OCD FOR OCR

I have had the Daniel Barden Mudfest on my radar for a few years, it’s no secret that I love running the smaller, less well-known obstacle course races and especially races that are raising money for amazing causes and charities which is exactly what the Daniel Barden Mudfest is all about.

• About Daniel Barden Mudfest:

Daniel Barden Mudfest is named after Daniel Barden, who was one of the first graders killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Daniel will always be remembered for his kind spirit, sense of generosity, and friendship. The niece of the Daniel Barden Mudfest organizers lives next door to Daniel’s family. The goal is to nurture and grow Daniel’s spirit in all of us.

• Giving back:

All proceeds are donated back to several charities. The charities are chosen by 8th grade students who apply for the Daniel Barden Mudfest Adventure Scholarship. The Adventure Scholarship takes place in the Adirondacks of NY state. 14-16 students from the Central NY area and Sandy Hook, CT area, go on a 10-day, 80-mile canoe trip. They camp, hike and canoe totally “unplugged” for the entire time.

Recipients of monies raised thus far: Warriors for Warriors, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Danbury Grassroots Academy, John Sherman Hoyt Scout Reservation, Sandy Hook Promise, Charity for Children, Upstate Foundation, Pets for Vets, Lupus Foundation, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Spring Farm Cares, The Joseph’s Experience, Hearts of Hope, Wounded Warriors Project, Barton Hose F.D., EMS Global, Westmoreland F.D., Oriskany Falls F.D., COCVAC, Waterville Ambulance, Double H Ranch, Resiliency Center of Newtown, CNY Services, MUCC, Karing Kitchen, Danbury Youth Services, Newtown Youth & Family, Cross Catholic Outreach, Food Bank of CNY, St. Jude Research Hospital, CABVI, National Breast Cancer Association, Kelberman Center, Samaritan Health Services, The Barden Family, & The Center for Life & Recovery.

• Registration and Festival:

Raymond and I got on line for registration nice and early and it only took a few minutes. I cannot confirm if moved fast all morning, but I don’t think it ever got really backed up. The festival area was in a nice small area with everything next to each other which really worked well considering it was on the colder side. They had a large heated tent for the after party with a live band that I really enjoyed and a very large group of racers, spectators, and the volunteers/staff stayed well after the race to listen to the live band (in the heated tent) and everyone had a fun time.

• Pre-race MC:

The pre-race MC did a really good job, I didn’t catch his name, but he had a good personality and did a great job talking to each wave about team work and leaving no racer behind.

• The Course:

The course offered two options, the first two morning waves, were timed (chipped) on the five-mile version of the course. The rest of the waves, were a 5K non-timed version of the course. Approximately the first two and a half miles of the course were both for the 5K and five-mile course. The course started out by exiting the festival area and turning up a not so steep hill, I remember thinking, good it’s not going to be too hilly (lol), but I was so wrong! The first mile and half of the trails/course were really aggressive and snaked up and down the trails. I was very impressed with how they used the venue and the terrain and both Raymond and I agreed it was better than some of the bigger named OCR’s that we have done over the years.

The course had a combination of well-built man-made built obstacles and natural terrain obstacles and the combination of the two made for a fun and challenging course regardless of which version of the course racers ran. Both versions of the course included obstacles like a series of varying height walls and they were not easy to climb over alone for less experienced racers, so I am sure many of the racers worked together to get over each wall.  Another fun obstacle was a crawl under a structure that didn’t leave a lot of room for crawling and was really challenging. I realized about a short way through the crawl that I was crawling on solid ice, so I somehow managed to rotate on to my back and used the wooden pallets to pull/slide myself through the whole obstacle. It was funny, because the two very nice volunteers at this obstacle, were impressed with my technique and said no one else had thought of doing it that way. The first obstacle on the course was a combination of deep mud crossings, mud mounds to climb up and over and several entries into some waist deep water so racers were both wet and muddy early in the course. Other obstacles were a challenging monkey bars crossing and a low crawl through very cold water.

Also, on both versions of the course was a series of over (climb over small walls) and under (crawl under walls) walls, a challenging warped wall with the assistance of a rope and volunteers to get up and over. A seesaw balance-beam crossing, a fun short water slide, and the last obstacle for both was a balance beam crossing over water. The 5K version of the course was more than twenty well-built/designed obstacles and challenges that both the experienced racer looking to challenge them self and new racers looking to have a good fun muddy time with friends and family both would enjoy.

The five-mile version of the course included and additional loop that combined to be a little over five miles (according to my GPS watch) and this loop was designed for the obstacle course racer in mind as it was obstacle heavy and included both steep and technical terrains to traverse up and down. The last trail climb (just prior to re-entering the 5K course) was super steep with very little foot/hand holds to help get up it and with the combination of the cold weather and the fact it took place just after a really fun black plastic drainage tube slide in to shoulder deep water (I am six feet tall) made it really slippery and a super tough to climb up and that was with my Icebug OCR sneakers on which are like Velcro in mud and almost never slip on any surface.

The most intimidating and challenging obstacle of the course was also on the five-mile loop, which was a climb up a wooden structure and then a heavy rope Tarzan swing (over deep enough to be safe water) which was even more challenging due to the cold and wet weather that made the ropes both wet and slippery and for many the cold affected racers grip strength. I wasn’t cold at all, so I loved this obstacle and was able to swing across the rope without losing my grip and face planting into the water, which I am sure many did! Another obstacle, I cannot forget to mention was a rope traverse across the cold water and this obstacle was no joke and on par as far as difficulty when comparing it to some of the bigger named OCR’s versions of the same obstacle. The last two obstacles on the longer loop were a telephone pole balance beam crossing, which was slippery and very challenging, and a rope climb that was high and challenging. The course then continued up a short distance and reentered the 5K loop near the finish line.

• The Bling:

The bling included a very nice orange finisher shirt, a sexy finisher medal that is not cheaply made and I am very happy to add to my collection, a rubber bracelet, a beer (choice of three flavors of Saranac beer), and I am going to include the awesome live band, because it was a nice treat on a cold and wet day.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

I loved everything about this event/race/course, not only was the course/terrain awesome, I cannot say enough good things about the staff/volunteers, they were amazing all day at every obstacle, registration table, water station, parking, etc on a very cold wet day and when talking to them, these are not people who are doing this to earn a free race, but rather because they love the reason this race is put on and love the race owners Daniel and Melissa Williams who also do this only to raise money for an amazing charity and put on a fun and safe race for families and friends to enjoy.

When you combine the course, terrain, bling, after party (in a large heated tent), live band, amazing staff/volunteers, they even had heated sprinklers to clean off with, and most of all, the money raised for charity, this race easily gets 5 out 5 stars!

I cannot stress this enough, this is a race that all levels of racers should put on next year’s bucket list and not miss! The bigger named obstacle course races are a dime a dozen while these types of races do not just help others, but the success of the smaller races will only force the larger races to try hard and not rest on its previous success, so it’s important to support your local races/events and any that are helping raise money for charities.

Article Written by: Walter F Hendrick (OCRSandy)