OCD FOR OCR

Early morning obligations that I could not get out of prevented me from being in Vermont on Saturday to run the Spartan Ultra so I had to be content with a Sunday running of the standard Beast course this year (which may have ended up being a blessing in disguise for me). The silver lining, however, was that before I made my pilgrimage to Killington, I was able to swing by one of my favorite local events.

That event would be the Finger Lakes Mud Run, which I have only missed once since its inception (2018 when I was hitting the Killington Ultra the same day) and for good reason. It might not be the most difficult OCR or the most competitive race you can find (it’s not even timed at all), but it touches all the important bases.

Finger Lakes Mud Run describes itself in the course map/brochure provided in each registration packet as “a 3.5-mile (or so) outdoor challenge with 35 obstacles hosted by Champions for Life, Inc. annually on the grounds of Everest Park. The FLMR is CFL’s biggest fundraiser of the year”.

Champions of Life is a local nonprofit that operates an indoor sports center, outdoor sports programs at Everest Park and also the Brian Bisgrove Home of Courage, a retreat for families of seriously ill children. 

• Registration and Festival:

While there is an early packet pickup offered at the Champions for Life sports facility the night before, it’s about a 20-mile trip one way for me, and I have rarely found the “day of” check-in process overly daunting at this event. Thus, I did not avail myself of it, but appreciate the option. This year seemed a bit more chaotic than normal and I noticed that check in was located in an open field rather than under a tent like it has been in the past.

In the midst of my surprise at the chaos, I noticed that the main festival area tent was down and rattled with holes. I soon learned that the rain storm (probably the same system wreaking havoc on my many Killington running friends that day) had come through the area overnight and decimated the tent. I did not see any food or drink options in the festival area initially and later discovered they had taken shelter on the back side of the barn used for packet pickup (which was the second part of check-in, if you didn’t get yours prior to race day). All told, given the bad set of cards dealt by Mother Nature upon, I applaud the event organizers and volunteers for making do. Racers stayed after, assembling around the band (I didn’t catch their name, but they rocked playing a lot of my favorite 80s hits).

• Pre-race MC:

Not a lot of emceeing. Just announcements of the upcoming waves and a countdown. I think this could be a good opportunity for a budding local stand-up comic or someone so inclined to gain some exposure with a little motivational speech or something, especially for a non-competitive OCR event with such a focus on doing good for the community.

• The Course:

Over the years, Finger Lakes Mud Run has evolved and experimented with different course lengths, starting with a 3-mile course its first year, then moving up to having options as long as 9-miles in some years before settling on what appears to be their sweet spot at about 4-miles, per my Garmin watch, yet hosting 35 obstacles. Yeah, some of those in the official count might have been mud pits and ravine crossings, but that’s still nearly 30 obstacles, over 4-miles, which meant never running very far without doing one.

The obstacles ranged from your staple low crawls, walls and balance obstacles to a pretty good water-slide (worth the wait, but if you don’t like the bottle-necking, make sure you come for an early wave and you’ll be fine). There was also a sandbag carry, where I made the “mistake” of trying to be a hero and pick up a second sandbag that someone had abandoned only to turn the corner and have to negotiate some heavy-duty slop with double the prescribed weight.

For a local charity “mud run” type course, it had some harder ones too, such as a wall with rock climbing holds, something that has been at this event for a few years now, but the likes of Spartan Race only adopted as in the past year and then only for their Beast courses. Often, the obstacles feature two lanes, offering different difficulty levels or at the very least, a different type of obstacle experience. For example, new this year was a rig built and sponsored by Syracuse Ninja Barracks, the Ninja gym that I’ve been training at in order to improve my obstacle proficiency. There was a lane of all rings, which is challenging enough for most OCR goers, but another rig was all balls, something I have only become proficient with fairly recently despite my many years’ experience as a competitive OCR athlete.

As for the terrain, I enjoyed coming in and out of the woods as the wooded parts are highly technical trail runs, made even more so by the rain, the night before and the copious amounts of thick mud.  Other obstacles, I recall having been on this property for the first year and seem no worse for the wear, showing the amount of TLC and attention they get from the dedicated volunteers who work to make this event not only possible but a success that keeps participants coming back each year. 

Since I had another race the next day, one that I planned to attempt to PR, I used this event as a stress reliever and a shake out before the big day. I would often come to this course in the past with a friend to run against him head to head in the first heat. But this year, I just wanted to show support, have fun and take in the course for what it is. As I was doing some warm-up exercises, a 10-year-old girl came up to me and asked if she could “exercise” with me. Of course, I had no objection and her mother came up and introduced herself. They were going to run the course together and I ended up staying with them much of the time, giving encouragement and tips to a talented member of the next generation of the sport. 

• The Bling:

Earned was a very solid finisher medal that seems equal in size and weight to what I would get for my efforts the next day at Killington. The finisher shirt is of the 50/50 cotton/polyester blend which I find most comfortable. It has since passed my post-race workout test with flying colors. And as if that wasn’t enough, each finisher was gifted with a hoodie emblazoned with the race logo too!!

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

The Finger Lakes Mud Run was one of the first local obstacle races I did and remains to be the gold standard how a local charity event should be run. They go to great lengths to keep it a positive, family friendly event keeping with the ethos of the charity it represents and supports. It is perfect for the curious first timer, the casual OCR enthusiast who is just looking to do something different once or twice a year, and still has a great deal to offer anyone like myself who now trains and competes most of the year.

I have no hesitation in awarding the 5 stars.

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado.