OCD FOR OCR

This was my fourth year in a row participating in the Tri-State NJ Tough Mudder. Tough Mudder has never hidden the fact, that this race weekend is very important to them and they always bring their A game. Saturday I showed up just in time to run the last wave of the day because this was OCR # 3 on the day. I started out in the early AM in Hoboken, NJ and then drove to Philadelphia and then double timed it back to NJ to run the full Tough Mudder course.

• Registration and Festival:

I didn’t use the standard check-in/registration lanes and arrived late on Saturday, so I can’t give an honest opinion for Saturday, but on Sunday the lanes appeared to be moving at a decent speed and that was with a very large early morning turnout for a Sunday. The festival area was setup in a nice size area and it was easy to spot all the tents and other important things like the starting/finish lines.

• Pre-race MC:

One of the reasons I do Tough Mudder’s is master of ceremonies Sean Corvelle. This sport/hobby/business has several amazing MC’s and I have pretty much heard them all and am friends with most of them and they all are amazing and unique in their own ways, but with that said, after this weekend, I have come to the opinion that Sean is the best in the business. I am sure many will disagree and that is fine, because we all have a different opinion of people and as I mentioned above, I can think of six or seven MC’s throughout the world that are amazing and kill it every race weekend.

Sean was amazing both day, and it was humbling to watch how he commands the racers (both experienced and new). He doesn’t just fire up the waves, he inspires them and educates them as well and does it a way that will stay with the racers for more than just a short time.

• The Course:

According to my GPS watch, the course was just under 10 miles. On Saturday, my friend Raymond and I not only started the last wave of the day, but we stopped and talked to Sean for a pretty long time and ended being the last two racers to start the course. This is the third year that I ran a TM as this venue (Old Bridge Township, Raceway Park) and I have to say I really enjoyed how the course designer completely changed things up and used the entire venue very different that the two previous races (2014 & 2016).

The course started in the woods and had a short distance walk/sprint prior to exiting the woods and came to the first obstacle of the day, Berlin Walls, which on Sunday even though it rained a during the night, was still covered in lots of mud. The course then continued on for a little bit and came to Mud Mile 2.0, I enjoyed this obstacle more on Sunday because sections developed that allowed me to make it up and over each section without assistance so I was able to get out of the muddy waters fast and help others. The next few obstacles spanning over a mile of the course were a tire carry, Quagmire, Skidmarked (TM’s version of a barbed-wire crawl) and Kiss of Mud 2.0, this section of the course spent most of the time on one of the venues motocross tracks and on Sunday due to the rain, it was more of a challenge for some to get up parts of the track. As always, I was thankful to be wearing my Icebugs and didn’t slip once.

At this point, about 2.5-miles in, the course came to The Block Ness Monster, and I hate to sound like a jerk, but doing this obstacle with inexperienced racers was a horrible experience. Understandably, they have no concept of how to work as a team and keeping this obstacle rotating. On almost every rotation, at least 10 people would try to hold on and get over it. I tried to coach those in the water with me, but between racers not listening, the TM staff assigned to the obstacle yelling completely incorrect instructions and the majority of racers just taking advantage of the help and then not trying to assist others, it was impossible so I finally gave up trying to help and just got through the obstacle and continued on.

Over the next mile and a half, the obstacles were Devil’s Beard (I hate net crawls) and Everest 2.0. The course then continued on for a short distance completing 4-miles and the turned back into the woods and we entered into waist deep water, with so many racers in this ravine at the same time, it took some time to get through. After this little ravine, the course came to what I think was the most brutal and fun part, which was a long section of deep sections of mud to deal with. Both days, I concentrated on the music playing on my MP3 and just powered through the mud sections. After dealing with most of the mud, it was time for a Fireman’s carry and then came one more section of mud to and after that, this section of the woods finished up with a very muddy ladder wall climb. The ladder wall climb was so muddy that racers were clearly very intimidated about climbing up and back down it.

The course exited the woods and now completed five miles and up next was Pyramid Scheme, which I had a lot of fun helping people work as a team. The next two miles of course had several twists and turns and included the obstacles: Balls to the Wall, Swamp Stomp, Hold Your Wood and Funky Monkey the Revolution, most of this section of the course was good for running but we did have a few sections with deep mud as well. At this point, we were now 7 miles into the course and the next mile was mostly trails that included two obstacles, Mineshafted and Snot Rocket/Augustus, both days I did the Snot Rocket version which is a lot more fun if you don’t mind having water on your face and eyes.

A very short distance ahead was the 8.5-mile marker and the course was now no longer in the wooded sections of the venue, we looped around and up next was Black Hole/Birth Canal, which seemed a lot easier than I remember it being at Toughest Mudder! A short sprint ahead was my favorite obstacle of the day, Arctic Enema the Rebirth, the water wasn’t very cold on Saturday, but Sunday they had it packed with ice and it was awesome. The next obstacle, Stage 5 Clinger is one of the few obstacles that I opted for the easier right side both days.

At this point, the course headed back to the festival area and finish line and up next was Kong/Electro Therapy, and just after came the finish!

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

This race weekend is one of a very select few that I have never missed and I am happy that I didn’t miss it this year. The course was awesome, the weather was perfect both days, Sean was amazing as always and the staff/volunteers were awesome all weekend and worked really hard so I am rating this event 5 out 5 stars.

Article Written by: Walter F Hendrick (OCRSandy)