OCD FOR OCR

I have run the Hillsborough River Swamp Stomp previously and was looking forward to running it again and taking home the top spot on the female podium!

• Registration and Festival: 

Upon entering the park, the ranger at the entrance directed racers to the assigned parking lot. Parking was included in the race entry fee so that was an added bonus. Packet pick up was running slow and there was a long line. They only had two people handing out bibs. There was also a $5 cash only insurance fee that was being collected. Of course, yours truly completely forgot about that and in true OCR family fashion, a nice young man let me Zelle him the money and he covered me. OCR people are always ready to help each other overcome obstacles, so I survived my first one with a little help from a friend!

The festival area had a few food trucks and some local business tables set up. They also had the option to go to the park cafe for a beer, shop merchandise, and browse other food options as well. After the award ceremony, they also held a pull up contest and they had a DJ playing music for the crowd. 

• Pre-race MC:

 The MC was enjoyable, and while there was no rousing motivational speech, like some of the larger races have, he was able to get the runners in the coral engaged and excited for the go sign.

• The Course:

 The course was 4-miles through the trails in the park. They were gracious enough to not start us out running through the pool like previous years. The course itself was flat and muddy with the natural obstacles you would expect in a Florida OCR. The obstacles themselves consisted of multiple walls, one traverse wall, tires, tubes, heavy bag hoist and the slide down into the water at the end.

It was a good course for beginner level racers and there were quite a few kids out there enjoying the run as well. The only issue I experienced, was one area where I felt the course was poorly marked which sent me down the wrong way until I ran into another runner who did the same thing that had turned around. However, seeing as my directional skills are usually sketchy at best, I can’t be too critical of flag placement.

• The Bling: 

Upon finishing you were awarded your medal and race t-shirt. Top three male and female finishers were also awarded a goody bag of prizes.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating: 

The volunteers were very friendly and the overall feel of the race was enjoyable. I would have liked to have seen some upper body obstacles, such as the monkey bars, they had in a previous year(s). For a fun family run, I would definitely recommend getting out with your kids and getting moving and muddy next year at this race!

Article Written by: Joy Moody