OCD FOR OCR

If you recall, Savage Race’s 2018 Pennsylvania event, you will likely remember a mishap in which a leading elite athlete misread the course markings and led a pack of other Pro runners (which included yours truly) astray. Savage Race really stepped up to the plate and provided all athletes registered in that Pro heat with a voucher for a free race.

I was more than ready to redeem my voucher toward the 2019 edition of that event, only to be prevented by my vow to experience Indian Mud Run in 2019 for the first time, which sadly was on the same weekend. This meant either wait until 2020 to get my annual Savage Race fix or travel a little further than normal to take in a whole new (to me at least) Savage Race venue. I chose the latter, casting my lot with the Fall edition of their Maryland race and I am pleased to say, I have no regrets.  I also chose to stay over another day and try my hand (and feet) at their shorter, Blitz format for the first time, a decision that proved especially rewarding for me.     

• Registration and Festival:

The Maryland Savage Race venue is in a pretty rural area of the Delmarva Peninsula, on a farm/hunting ground. Driving up to it, I really had no clue I was near a big event venue until I saw the Savage Race banners at the front entrance. Once in, parking was a snap. I did not pay extra for VIP parking and quite frankly, I don’t see the advantage of it as I walked no more than the length of a soccer field from the general parking to VIP to the entrance of the festival area/registration line. 

Registration looked like it was going to be daunting at first, as I was faced with one long line. With 40 minutes until my first event was to go off, I was worried about having enough time to put on my timing chip & bib, check in on social media, check my bag and do a thorough warm up to optimize performance as well as prevent injury. I then noticed the registration lanes were divided by bib number. I mentioned out loud “Why are we all single file only to wait behind people who aren’t in our lane?” Everyone then started to disperse into separate lines corresponding to our assigned bib numbers and things ran much more smoothly. 

Once registered, you are ushered through a merchandise tent that leads to the festival area. This is the same setup Savage has used ever since I ran my first one and I always found it a good choice on the company’s part to catch people on their way out. Spartan Race has now positioned their merchandise tents in the same way as of this year. 

The festival area had multiple food trucks to choose from and a few vendors, such as Zevia a healthier keto-friendly soft drink brand, which I’m aware of as my mother drinks it. Also, on hand was a company selling CBD oil and an outfit offering post-race hydration recovery IVs. One thing the festival seemed to be lacking was any kind of festival challenges or contests. None was offered in their own kiosks and if any were done on the main stage they must have only occurred while I was out running one of my laps. I found the festival area adequate for me to recover after or in between laps, but I can see how there isn’t as much to offer for non-racers or those waiting for significant amounts of time for others to finish their race. 

• Pre-race MC:

Both days, there was a “meeting” at the main festival stage for Pro division athletes that started with the playing of the National Anthem and which contained a review of all the key rules (band system race, unlimited obstacle attempts allowed, kicking the bell is permitted, etc.) Another emcee did a short talk then smoke bombs were thrown and the Pro heat went off. His delivery was full of energy and he kept his words brief for the Pro waves. When I returned later Saturday morning for an open heat, the start line speech was more motivational, more inspirational and was more conducive to the nature of an open heat vs a competitive one. 

Savage seems to accurately ascertain the difference when it comes to the start line rituals, saving more of the pomp and circumstance for heats where there will be a greater percentage of first-time racers and relative beginners to the sport. 

• The Course:

The full Savage Race course, was 28 obstacles over roughly a 10 km course, a very impressive volume of obstacles for a race of a medium distance. The obstacles ranged from standard cargo nets, walls to the signature obstacles Savage Race is known for that tax athletes’ upper body strength and coordination. New obstacles of note this year, that were featured were Piece of Queso, Inversion Therapy and Chopsticks, all three of which were found toward the end of the course and while varying in difficulty, each delivering a high fun factor. Piece of Queso was like a hybrid of the holed boards of Tricky Swiss found at City Challenge Race and NorAm, but instead of rings in between the boards we were treated by bed sheets harkening back to the Holy Sheet obstacle seen at prior Savage Races. Inversion Therapy was an upside-down crawl obstacle that with its late placement really taxed core strength and challenged coordination. Chopsticks was a very technique driven obstacle that made me vaguely reflect upon Northman Race’s La Gaffe Du Draveur. (also, a NorAm staple).

