2015 Race Season Blurb

This is the first Saturday in a long time that I'm not running a race (that's not due to injury). The epic 2015 race season officially came to a close at FIT Challenge last Saturday, and I've spend the last week in denial that its really over. I accomplished so many things this year that I thought impossible. I've run 15 #racelocal events, taking 3rd place in points (based on speed per race), 4 Spartan races, earning my trifecta after taking on the 13.5 mile Killington Beast, then adding on Rugged Maniac got me to 20 OCR races this year. I also completed both the Cape Cod Ragnar AND Ragnar trail, which earned me my farthest road running distance of 9 miles. My obstacle completion rate from Blizzard Blast to now has quadrupled, and my ability to actually RUN these races has improved 10 fold. I'm amazed at what my body has handled, injuries and beyond. Best about all of this, I have found an AMAZING group of people through this crazy habit of mine in the New England Spahtens. I've grown wonderful friendships I hope to keep for a life time. Thank you particularly to Beth and Paul for creating the #racelocal series, as well as to Danielle and Norman for helping me start this crazy train of races back in April with giving me a way to do both BoldrDash and Rock the Gauntlet in one weekend. Also, to every single one of you who has been my battle buddy, a side line supporter, or the bestest giver of hugs (I'm looking at you, Kevin), you are absolutely amazing. Seriously. I'd spend hours naming you all off!! And of course, I have to thank my hubby for dealing with all of my crazy shenanigans, supporting my passion, and allowing me for taking on this adventure! Now, once this shoulder heals fully, I have plenty of stuff to work on to make my 2016 race year, my best year yet!!

Epic Fifth Challenge/FIT Fall

I absolutely LOVE this event. It is truly hard for me to give an unbiased review of this event as I love the people who put it on, and the ABSURDLY close distance to my house, that I was out there with them building/taping the course twice in the week leading up to the event. I wanted to give my free time to make this event amazing. That being said, here we go:

Location: Diamond Hill Park, Cumberland RI. Easy enough to get to from either I295 or I495. And maybe 10 minutes from my house. Convenient!! Plus, there is an AMAZING ice cream shop across the street. I’m so familiar with the area, that I didn’t notice the lack of signage pointing towards the parking entrance. A sign at the 121/114 intersection, and perhaps one on the far field entrance would be an easy fix. Nit-pick, but hey, I’m going for honest.

Venue/Festival: Parking was $10 (but I had the hubby drop me off, and we had no problem pulling in so he could drop me by the team area). NES was allocated a HUGE area right off the festival where we could spread out and put up our pop-ups and drop our gear. Multi-lappers had their own special pop-up/gear drop area, so they could make quick pit-stops between laps. The start/finish lines were right next to each other, and super easy to find. Bathrooms did have running water! However, they really needed a good cleaning (but that’s on the town of Cumberland). There were a few vendors, including wreckbag. The hard part about a growing local race is keeping vendors (especially when the weather doesn’t sound PERFECT). It has been a bit of a problem of vendors backing out last minute, for him, HOWEVER, this has never bothered me. It was a wonderful intimate festival, to be honest.

Course/Obstacles: Balls to the wall this is hands down the hardest 5k I’ve run all year. Probably ever. And I mean this with as much gushing and glowing happiness as I can muster. Again, I know, biased, but I truly believe this course brings the best of obstacle racing (sans mud, and I don’t miss it). The terrain is difficult (the grade on some of those climbs will shock you to know how short the “hill” is compared to other steep climbs you’ve taken on), but if you’re a good trail runner, gives you plenty of places to run. The obstacles range from cute/easy to frustratingly difficult, however doable by any with a want to do themn(even if you need a little help). The Destroyer was an amazing addition to this field, and I cannot wait to attempt it, unassisted, in April after the shoulder heals. Robb and I argued over the rig’s difficulty, but almost everyone I talked to loved the challenge it presented. It was the only obstacle I couldn’t complete (not agreeing to the help offered) due to the shoulder not willing to take the transition from the monkey bars to the straight bar. I did get help with the destroyer and the floating wall (because of the injury). I know that when we come back in April, Robb will have found a badder use of that “hill” and him and Aaron will have thought up new devious obstacles for us to take on. I. Cannot. Wait.

 

Swag/Awards: The green bicep/wreckbag medal was absolutely perfect. I have no idea how Robb will top this one for April. I know there was some miscommunication regarding medals taken and these fell short at the end of the day, which is regrettable, as I loved them, however, everyone went home with a medal, just an old style one. The t-shirt is actually really nice, a good color and quality, however, I’ll continue my gripe that the small people are forgotten and this shirt is still too big on me and looks silly. If women’s style is too much hassle (I totally get it, I do!), can we PLEASE add XS?! The awards for this race were pretty stellar! There were typical place awards, but also multi-lap awards for everyone who completed 3+ laps. They were super neat wood “trophies” with an old FIT medal on them and they looked awesome.

Overall: I recommend this race to everyone. I know it is not easy. I’ve heard non-race friends take on this as their first OCR in the past and hate the hills. But seriously, this race is the heart of OCR. Its what it should be. Run really fast with mandatory obstacle completion. Run as many laps as you can. Run for time, run for fun. Walk the whole thing and try something new! Robb, Aaron, and Scott were all over that course all day Saturday. Checking on everything they could and offering encouragement. These guys run all the other races and do what they can to give you an amazing experience and it shows. Add that the course is incredibly spectator friendly and there’s a kids course, its really an event for the whole family. You can even bring your dog to the park (just don’t ask Robb to pet him/her…). If you like OCR, this race is for you.

Spartan Fenway 2015

Venue: Super cool. Racing through Fenway is something very very few races could ever offer. You get access to the locker room, duggout, field, and all of the seating areas. Also, RUNNING WATER. Funny how you don’t need it as much at this race.

Parking: Boston is notoriously expensive for parking. Heck, Fenway is absurdly expensive for Spartan to put this race on (hence the lowest price of $100+ dollars to run a 2-2.5 mile race), so Spartan opts out of arranging parking for this event. Get to the event however you can/want. I personally found an amazing deal on the Landsdowne Street Parking garage for $11.50, which is actually cheaper than taking the train, and turned out to be incredibly less of a hassle than it’d have been to save a few measly dollars to drive up to the green line (since the red line has a mid-line shuttle due to construction) and park and ride the T in. I had no problems getting in and no problems parking.

Swag: The usual finishers T and medal. The medal was venue specific (super cool), but the same as last years (but I didn’t care as I missed last years race, however some people wouldn’t like having the same medal with a new lanyard). There was also the usual finisher’s line bananas, a smaller version of their typical builders bar, and a recovery drink (not muscle milk this time). I can say that I’m over the top excited that an XS finishers shirt has been added mid year! Its nice not to swim in my finishers shirt and it means I’ll actually wear it!

Registration/Vendors: Registration was outside of the park, across the street from Gate B. I had no problem finding or getting through it, as usual. Spartan really shines here. Once you crossed the street, all the vendors were lined up along the private street. There were plenty of challenges and such around. The only bad thing about this was that your bag was checked going into the stadium after entering the street, so it didn’t feel as though you could easily go back outside without the hassle of having to get checked through security again to re-enter. Logistically, it was the only thing that made sense, but was still off-setting to me.

Course: This was my first stadium Spartan. I expected it to be relatively easy compared to the outdoor events, and generally it was. The course was short, 2-2.5 miles. It made GREAT use of the stadium, allowing runners to get into the locker room, the duggout, run around the warning track, etc. Photo opportunities were everywhere, and not discouraged! I was not a huge fan, of the use of more PT exercises. Ball slams, jump ropes, etc.; I do those at the gym to train, but I like climbing up and over things at races. Those really skinny targets placed on the Spartan wooden men needed to go. Missed the spear throw by inches! The inconsistency of these guys throughout their races is maddening. This was also the only place in the race where there was bottlenecking, and as usual, a few lanes were open due to bent tips or severely curved spears. Their new concept on the Z wall (they cut out the middle), was really neat, however, the traverse was much harder than usual, and the space missing the middle allowed for people to put a foot on the top of the lower wall, which kind of defeated the point of it.

Overall, though, I think they did really well with the space they had. Its really fun, and the most beginner friendly Spartan race you’ll find.

Panic in the Dark 2015

This is my second year running Panic, and I was greatly looking forward to this run. Its a non-competitve fun scare run with zombies. Think running through a haunted trail versus being chased. Within two weeks of the event, we were informed via e-mail and facebook that the venue for the “festival” was changed from the Lowell Memorial to the Holy Ghost Society. It was well communicated and easy to get to, but the change also brought a $10 parking fee, which had been a find your own, probably free, situation in the past. It is a catch 22 to me, on the one hand, parking was a cinch and I was within steps of the festival/after party, but on the other hand, I have to pay. A few locals did park 0.25mi away at the Hannafords and solved that problem (if at the same venue next year, I’ll surely do the same).

As far as getting to the Holy Ghost Society, it was mostly very easy. It is within a mile of coming off of 495, however the street the building is on is dark and signage was not on the corner of rt38, which would have been much appreciated. Parking was not regulated, and unfortunately I noticed in a few places where 3 cars parked in line, blocking in the middle guy. I didn’t envy him. Its a very dark parking lot and the lines were not well marked, so while I’m sure people were doing their best, a volunteer directing parking would have eradicated this problem. Thankfully, the parking lot is right in front of the Holy Ghost Society, mere steps from the parking.

Upon entering the building, the party was more or less easy enough to find. Check in was directly on the left upon entering the hall. Things weren't overly clear here. I saw check-in was separated by last name, however, we needed to sign a waiver, which was not obvious, and I actually went to check-in and was redirected to the waiver table.The waiver table was on the other side of the hall entrance. As you can imagine, this created a bit of a bottle neck situation for those trying to get in out of the hall. All in all, I checked-in and got my bib in about 5 minutes. However, your shirt came from another table, which was on the far side of the hall, and was not overly obvious. I had to ask fellow teammates where they got their t-shirts, and was asked multiple times myself.

As the biggest team for this event, the NE Spahtens had their owned taped off area in the far left corner of the room with plenty of tables and seats for the group, as well as t-shirts with the NES logo on the back, which is pretty phenomenal. The hall was plenty large enough for all of the patrons attending, however, signage was seriously lacking. Also, comparing to last year, the team had their own fruit and snack tray to share in our biggest team area, which was not there this year. It is certainly not a deal breaker, but was noted. Finally, it was not overly obvious where to go when they called your heat time, nor was it always obvious that the heat time was being called. Due to a band, a DJ, and general noise, the “emcee” wasn’t overly loud while on the microphone. Easy to tune out, unfortunately.

When the time came for my heat, I followed fellow teammates to a small side room where the bar was located, wondering if we were in the right place. Eventually, a soldier dressed “emcee” (I use this word as he was the guy who set us off on our way, so while playing a role, he was essentially what other races would call the emcee), pointed us to another room off the bar and told us to pack in and grab headlamps (I had brought mine). It was a small room and got cramped fast, and thankfully he brought us outside to give us the overview. He did a decent job on his own. Last year, there were 2-3 guys doing the pre-run chat, and were more intimidating, making the whole feel of the race more effective. He gave us the talk while walking us on the bus to leave the “safe zone” and run through the zombie apocalypse.

It was a very short bus ride to the start of the race. As soon as we arrived, a guy with a V for Vendetta mask ran on the bus told us to get off and run. Last year there was way more theatrics with this. I didn’t mind, but it felt a hair confusing. We started running on an obviously altered course from last year. We went about a 1/4 mile before arriving to the first obstacle; a wall, and ran even longer before we met the first zombie.

I’m not going to break down the race, as this is a fun run, and the obstacles are meant for all athletic levels. However, I will note that in comparison to last year, the race was significantly shorter (last year being just shy of 3 miles), tapping somewhere around 2.25, and the amount of obstacles and zombies were also significantly reduced. Also, last year, the school was meant to be a maze, but other than figuring out how to get into the school, the path we're supposed to take was incredibly obvious, with almost no opportunity to go the wrong way, which I found an extremely entertaining part of last year. There were a very small handful of zombies in the school, as well, taking much of the fear factor out, where one could argue it was the scariest section of last year’s race.

Had I never run this race before, I could easily say it was a lot of fun, being exactly what it advertised itself to be. However, I did run this race last year, and this year was very obviously a diminished version of the run. I was really looking forward to more fun and zombies with such better weather this year, and it didn’t deliver.

The medals were very similar to last year, however tinged red. I still like them. The after-party did delivery your choice of chili (vegetarian or beef) or tortilla soup. There was a very reasonably priced cash bar, which was enjoyed by most attendees. The band was awesome this year! They sang well and had a lot of stage presence. There were a few sponsors; align bank (which gave you a bunch of goodies with your race t-shirt), shock top beer (which offered free t-shirts, as well as free beer and apps at the after after party at a bar a quarter mile down the road), and a local radio station that DJ’d when the band rested, as well as offered a bunch of goodies like koozies and sunglasses. Finally, there was also a race store area where you could purchase Panic in the Dark goods.

Overall, I’d rate this race as a 6 out of 10. It was incredibly affordable, and a great Halloween themed run, that is fun for anyone who enjoys to be a little scared. However, I’d really like to see the race get back to a true 5k (we know the park can do this), and see a lot more zombies, or even just change it up to be a haunted trail run (incorporating other themes with the zombies). There is so much potential that I hope to see come back next year.

Run the Gauntlet 2015

The second race that Denali New Haven put on this year for charity was Run the Gauntlet at Hammonasett Beach in Madison, Ct. All proceeds from the race goes directly to charity, this race supporting the local YMCA.

Finding Hammonasett Beach was a breeze. Right off of I-95, and clearly signed. There was not a lot of signs for the race once you got into the park, but when you made it to the first rotary, signs were clear and plentiful. Parking was free! It was also within walking distance to the start line. There was no bag check, however, the race director was willing to stash bags for the Spahtens, and with reasonable time management, you could easily go drop off extra gear back at the car.

From the parking lot, you head to a pavilion where you had check-in. This was a bit messy as there was not any signage or a simple move-through process. A bunch of picnic tables made an L to make the registration. As you walk in, the conjunction of the L was in front of you, and that was where you could look up your bib number. Then you had to proceed to your left to check-in table to get your bib. From there you were to go get your timing chip, so you had to go back to your right, past the bib number table to the other side of the L to get your timing chip. You were given the chip only, told how to put it on, and then sent to a table behind you to get the straps for the chips. However, next to the chip table, on the opposite end of the L from the bib table, is the table to pick up your race shirt. I got a little side tracked here and headed to get my strap for my timing chip and almost forgot my shirt. There were no long lines at any table, but it could have been more streamlined.

From the pavilion, you headed to the beach where the festival was, as well as the start/finish line. The festival was hopping. A live (and good) band playing all day. An emcee getting runners excited. Plenty of vendors for the size of the race. It was a very well done festival. Spectators were free and were enjoying all the festival had to offer. The pizza truck started their wood ovens early and it smelled amazing!

This timing company is a bit different than what you’re used to. There is no clear starting line, and you lined up next to the finish line (which had mats), and I wasn’t really sure where exactly the start line was. The emcee counts down and when he sounded the starting horn, that is when they turn the heat’s time on. It is not a very competitive event (although there are prizes for placing), so the exact time of when you cross this start line is not important, but I’m not used to the system and I’m not sure I like it. Even if they’re going to start the clock with the horn, I would still like a clear starting line.

From the start line, we headed straight down the beach for just over 1 mile. Running on the sand is hands down the hardest part of this race. The sand was loose, the wet sand became loose, the sand in the water ate your feet. There was no easy place to run, but with a race like this, the challenge of the sand makes the race worth it to a veteran like me. For all the challenge the sand gave, the obstacles were the exact opposite. This is a family friendly race, and meant to have obstacles that can be completed by kids as young as 8. There was not a single man-made obstacle that I found to be even mildly difficult. It is also very obstacle light. For this reason, I’ll give a quick recap of the obstacles present:

