showed at Davey Jones, the water jump.  The obstacle was well manned with safety personnel and it was quite obvious that they the entire crew was trained to properly control and coordinate the racers jumping in.  Nice change from some of the more haphazard safety issues that can occur at races.

Another area I was pleasantly surprised at...the photos.  Not only were there plenty of photos available, but unlike most other races they were much easier to find.  There's nothing quite as frustrating for racers than to wait days for the photos to come out, spend hours weeding through them, just to find out that they somehow missed you at that obstacle.  I've said it before, someone is going to make a mint if they come up with a perfect way for racers to find photos!  But the Savage Race photo search is the best I've used so far.

I'm not sure when my schedule will allow me to do another Savage Race, but I am already looking forward to it!  Maybe next time though, it will be a little drier, so the only mud we have to deal with is where they make it.  But then again, getting muddy is just one of the perks...

Related posts:

Back To The Basics - Building a Savage Race - Atlanta 2015

Back To The Basics - Building a Savage Race - Atlanta 2015

I suppose I should have been expecting the unexpected.  But having worked on a half dozen race builds already, it seemed that a Savage Race build would be just another variation on the theme.  Obviously, that was not the case!  Savage Race has been recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the top 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S.  Savage Race also has a more modest expansion plan than many other race promoters and that is an indication of how they do run this company as a business...with a different focus than you may see elsewhere.

Several things jumped out at me during the build days.  One of the first and most surprising differences from any other race is that Savage builds certain of their largest obstacles to remain on the venue's site permanently!!  Other than fixed venue courses like Shale Hill in VT, Savage is the only major race promoter that does this as far as I'm aware.  Most of these obstacle are wooden too, where the other big promoters have been going to lighter weight metal structures where possible.  As with anything, there are great benefits and great disadvantages of this methodology.

The pros:  Decreased time in building or setting up the obstacles.  Reduced transportation costs...Savage only has one storage trailer to ship to each race venue as of now.  Reduced building and manpower costs as the obstacles do not have to be designed for dis-assembly. 

The cons:  Obstacles must be protected and possibly repaired or restored due to weather.  For new venues, they must completely rebuild each of those permanent obstacles...at a significant cost in time and material.  New venues may not allow these to remain permanently as more races vie for use of a limited resource...meaning practical race course sites.  Limited ability to create truly new/unknown courses since they have to incorporate the fixed obstacle placements.

They also run the risk of 'playing out' a venue...one of the issues that I feel is going to be more prevalent in the future.  Obstacle course racing (OCR) is only 5 years young.  With so many race options, particularly in the Atlanta area, races may suffer from stagnation or racer boredom with the 'same old venue' each year...no matter how nice it is.  Particularly in the case of the Atlanta venue, where they run both a Spring and Fall race.

Savage Race was also notable in the fact that they have a much smaller build crew.  Partially, I'm sure, from the fact that they have permanent obstacles.  They also have all the tents and barricades setup through the rental companies.  Again, saving on both the build crew size and shipping costs between venues.  And from what I gathered, this is a family and friends crew that works all the events.*  However, it's efficient and extremely cost conscious...'glitz' is certainly not on the menu.  It has the feel of what it must be like on many of the smaller OCR promoter builds.  But make no mistake...Savage intends to put on a big-time performance and crew members like Gary, Bo and Sean are intent on that happening!  And should I mention their unique ATV trail marking technique?!  No...probably not...but it was different!!

One similarity, Savage does rely on volunteers to come in during the build week too.  Although, as you might expect, the number needed appears to be much smaller than the larger competitors.  They were however, very appreciative of the volunteers and went out of their way to make sure we knew that.

What was also a bit different was the apparent familiarity of the volunteers when it came to other races.  On my previous builds, most of them seemed to be the hard-core Mudder, Spartan or BattleFrog athlete, with little experience outside those races.  Here at the Savage build it seemed to be just the opposite.  The volunteers I met...Chanel and Mike...were very well versed on the other races.  

That may be another challenge for Savage in the future as well.  I didn't see the racer fanaticism/loyalty here as with the other builds.  And they don't have a Savage Pro team.  Whatever the reason, it is doubtless an intentional part of their business plan.  In the end, the race will be the test.  I was looking forward to that with great anticipation as this is...obviously...my first Savage race.

