OCD FOR OCR

Once again, I had the opportunity to run the Fenway Stadium Spartan Sprint. A couple of years ago, after participating in a nearby karate tournament, I was able to pop in for a Sunday afternoon open heat. This year, I was fortunate enough to take the train to Boston for the entire weekend and give my all, to race competitive heat laps both days. Additionally, I was able to catch an open lap each day (with Lorraine) and take in all the sights of the famous stadium venue.

• Registration and Festival:

Registration was just outside the stadium in a parking lot across the street. On Saturday, for the most part, it was as smooth as it has been at any other Spartan Race, I have attended this season. The only hiccup was, that I entered the stadium first, assuming registration was in there, only to be turned away and pointed to registration after waiting on a small line. I have raved about how smooth registration has been this year in many of my earlier race recaps and apart from the small snafu which was more on me, Saturday was no exception.

However, on Sunday the lines ran as slow as molasses and I still don’t understand why,  I arrived nice and early thinking I was going to have plenty of time to warm up, stretch and mentally prepare for my early morning competitive heat wave, but ended up wondering if I‘d be able to hold out long enough to go to the bathroom and even whether I would make my competitive heat. There was lower racer participation on Sunday, so Spartan had less waves with more racers assigned to each wave, and that may have played a role.  In addition, the volunteer tending to my registration line seemed not as confident or as experienced as some, but that wouldn’t explain why all the registration lines were backed up.

The festival area was divided with the merchandise tents and some vendors outside the stadium on the street, and others inside Fenway stadium, providing samples of products. We made out like bandits with the samples, including a gauntlet of handouts as we exited the stadium. I think I filled half of my smaller bag with free stuff. These type of stadium festivals often gets crowded and doesn’t have as much of a “festival” feel, being divided and in a stadium, but given the logistics, I think it was set up logically and in the best way possible. I only wish there were more food options, inside the stadium, as Lorraine and I were waiting around starving from two laps and couldn’t really leave as we were awaiting the medal ceremony for Age Group.

The finisher beer was distributed at an Irish Pub across the street (filled with racers). We drank cans of Amstel Light, which was a middle of the road option to me, but I’m not going to complain about free beer. We were just happy to get in out of the cold and get some food beyond the obligatory CLIF Builder Bar, banana and FitAid.

• Pre-race MC:

The format of a stadium race doesn’t lend itself well to the usual pre-race speech. In competitive heats, we had virtually nothing but being told where to line up, given some preliminary info and were sent off after 3 AROO’s. Ten to fifteen athletes at a time are lined up and sent off every few minutes and it honestly feels like getting on a roller coaster at a busy theme park. When I went back and ran open heats both days, there was a little more of a spiel, but it was like sort pep talk.

• The Course:

Spartan Stadium Sprints are typically around three miles and weaves up and down the stairs of a major league sports stadium. Most are in baseball stadiums such as Fenway, but Spartan has expanded into football venues as well. I understand they have also taken the concept to Europe and set up shop in soccer stadiums as well. Instead of ascending mountainous muddy ski slopes, athletes tackle the stairs and concourses of the stadium. I for one, didn’t wear my usual OCR shoes and wore CrossFit shoes. With the lack of mud and water, I don’t worry about ruining my best Lululemon workout gear. Around half of the obstacles are the typical Spartan Race standbys. Rounding out the lineup of challenges are stations of exercises such as ball slams, box jumps, farmer carries and assault bike riding for a fixed number of calories. Coupled with the short, intense course, these movements give racers a unique feel versus the conventional Spartans or other OCR’s for that matter. To me, it feels like OCR and CrossFit hooked up and had a baby, as someone who is also a Cross fitter, I can’t help but enjoy it and dig in, so much so, that I ran four laps over the course of the weekend.

When run for time or competitively, the shorter distance is intense, but I do believe it makes it a perfect gateway race for someone who might be intimidated by a longer distance race. Similarly, I can see how the lack of mud and water obstacles could be an incentive for someone to try Spartan for the first time. Throughout the two days I was at the venue, I saw many teams of participants sporting jackets and shirts advertising myriad fitness and athletic establishments such as CrossFit boxes, boot camp gyms, martial arts schools, barre studios and others as well. I have also talked with many avid Spartan Racers who name a stadium race as their first taste of OCR and how it was what whet their appetite for the other races they now enjoy.

Another feature of stadium races, new this year, is that the burpee penalties was reduced to fifteen burpees per failed obstacle. When I first learned of the change, it seemed like weak sauce, but in my opinion, it really doesn’t reduce the intensity of the race. If anything, it makes it more of a harder sprint. So much so, that after my first competitive heat on Saturday, yours truly ended up “meeting Pukey the Clown”. The reps for the exercise station obstacles were similarly reduced to fifteen, which if nothing else reduces the potential for confusion. In past years, the reps required were twenty-five to thirty, varying from one race or year to the next. I think Spartan has arrived at a new level of standardization that will work.

• The Bling: 

I am at best, a casual baseball fan. I would much rather stare at a brick wall than watch a baseball game on TV and the Red Sox are a team my friends and I love to hate. All that being said, I am disappointed in the lack of a venue-specific finisher medal as Spartan had done in years past. That was part of the magic of the stadium series and I believe was a draw for many fans of the teams whose home stadiums host these races. The generic stadium medal design is elegant and well-made, but I really believe Spartan has missed an opportunity in not keeping up with the venue-specific finisher medals for stadium races. Similarly, we received a generic Sprint finisher shirt, but this has been the case for as long as I have been doing Spartan Races. The only times I ever recall getting a venue-specific finisher shirt was the first year of the Winter Race at Greek Peak and getting a Beast shirt with the logo for the North American Spartan Championships on the sleeve when I ran the Beast at West Virginia.

This was the only stadium race I made this year, so I only have secondhand knowledge of what was handed out at Citi field and Citizens Bank park among other places, and it unfortunately appears they had the generic medals as well.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

 Stadium races are a nice change from the mud and mountains for the regular Spartan Race participant but present a unique athletic challenge that helps attract athletically minded people from many modalities and disciplines to give obstacle course racing a try. Also, being in urban centers allows the excitement to come to people who might not be inclined or able to make a car trip to the typical mountain or countryside venues. Fenway is the original event of this format and I am glad to see it is living up to its status as the flagship stadium race in my estimation.

I give it 4.5 stars out for 5. The disappointment with the finisher medal and Sunday registration were the only dampers on a stadium race that otherwise “covered all the bases!”.

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado