OCD FOR OCR

I had been Itching for a mid-June race, butwanted to do something I’ve have never done before, so I joined a couple of my Buffalo-area OCR friends (Eric and Joe) heading across the border for what would be my first ever Rugged Maniac. As a seasoned OCR enthusiast and someone who likes to continue to push the envelope, I was not sure how high to set my expectations regarding what I was told was a beginner-friendly event. However, I can safely say I had one of my most purely enjoyable experiences at a OCR race within the past year!

• Registration and Festival:

Registration was old school in that there were no tablets or electronic means to expedite the process. The volunteers had paper sheets listing participants and they assigned you a bib on the spot, affixing racers start time to the bib with a sticker or if you were running RMX (as I was), a different sticker so those racers could jump into any wave once they were ready. Eric and Joe paid for VIP status, which meant they could be on and off the course as much as they wanted which was a separate registration. I was initially led to believe my RMX registration did not have its own registration table, so I waited in line, only to be told to wait in other line over on the VIP side to get the RMX bib, bracelet and headband. With a little patience, it was no problem, but I would make sure this was corrected for other RMX participants if I were King of Rugged Maniac for a day.

Where do I start regarding the festival? Typically, I show up to race and the festival is just a necessary evil where you get your free beer, overpriced food and maybe get some merch and somehow get a little less filthy before you leave the grounds. But this was a completely different experience as Rugged Maniac really goes all out to make the festival a literal awesome festival!

As if running a OCR wasn’t enough fun, there were all kinds of activities on grounds to do.  I spotted a mechanical bull, cornhole, and beach volleyball among other things. If I had just run one lap I would have likely joined in a volleyball game or two, but between the day getting later and my knees hurting after hours of running multiple RMX laps, I passed. Its obvious Rugged Maniac wants both racers and spectators to stay, mingle and have a good time and enjoy themselves and unlike almost all the other well-known OCR’s they do not charge a spectator’s fee which is makes it even more impressive! In addition, throughout the day there were pie eating contests, pull up contests which all took place on a prominent stage overlooking the festival tables and chairs.

The food selections and choices were more plentiful than most other OCR series, even including an Indian food truck from which I got a Tikka Masala that really hit the spot after being on course the better part of the day.

• Pre-race MC:

The emcee for this event was Christopher Calandro and he really seemed to enjoy his job and while he used a general overall script, I could tell he ad-libbed sufficiently to keep it fresh without being a drawn-out affair, especially as I would pass by his booth each time I completed an additional lap of the course. He did take a swipe at road races (non-OCR) by playing a sound bite of snoring when he teased racers they could be running a 5K or Color run, which I found ironic as it was my desire to perform better at OCR’s that sparked my interested in running road races on the side (like many others). Christopher also asked the early morning wave I ran with, if anyone was doing RMX, and I was the only one, so I got some notoriety for being the “crazy guy who was running multiple laps”.

• The Course:

I opted for the RMX option (run as many laps as you can or wish to, before 2:30 PM, with the catch that you cannot leave the course). Just past the start, there was a bypass that directed RMX participants back onto the course after each completed lap. There were no awards for most laps completed or fastest time to finish a fixed number of laps, but for an extra $20 or so dollars it seemed like a good value and if nothing else. a chance to turn a fun day into a good training session.

The course was a 5k loop at a ski resort on the edge of town. There were one or two decent ski slope inclines, but no single hill was a killer by itself. I have found that these kinds of entry-level OCR’s (when held at ski resorts) typically have one major climb and then racers spend the rest of the time going downhill. Rugged Maniac really did a good job of keeping the elevation change interesting and in addition, keeping the difficulty in line with the kind of event this was meant to be. Nevertheless, it did add up if you were running multiple laps by your fourth lap or so.

The obstacles hit all the bases, including standard (various heights) walls, cargo nets, several barbed wire crawls and a hanging gymnastic rings rig suspended over a nice and safe pit of water, which made failing the obstacle almost as fun as completing it! The rig was not as difficult as others I have conquered at some of the more competitive-oriented OCR’s, but it still provided a challenge for the less experienced racers, and those of us running multiple laps later in the day. Other completely unique obstacles were “Off the Rails” which required racers to get a running start to grab a rope (attached to a rail) to get sufficient momentum to ring a bell. Another obstacle I enjoyed so much, that I completed it three or more times per lap, was “Antigravity” which required racers to jump on trampolines to boost themselves up a wall. As much fun as I had trying to see how high onto the wall I could launch myself, it was equally entertaining to go over after (I was done racing) and watch the racers of varying abilities take on this obstacle.

There were also a couple of strength-based obstacles, such as a sled drag and a Herculean hoist type obstacle which I think even for the less skilled participants, could have been a little bit heavier. I would love to see Rugged Maniac add a heavy lane option at future events (hopefully they will see my suggestion and agree!).

One of the very few complaints I have was with the obstacle Accelerator, which was a warped wall coupled with a steep, fast inflatable water-slide. This obstacle was incredible fun until my third lap when the bottlenecks were so long I ended up having to skip the obstacle in order to not end up cooling down to a resting heart rate. Looking back at it now, I should have pointed out to the obstacles staff/volunteers that I was running the RMX version of the course and asked if I could skip the lines. This is a standard practice at most OCR races that offer a multiple laps option, but as any OCR racer can relate to, after running multiple laps up and down a ski mountain and completing over seventy-five obstacles and challenges at that point, what I call OCR induced brain farts set in and I wasn’t thinking as clear.

All told, this was a nice balanced, beginner friendly course. It gave the enthusiast more than your local mud run can provide but was still accessible to a newbie, while giving them an overview of the diverse types of obstacles found in the sport.

• The Bling:

The finisher shirt was made of an extremely comfortable material and has a solid design in my opinion. The finisher medal isn’t anything spectacular or heavy but gives you a good memento of your day nevertheless. I saw photos of the finisher medal from last year and I liked that one better but oh well.

The post-race beer was middle of the road. Racers had a choice of a tall boy of Coors Light or some other local beer I had not heard of to date, which was decent but no more memorable than not being Coors Light.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

Rugged Maniac is a series that offers a positive introduction to the sport of Obstacle Course Racing. Racers get a lot of bang for their buck and the obstacles are well thought out to give the right amount of challenge to new racers while providing something unique to the experienced athletes as well. If you have friends who want to do a race with you, but are feeling intimidated by some of the other events, this is a good place to take them. In addition, the prices and value you get for what you pay is definitely an easier pill to swallow than many others making Rugged Maniac a perfect gateway race and one for experienced racers as well.

I rate this event/race 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to running another Rugged Maniac soon!

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado