OCD FOR OCR

This was my third Frontline OCR event/race hosted at Byron Motosports Park and I was super excited to race and hopefully keep my coveted 15-pound Condor tactical vest!

• Registration and Festival:

I was fortunate enough to take advantage of the early packet pick up the day before the event which is always a bonus and a time saver on race day. Parking was no problem, and registration seemed to move along well for those doing packet pick up the day of the event.

The village for the event was personal with local small businesses, first responders and a strong military presence.

• Pre-race MC: 

The pre-race MC Ryan Hart (Hartfit SGX/ FLATline OCR) was called in, at the last moment and did an good job getting everyone informed and hyped up before the start of each wave.

• The Course:

As mentioned above, I ran the special forces heat, which requires the entire course, being completed with a 15-pound Condor tactical vest on. Frontline also offers an endurance heat as well as open heats and ended with the Blitz competition race, between the 1st and 2nd place winners, which has them wear upper body fireman protection gear/equipment and complete around 5 very fast paced obstacles/challenges.

With a start time temp of 55 degrees and slightly overcast, this year’s course ran 5.5 miles with about 1250 feet of elevation winding through technical trails, rocky ravines, and a muddy motorbike course. There were two short water crossings on a course, totaling 32 challenging obstacles, including a rope climb, ladder climb, weaver, at least 5 challenging rigs, a few carries, including: Wreck bag, Double ammo can and double sand bucket carries which were almost all strategically placed just prior to the upper body technical rigs.

This race included plenty of walls, inverted and otherwise, including a 20 foot warped wall and a few other surprises. For those running the endurance wave or the late open waves got wet, as the sky’s opened up later in the afternoon making the both the obstacles and terrain obviously more difficult! The course utilized the motorbike dirt track to its full potential and took racers all over the venue!

A few adjustments I would recommend for this race are having the Tyrolean traverse (horizontal rope) over water, as well as, eliminating back-ups at the vest collector rig, could be rectified by sending the endurance heat off first and splitting the special forces wave into 2 groups.

Not having enough volunteers on the course, seems to be an issue with most races. Not having staff/volunteers at all the obstacles (some of them being the more/harder challenging ones) sadly provided chances for the less honest racers to skip obstacles without successfully completing them and giving up their vests or bands. Course markings could also have been a little clearer around obstacles, but I suspect that was also due to the lack of volunteers.

• The Bling:

Frontline OCR does a great job providing unique medals which are made to honor law enforcement, first responders and military. The medal is changed for each event and is always quite nice. The finisher shirts are also event specific with great graphics!

• Race Directors Comments:

Editors comment: Race Director/Owner Ed Leon was kind enough to take a moment and provide a response regarding the lack of staff/volunteers and the last-minute change of pre-race MC:

“Yes, that’s a very fair critique. It’s hard for us to get people to work for free when they volunteer. All week we had great numbers. Race day we were left holding the bag and spreading us thin. I felt like we were the 101st at Bastogne. We held the line and did the best we could while fighting the weather. I think the forecast gave our volunteers cold and wet feet.”

“I was proud of how the volunteers, who did appear performed and our staff who wore multiple hats. Our last-minute MC change, left us in a whirl. Ryan Hart stepped up and didn’t only do a great job as an MC, but actually coordinated all of the waves send offs and controlled the front of the house and allowed me to get out on the course and monitor participants on obstacles. I literally was running all over the course. Good thing I train for OCR’s!”

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

I absolutely love this race and its terrain! This was my third Frontline OCR event, all running the special forces heat and sadly, I have failed to keep my vest all three times! I hope, the fourth time will be the charm and I finally keep the coveted vest next time! Owner/Operator Ed Leon consistently raises the level of this event with his knowledge and actual OCR experience. Big ups for the love given to first responders and military!

I rate this race/event 4.5 out of 5 stars and can’t wait for next years event!

• Beat the Rush, Early Bird Prices:

Frontline OCR’s 5th Wave will be on Saturday, May 16, 2020, hosted at Byron Motosports Park in Byron, Illinois. Take advantage of the early lowest prices and register today!

Article Written by: Troy Hall