* An interesting side note...as fate would have it, I got to meet and work with Garfield Griffiths on the Savage kid's course.  Ok, actually I was told I could go home a little early Thursday afternoon but convinced them to let me "see if those guys over there needed any help".  I'd heard that he was working on the kid's course and I wanted to meet him.  Garfield is the course designer for the Obstacle Course Racing World Championship {OCRWC} and happened to see him that morning on Matt B. Davis' Obstacle Racing Media {ORM} podcast...file this under 'small world'.

Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) Adventure 2015....continued....

It's hard to believe that the Summer of OCR ended only a few weeks ago.  Even harder to believe that it was only six weeks long.  Seemed a lot longer!  So many things happened during those weeks and it was a whirlwind of traveling, course building and racing.  As with anything I do, I always try to learn from the experience to make the next time even better...it's an engineer thing I guess...just have to try and improve everything!

The first thing I found was that a race each week was a grueling schedule.  Not just the fact that between traveling to the next event, working the builds and then racing, there was almost no time to write!!  Add on to that injuries...illness...general wear and tear...no recuperation time/rest/training time and I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for professional athletes.  And props to the elite racers who go at this regularly...even doing multiple laps or back to back days of racing.  Obviously I'm still doing something seriously wrong, besides just being old!

Compounding that, most of the places I camped had no Internet service or very limited service.  One didn't even have cell service.  Hence, every week seemed to put me more in the hole with my writing as well as normal communications.  And just staying on top of OCR activity proved to be difficult.

What I did want to continue was the incredible experience of meeting so many different people and having some truly life changing experiences.  Nor did I want to lose the insights and 'schooling' I was getting on what it really takes to put on a worthwhile OCR event.  Anyone can slap a few obstacles together, mark a trail and charge a lot of money to get in.  But it takes special people to make it exciting, challenging...and safe at the same time.  Meeting and working with these people...that is my mission!!

My initial plans had been to head out west for the Spartan Race World Championship, along with the World's Toughest Mudder and several other Spartan races and Tough Mudders.  In the end though, I had to ratchet that back a bit and stay on the east coast.  Nagging injuries, the final stages of 'swamp fever' and unexpectedly (but not surprisingly) having to give up my place all contributed to the decision.  Gives a whole new meaning to the lyrics from that old Janis Joplin song..."freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose".  But I digress...

So, my new plans will be concentrated in the greater Atlanta and Nashville areas for a couple of Spartans, another BattleFrog and my first Savage Race.  With the scheduling of these races I was also able to not only space them out every other week, but because of this generally centralized area, I'm able to stay in a 'normal' house during the off weeks...yeehaa!!  Provided of course that I behave myself....no promises there but I'll do my best.

After these I should be heading back towards Florida again for a few more races...where the weather should be more conductive to OCR'ing than skiing.  Then...well...who knows exactly.  One thing for certain...in the coming weeks and months there will be change...the one constant in this universe!!  That should make for some interesting reading I'm sure....to be continued...

Summer of OCR Review 2015 - Spartan Race, Tough Mudder and BattleFrog

Race schedule

Summer of OCR Review 2015 - Spartan Race, Tough Mudder and BattleFrog

For almost two months this summer I traveled the east coast, from Massachusetts to North Carolina.  Volunteering at obstacle course racing (OCR) builds, marshaling races and running the courses at Spartan Race, Tough Mudder and BattleFrog Series.  The stories below are just a sample of my experiences at these races.  The individual stories are seemingly endless and very often inspirational.  I hope you find as much enjoyment reading and sharing these stories as I did.

Summer of OCR....Part 1...?

The People Behind the OCR Events

BattleFrog Race at Barre, MA.....Race Review

Volunteering at Tough Mudder

My First Tough Mudder - Western, NY 2015 - Race/Challenge Review

Volunteering at BattleFrog - Pittsburgh, PA

Sometimes Being a Smartass Can Lead to an Extraordinary OCR Experience - BattleFrog at Pittsburgh 2015

Knowing When NOT To Play With Pain

Mud-Stock Long Island…Tough Mudder Comes to Town

You May Be In the Wrong Business if You Think of Your Customers As F**ktards!

Long Overdue Return to Spartan Race - Build at Wintergreen Super, VA

Spartan Race – Wintergreen 2015 Difficulty Does Not Disappoint…and yet…

Spartan Race Build at Asheville 2015 - I Finally Get to Build Some S**t

Spartan Race at Asheville, NC 2015 - Race Review - Best of the Old and the New

I'll be heading back out on the road this coming week for races in the greater Atlanta/Nashville areas, then back down to sunny FLA.  I look forward to even more OCR excitement as I experience my first Savage Race along with several more Spartan and BattleFrog events.  Mostly though, I look forward to the people I will meet and the new stories I will hear.  So many stories to tell....I wish I could write about each one!

If you or your team have a story to tell, share it here!

OCR and Fitness…Week In Review for July 11, 2015

ICYMI….A lot going on this week in OCR and Fitness.....Here are some of the best-of-the-best articles and posts from the previous week on OCR and Fitness

 Major Let Down: Savage Race (Read: sarcasm!!)

 The Protein Juggernaut Has Deep Roots

15 Healthiest Foods to Stock in Your Kitchen Year Around 

Why Women’s Races Matter… A Weekend at Dirty Girl Mud Run 

10 Exercises to Get You Ready for an Obstacle-Course Race 

Keeping Fit May Halve Seniors' Heart Failure Risk 

Sandbag Carry Techniques 

Truly Savage: Brave Team of Blind Racers Inspire Us All 

OCR and Fitness…Week In Review for July 4, 2015  

 What would you like to hear about each week?  Pass me the word and I’ll do my best to bring you exactly what you want to see for OCR and Fitness!!

OCR...Growing Pains, Competition, Money and Egos

One thing I never envisioned when I decided to run my first OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) event back in 2011 was the way it would permeate my life in general.  It has taught me lessons...both good and bad...about racing, training, limits (or the lack thereof), people and most of all, about the birth of a sport...and about the birth of an industry.

The number of times in one's life where new sports come into being are limited.  To somehow be a witness to, even a participant in, these beginnings are rarer still....and something I'm still relishing.  Although the vast majority of my own personal experience has been with Spartan Race (soon to change dramatically!), much of the growth and change in the sport as a whole has been in the form of race formats,  various "championships"...and even a fledgling sanctioning body.

Back in the beginning, no one knew who Hobie Call or Amelia Boone were. A time where I could speak to Joe Desena on (and about) the Tuxedo course without realizing who he was.  And then there was a thing called Spartan Radio...or was it Spartan TV.  Where they produced weekly multi-feed Skype-type broadcasts, hosted by Carrie Adams, with interviews and odd challenges...usually performed by Todd Sedlak as I remember.

To me, one of the major turning points of OCR going from a fringe sport for these strange and unusual athletes was the Spartan Race Times Square demonstration event.  Unknown to most of us until early that morning, not only was this a major demonstration to the world of this new sport, it also was the announcement of the Reebok-Spartan Race affiliation (although painting the Reebok-Spartan Race logos on all the apparatus was kind of a clue something was up).  To say that taking part in this event as a volunteer was exciting would be an understatement in the extreme.  Maybe like being at the first Super Bowl...you knew it was big, but who knew just how big it would get....and how quickly.

What started out though, as a way to "pull people off their couches" has become a battle of OCR mega-races vying for dominance among racers, fans and sponsors and even talk of an Olympic sport.  Spartan Race, Tough Mudder and Savage Race are generally considered to be the top three race promoters right now.  BattleFrog Series is another race series vying for a long term presence in the field (and have actually put together their College Championship event on ESPN, which is the first major TV-friendly OCR competition).  However, they have recently run into challenges that have caused many, many other entrants into the sport to come up short.

Today, these OCR behemoths are each trying to become the preeminent racing model, although it does seem that there may be room for several models to coexist...at least for now.  There are even places like Shale Hill Adventure that cater specifically to OCR style training with a view towards expanding your "limits" both physical and mental...just as OCR does.  And I haven't even mentioned Crossfit (another Reebok affiliated fitness company), which has it's own style and spin on pushing one's limits.  Or Civilian Military Combine, which is a marriage of the Crossfit and OCR concepts.

Change is inevitable though...the one constant in the universe.  In the beginning, these races encouraged teamwork and camaraderie...to be active for health's sake and showing people that their limits are much more in their heads than in their physical abilities.  Now, however, we see the battle of egos and business models vying to control and direct the future of OCR.  Elite racers competing for ever-growing prize money.  Companies competing for the ever growing hordes waiting to test their abilities against these challenging courses.

So where will OCR be in the future?  Obviously no one knows for certain.  I think it's safe to say though, that OCR is here to stay...at least for the foreseeable future.  The lure of potentially huge profits will see to that!  There will be more alliances, more new races, more failed races, more innovation, more drama and the best part for the rest of us mere racers....more racing!!

 What is your experience with OCR and where do you think the future of OCR lies?