OCD FOR OCR

Kicking off our 2019 OCR season, Lori Danko and I woke up at 4:30 AM to make the 3-hour drive from St. Augustine to Dade City. It was time for our first Savage Race of the year. Every time Savage is in Florida, we follow the same schedule of alarm clocks. We were prepared to do this two mornings in a row because Savage Race has added a short course on Sundays for all their events. This gives some good options to the first-time racer.

The shorter course (Savage Blitz at approximately 3 miles compared to the typical Savage Race of around 7 miles) is a great introduction into OCR events. Savage also offers a Pro wave option for the competitive person in both the short and the regular distance.

• Registration and Festival:

We arrived at the parking lot, grabbed our gear, and made the long walk to the registration tent. There, the lines moved very smoothly. Typically, there were only two lines dedicated to the pro racers, usually leading to a lengthy back up. Earlier in the week, via the Facebook Savage Syndicate group, I suggested the idea of opening multiple lines for those who us arrive early. One great thing about Savage is, if you suggest something that makes sense and they agree it’s a good idea, they will put it into action and analyze the feedback.

The festival area at Savage Race is similar at all their events. Several vendors were present that complemented the race. Salming was there selling shoes at a discount, which was awesome. Many people were taking advantage of the sale. Zevia was there handing out samples of their different flavors of drinks as well.

I’m not particularly fond of having to buy “tickets” in order to purchase food and beverages, it always ends up a waste of money. I always seem to come home with several tickets per race, none of which do me any good after I leave the venue.

There were ongoing contests; from trivia to pull-ups. Winners usually receive a free race entry, which is well worth the effort. Another perk of race day is that they sell registrations for future Savage events at a discounted rate. They also throw in a t-shirt, sticker, and a few extras.

• Pre-race MC:

In the corral for the start of the pro wave, Matty T as always, did a great job getting the racers pumped for the upcoming race.

• The Course:

Let’s cut to the chase and talk about the race experience. All the typical pre-race formalities went off like clockwork; as they seem to always do for Savage. They are on their game and very well organized. As always, the course was laid out great. If you haven’t ever been to Little Everglades Ranch for a race, you definitely want to put that on your list of places to check out. It is an absolutely beautiful piece of property and they do a great job of maintaining it.

Course layout was on point. Shriveled Richard was far enough along in the race so that you could build up a sweat before plunging into the icy water. At the Blitz on Sunday, Colossus lead directly into Sawtooth, both signature band-getters at Savage, making it tougher for racers to complete them back-to-back. Sawtooth was the older version, which means it was not as slick as the newer one. Still, a difficult obstacle, whether old or new.

The newly revealed obstacles, Chopsticks and Piece of Queso were a big hit. Both are challenging, yet doable. The rig was challenging, and Battering Ram also seemed particularly stubborn that weekend. Savage Race does a better job than pretty much any of the bigger OCR companies when it comes to having new obstacles and providing racers with new challenges. 

The course designers are always great at changing up the course layout, too. I honestly can’t count how many races I’ve attended at this venue, and it gets changed up all the time; it’s never the same course. Savage did a great job at obstacle placement, and they also introduce new obstacles every year. I do think they should bring some of the classic obstacles back every now and then to mess with people. Savage obstacles seem to be venue-specific though, which means some obstacles are at certain venues that aren’t at others. This makes each race unique and adds something special.

• The Bling:

The hardware, that’s a story in its itself! The bling is mostly why a lot of people run these types of races. A bunch of #medalwhores out there. Savage Race makes changes to their medals each year, updating by listening to crowd feedback. Also incorporated is the Savage Syndicate medal. This is earned when you run two of their races in a single season.

The Syndicate medal comes adorned with a venue specific pin to represent each of the races you completed. The medal is large, shiny, and of top-notch quality. It makes a great addition to the medal collection, most definitely worth pursuing!  Best of all might be the new axe medal for placement awards in the competitive wave. These are very large and stand out when you have one on your medal display. 

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

Overall, the event was fantastic. Savage Race does an amazing job putting on a first-class race. They are super organized, and at this race, things ran very smoothly. My total rating for the Florida Savage Race is at the highest level (five stars). It’s hard to beat the experience because they are a superb organization. If you find yourself “on the fence” about running a Savage Race, don’t hesitate. I am looking forward to doing many more of their races this season, maybe not the 4 AM alarm clock, but the races, yes. In a nutshell, sign up for your Savage Race experience today, you won’t regret it!

Article Written by: Andy Sneller and Lori Danko.