OCD FOR OCR

We left early in the morning as the race venue is almost 4 hours away from our house. The parking was very simple; it is a small venue, which allows easy access to the entrance and registration. We were running late but still made it because of good parking. 

• Registration and Festival:

Registration went off without a hitch, only a few people in line ahead of us, so it went smoothly. We had about 10 minutes from the time we set our bags down until the start, so we quickly guzzled our EndurElite and got in the start corral.

There was not much of a festival area; again, it’s a small local race. I think I would have stayed longer at the venue if there had been a post-race beer or some kind of snack. Nevertheless, the area had a nice layout. 

• Pre-race MC:

The pre-race MC was good. He got a little heavy into motivational speaking, but that seemed to be just for the elite wave of racers. The rest of the time he pumped up the crowd and made mention of a lot of the teams, which is always nice to hear. Starting with a flag salute is always a classy beginning, it was nice to stop and take time to do this. This was Mud Titan’s eleventh race in the series; I’ve done a lot of their races, so I was interested to see what updates were in store.

• The Course:

The course was beautiful; obstacles were interspersed along the way, making for an enjoyable race. Somehow, because of course markings, or lack thereof, almost the entire elite wave missed about a half of a mile of the course. I kept seeing a rope traverse over water, but could not figure out why I hadn’t approached it on my way. When I finished, I was still wondering why it never popped up along the course. After talking to the other participants, they too had missed it.

I got hung up at about the third obstacle on course. It was a wall with a short rope attached. There were only two lanes for the elites to use, leaving several more unused. One suggestion I have is adjusting this obstacle to utilize the other lanes for use to avoid the massive backup. I stayed at this one obstacle for over twenty minutes, waiting in line each time I failed. Finally, my frustration got the better of me and I handed over my elite band, realizing there was no way I was going to climb the slippery rope/wall, and that it was consuming a lot of my time.

As a person of small stature, I felt frustrated at several of the obstacles where I couldn’t even get close to reaching, let alone jumping to, the first part of the obstacle. I tried climbing poles that were near, but to no avail. Personally, I would have enjoyed the race much more if I had been able to participate in more of it.

I think some of the volunteers were confused about how the obstacles were to be completed because there were several times runners were told something different than during the pre-race briefing for elites.

The course made good use of the water and mud available, with the heat of the day, the water obstacles were definitely a plus! Plenty of water stations and people visible on course.

• The Bling:

Mud Titan always has good bling and t-shirts. The lanyard had the word finisher misspelled; an error I think should be caught before handing them out to participants (that’s the teacher coming out in me).  It is not a big deal, but a detail that should be checked in my opinion.

• Race Directors Comments:

Editors comment: Race Director/Owner Mike Nelson took a moment to provide a response:

“The elites only missed .2 miles by bypassing the over water traverse. This has never happened in the past. It was a case of follow the leader, he ran through areas that weren’t even cut. The entire trail was.

The comments on back ups are heard and changes are being made. Please encourage them to take on the elite run again. Changes will be in store.“

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

I really enjoy Mud Titan. I hope that they can keep things fresh and take it to the next level. I appreciated the email I received just a day or two after the race stating that they were listening to comments and concerns and planning on adjustments. This was another classy move, I thought, showing participants that they care about the race experience. I don’t think I would run this race as an elite again, simply because of the frustration of certain obstacles, but I definitely will run it with friends as a fun run.  Mud Titan was one of the first local races that made me fall in love with OCR, and I think that with a few changes it can be an excellent experience for all!

I rate the event/course 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Article Written by: Andy Sneller and Lori Danko.