OCD FOR OCR

As I have done each first weekend in June for the past six years, I made a pilgrimage to Tuxedo Ridge, for the Spartan Sprint held there each year. Like being true for many OCR enthusiasts in the Northeast and elsewhere, this venue was my first impression of what Spartan Race has to offer. Its proximity to our nation’s largest metro area and its relatively short distance compared to other Spartan offerings means it is a common first race for many. This venue and race weekend have served as a benchmark to me not only in terms of measuring my own progress as an athlete, but to gauge where Spartan is going with their courses in a given season in terms of obstacles and overall course layout.

In previous years, the Tuxedo Sprint has been offered on as many as four days over two weekends, providing several opportunities to run the course multiple times. I personally have been known to do this, having taken on the course four times in three days last season. But unfortunately, as of this year, Tuxedo has been cut back to a two-day event, but one should keep in mind, New York State now has four Spartan venues, offering Sprints, ranging from the Winter Sprint (in my neck of the woods), the Citi Field Sprint, the West Point Sprint (which recently added a second day), and the Long Island Sprint that will debut in Bethpage later this fall. It has also been announced there will be a New Jersey Sprint offered the same weekend as the Super at Mountain Creek. At any rate, this year’s edition of the Tuxedo Sprint was a somewhat varied experience from prior years, owing largely to a course that essentially ran in reverse to last year and the year before.

• Registration and Festival:

I ran on Sunday in the Age Group division (formerly known as “Competitive”) and I literally walked up to an open lane at registration and was checked in within 20 seconds. I had actually worked in the registration/check-in tent the day before and I don’t think anyone had to wait longer than a minute or two on my watch, even with the busier mid-morning crush of Open runners signing in to run in sold-out heats.

As for the festival area, I really did not spend much time there. I didn’t really notice anything different and I am a frequent Spartan Race participant. The post-race beer was Coors Light and there isn’t much to say about that other than it was free with the race and its beer. In past years, there has been a sort of designated warm up area which I did not see this year. It was a nice touch when they had it, not just when it featured pull up bars and plyo boxes, but even when it was an area one could do lunges and bear crawls without fear of being stepped on by general festival traffic. Bag check was efficient and again, this comes with Spartan having had plenty of time to perfect their systems by now.

• Pre-race MC:

Not a lot to say here. The emcee had a lot of energy and came off as sincere, but apart from some minimal ad-libbing with a joke or two, it was the standard script from just about every Spartan Race I can recall. I’m sure if you are new to Spartan it can pump you up. But when you have done more than a half a dozen of their races, let alone upwards of thirty, you are just thinking “Send us off already!”

• The Course:

Having run Tuxedo each of the previous six years, including multiple laps many of those years and in addition, having volunteered with the build team, and on race day as an obstacle volunteer, captain or a course marshal I know the lay of the land quite well. This year they flipped the course more or less backwards, but it still brought me to areas where I could recall what I was doing and how I was feeling when I was in the same spot in races of years past. That being said, they definitely delivered with challenging trail running terrain and while there were no new obstacles or ones that stood out from the Spartan Race norm, the placement of those obstacles created some unique and challenging scenarios.

For example, the course came down the hill to the Herculean Hoist, which taxes grip strength to successfully complete. Then racers were greeted with Olympus which puts a greater premium on grip strength. Then racers had to conquer Twister, which is probably the most grip intensive obstacle Spartan has in their rotation right now. This was like some of the final gauntlets you see in other races, but this was just beyond the halfway point of the course!

The course included another mini gauntlet, closer to the finish line, which included the spear throw (which I have only been successful in two out of over 30 races, and this day was no exception) Then came the rope climb which is a goat for many but is one of my tried and true obstacles. After the rope climb, you could see the slip wall, but as racers approached through a zigzag, the course revealed a barbed wire crawl, which while not as difficult as some of the previous barbed wire crawls we have experienced at Tuxedo and other Spartan Races, it was just enough to make things a little tougher than I anticipated.

Up next came the slip wall, and it was a little steeper than previous Spartan’s. I found it quite doable, but I must admit it took just a little bit more out of me to make it happen. I learned that some top elite and age group athletes (who ran before me) took multiple tries to get up it. One close friend (who even medaled in her age group) reported that she ended up taking the Burpee penalty after ten attempts and this is a woman I have seen perform legless rope climbs.

The consensus in several Facebook groups I frequent, was this was the most difficult course they have experienced at Tuxedo to date. While I am unsure if it was my most difficult, I will say it was a harder course than last years, and that is even with finishing a few minutes faster. You really had to watch your step on the technical trails. I for one took a face plant at one point. Others had reported twisted ankles, falls and other casualties of trail running at its more challenging levels. The use of the venue terrain and obstacle placement was very well thought out, increasing the challenge without necessarily bringing anything new to the table.

• The Bling:

Finisher medal was the standard issue Spartan Sprint medal for this year. This was my first receipt of the standard Spartan Sprint medal this year, as I previously ran the Winter Sprint with its own medal and the NJ Ultra with the iconic belt buckle for a medal. I really dug last year’s archaic looking medal, in keeping with the ancient Greek theming of Spartan Race but my preferences are a matter of personal taste more than anything. One cool “Easter Egg” on this year’s Trifecta wedge pieces, is the Greek writing on the back διαπράττω or “diapratto” which means “commit!”

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

Having run Tuxedo many previous years and without Spartan doing a lot to add new and different obstacles, I didn’t set my expectations higher than just enjoying the company of my OCR friends, hitting a familiar course and maybe getting a time that would qualify me for something, but they tweaked it just enough to keep it fresh and make me a little sad that I didn’t opt for more than one lap. I honestly might have enjoyed this course more than the other Spartans I have completed this year so far. I am rating the event/course 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Article Written by: Brian Kellogg, OCR Aficionado