Often in the past, I have found that the difficulty of Savage Race courses is heavily skewed toward upper body. Rig type overhead obstacles abound with relatively easy running and carries that are relatively light and straightforward. While the Maryland course retained much of that flavor and definitely carried that classic Savage Race flow, the terrain at Kennedyville definitely stepped it up a notch, particularly in having substantial amounts of technical trail running in the woods. While it was not overly hilly or steep, the course wound in and out of the woods, through creek beds, over logs, rocks and it was a delight to the trail runner in me.

While I have often gotten the vibe that Savage caters to the OCR athlete who is not overly fond of running, and distance wise, they stay true to it, they did enough to keep the running fan interested.  The only strength obstacles were Pedal for the Medal, an innovative take on a tire drag, but probably one of the easiest obstacles I did that day and Lumberjack Lane, a carry loop with a 2×4 board, which they routed through Mud n Guts, (a barbed wire crawl) Both laps, I elected to double up, carrying two boards. 

Another factor was the copious amounts of mud on the course. I would say this was the muddiest course, I have ever run in a competitive event on a dry sunny day. If you’re one who goes to race, so you can get pictures of yourself caked in the slop, you would not be disappointed at all. Others have vocally complained about the muddiness of the course online. I’m not either of those kinds of people, just taking it as yet another natural obstacle increasing the challenge found in between the man-made obstacles.  

Savage Blitz (approximately 5 km short course). Since I had yet to have the opportunity and overall I don’t get that many opportunities to run Savage Race in general, I chose to make it a complete weekend and partake of the Savage Blitz. The Blitz course cuts the mileage in half, but only eliminated 10 of the obstacles found in the full course.  Whereas previously Savage Race has offered the full course only on Saturday and the Blitz on Sunday, this event marked the first time Savage offered both race formats both days, with runners potentially side to side on the trails and obstacles yet running a different distance. 

Great pains were made to ensure that athletes knew where to turn for the particular race they were participating in and the courses was impeccably marked every step of the way. The start line and festival emcees pointed this new development out several times.

• The Bling:

Finisher medals both days look nice. A little glitzy compared to say a Spartan medal, but it seems to fit more into the vibe and the culture of Savage Race more. Since I ran two or more Savage Races this year (a full race plus a Blitz or two full races qualifies you, even if done in the same day) I was able to claim a Savage Syndicate medal, which was downright ginormous for a medal that basically says I raced with them at least twice. Also, for the first time in any OCR, I was able to put my hands on an age group award medal, having finished third in the Blitz! The age group podium medals are shaped like an axe and are not only colored gold, silver or bronze based upon the athlete’s placement, but progress larger in size from 3rd to 1st.

Finisher shirts both days did not disappoint at all! I love the material and I wore my Saturday finisher shirt to run the Blitz on Sunday (a superstition, I like to uphold in which I do not wear a finisher’s shirt or at least do not wash it until I exercise in it). I did, however, don my Blitz shirt post-race in order to have a clean shirt yet still have a Savage shirt for the awards ceremony, as many race series require it for podium winners to receive their awards and I wasn’t sure if Savage had that rule. No worries, as I took it off when I got to the car and wore it to the gym on Monday, so no bad juju for Killington :).

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

I’ve liked doing a Savage Race at least once a year for the past few years just to do something different from the Spartan’s, I frequent yet still be challenged more than I often am at a local race, both in terms of obstacle difficulty and in competing against serious OCR athletes. The Pennsylvania venue has always succeeded in meeting those desires, but this Maryland venue really hit the spot in overall fun for me. I can’t wait to come back next year. Also, the leadership of the company is very responsive to their customer base and go out of their way to please their fans.

Five out of Five Stars!

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado.