OCD FOR OCR

Frontline OCR has been on my #BucketListOCR for two years and I was super excited to finally get to participate at the Byron, IL event hosted at Byron Motosports Park!

• Registration and Festival:

Raymond and I didn’t take advantage of the pre-race day registration on Friday, but that was okay, because the registration line moved nice and fast on Saturday morning! The festival area was set up well and they had a fair number of vendors and sponsor booths! Weather was perfect, so racers and spectators hung out and it was good times all day.

• The MC:

The motivational speaker was Coach Pain and I have to say, I have heard Dewayne speak at at-least twenty previous events and I think his total body of work for this event was the best I have heard from him to date! He killed it all day and kept every wave unique! He also shared that his son was running the hardest version course and it was both loving and painful to watch his son struggle trying to keep the coveted body armor vest for the entire course! His daughter also ran the course and he was clearly proud of both of them.

• The Course:

The course started out in the festival area and quickly exited into the woods. The venue has rolling hills, so the course had lots of short ups and downs. The course was about six miles in distance and it took racers in the woods, and on to the venues motocross dirt tracks. The course challenged racers with thirty obstacles that challenged all disciplines needed for OCR. The course included several carry obstacles, including a bucket carry, a log carry, and a ammo can carry. What I liked, was the carries were not close to each other and were strategically placed throughout the entire course.

The course included a series of muddy trenches to climb in and out of and I ran the race with my friend Raymond so we helped each other get through the mounds, because they were brutal thick mud. I have no idea how the Special Forces and Endurance waves (mandatory completion of obstacles) or anyone running solo/alone got out of several of the deep mud mounds!

This is the perfect time to explain the two waves mentioned above. The Special Forces wave is the first wave of the morning and it’s no joke or for the average athlete! While wearing body armor (vest with non-ballistic plates), racers must complete all the obstacles. Racers that crossed the finish line without failing a single obstacle while wearing the body armor the entire time earned the vest and badge of honor. The Endurance wave is the second wave of the morning and this wave is also no joke! If one lap is not enough for you while also having mandatory obstacle completion, then the Endurance is the wave for you!

The next wave of the morning is in my opinion, what makes Frontline OCR, one of my favorite OCR’s to date! The Heroes wave, which is only for first responders, active & retired military. In a day an age where it seems cool to not respect our first responders and military, it’s about time a race shows some of America’s finest sons and daughters the respect and honor they deserve.

Getting back to the obstacles, the course was loaded with well-built, safe, and extremely challenging obstacles (with or without out the body armor). The course included a version of the weaver, which made a lot of sense because it’s an obstacle several branches of the military use in it’s training.

Also, on the course was a military style rope ladder climb, a rope climb, and several high walls to climb up and over. One high wall that I must mention, was a very high wall with ropes to climb up and over, this wall came after the above-mentioned mud mounds, so racers had a lot of mud on them and this wall become covered in mud quickly, the Special Forces wave had to conquer this wall using a rope without knots in it. Shortly after most of the athletes in the non-open waves completed this obstacle, they removed some of the wood sections, so the open wave racers could climb up and back down it like a ladder wall obstacle. This wall was tough even with the sections now removed, it had to be a hardcore challenge for the Special Forces wave!

Other obstacles needing to be mentioned were: a very challenging monkey bars, that went one way and then made a U-turn and back the other way with sections that went up and down. This obstacle was a game changer for many and was where some of the Special Forces wave failed to complete it and lost their body armor vests! The course had a Ninja Warrior type grip strength obstacle that was no joke and became even harder once it was covered with mud! The course had a lot more obstacles that were very challenging including near the finish, a long low crawl up a steep hill. I don’t think I was alone, breathing a sigh of relief when Raymond and I crossed the finish line!

• The Bling:

The bling included a very sexy (Law Enforcement inspired) finisher medal, a stylish finisher shirt, and a first for me, a choice of at least six finisher beers that were all you could drink (until they ran out, which they didn’t) provided by local sponsor Hairy Cow Brewing Company. They had some unique beers that all tasted great!

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

As mentioned above, Frontline OCR has been on my bucket list for a while and it didn’t disappoint! I saw several Law Enforcement agencies participating with custom race shirts to show pride representing the departments they work for and the communities they serve and that was amazing!

When I combine all factors, the course, the obstacles, the staff & volunteers, the kick ass bling, seeing so many first responders & military participating, and of course, Coach Payne at his best, I have to rate this race five out of five stars!

Early registration just opened for the next Frontline OCR at the same venue taking place on October 27, 2018 and I cannot stress enough that this is a race all readers should add to their race schedule!

Article Written by: Walter F Hendrick (OCRSandy)