-Charlottes’ Web aka a low net crawl (about 15′ long with thick netting keeping you down)
-The Black Hole aka a wide hole in the sand lined and covered with a black liner and partially filled with water, which is to be crawled through
-Alligator Alley aka a balance beam over a hole filled with water with blow-up alligator floats in the water (I found this obstacle incredibly amusing)
-Hammonesett Hurdles aka 3 plastic (road) water-filled barrier walls
-Into the Drink aka go into the ocean to about hip/waste level for 15-20′
-(Not listed) roped slip wall, but with climbing kick boards
– The First Ascent aka cargo A-frame
– (Not listed) Tire jump, which was simply jump onto a large truck tire and jump off the other side
– Prairie Dog aka crawl through plastic sewer tube
– Tired? aka run through tires (football style), with a need to climb over a stack of tires in the middle
– (Not listed) a lifted 4′ wall with kickboards
– Get Over Yourself aka 2 5′ ladder walls to a 4′ platform, and a jump down.
– Dodging Ramen aka another balance beam with a frame above holding tied-on pool noodles, which you have to move through
– Trek to Base Camp aka grab a ruck and do a 50′ ruck
– (Not listed) A 50ft log hop

Just before 1.5mi we came off the beach to our one and only water stop (between the slip wall and the A-frame) to a packed dirt bike path. Around 2.25mi we crossed a driveway, to a sidewalk, crossed the road, jumped a guard rail, which put us on a short dirt trail that brought us to a very shelly beach where the ruck was. Just after the completion of the ruck, you go back to dirt trail, which was much like the typical OCR trail, rocky and a little hilly. We hit up another foot path, where we climbed some stairs, headed back down to the beach to the log hop, and then the finish line was back on the sandy beach within a 100′ of the last log.

This race does not offer a finishers medal in lieu of donating that money to charity. We do, however, get 3 well sized slices of some amazing pizza from Old World Pizza, and 2 beers, a red ale, from a local brewery. There is also a wine sampling table for those who don’t care for beer. The pizza is phenomenal and the beer was good. Also at the finish line was plenty of water and a free baguette of olive oil ciabatta bread from a local bakery. A free bottle of a protein water was also available to all finishers by visiting their tent.

Overall, I enjoyed this race. The obstacles are all as beginner as you can get, but the terrain will challenge even the most hardy racer. The t-shirt is a nice light blue tech t-shirt, but it is as far from my style as it can get, being a sleeved men’s style shirt. It fits my small frame incredibly poorly. It’s easily an above average race, and I recommend it for all fitness levels. Plus, the pizza is amazing! And it’s all for charity.

Tuff Scramblers Spring 2015

* Event Details
What it is:  5k Obstacle Course through a section of a state forest.
Where it is:  Rehoboth State Forest
Parking:  Funny story here, so I accidentally plugged the venue into my GPS instead of the parking address. We arrived about 45 minutes before my10am heat (we were running a little bit behind), and I didn’t even realize we were at the venue instead of the parking lot, nor did the attendant correct me. He asked me when my heat time was, and then just asked for my $5 to park. It wasn’t until I asked another attendant if I jump on that bus idling that I was told I was already where I needed to be. Oops!! However, this really contributes to how friendly and patient the volunteers were.
Vendors:  There wasn’t any vendors here. There was a really cool guy creating sculptures out of wood with a chainsaw. You could purchase a raffle ticket to win a sculpture, with the money raised for charity. The food was catered, and there was a great selection of food, as well! It was delicious. A free ‘Gansett beer (you had a few options for flavor, which was nice), as well. Our choices were pulled pork, pulled bbq chicken, pizza, salad, potatoes, and a few other things. They were generous on their portion size as well. Food tickets were sold for spectators (I’m not sure how this process went, as my hubby, a spectator, wasn’t hungry). The food was very well done!
Facilities:  There was a huge tent with tables and chairs to eat and drink right in the middle of the obstacles in the last half mile of the race, which made it a great location to sit and eat. There were just enough porta-potties for the amount of people (didn’t find any back-ups when I went), and were clean. The offered the larger teams area for their pop up tents, which was great! I don’t recall if there was a bag check or not, due to the tent area being just fine for my sack. They also offered shower stalls to clean off in (but I found the pond rinsing at the end, I was mud-free enough to just change into dry clothes at my car before heading off), which is nice.
Schwag: Beyond the good food and getting a beer, we also received a nice BRIGHT green technical t-shirt (and can I just give a HUGE shout out for offering XS?! You have no idea what that means to a small girl in an industry dominated by men’s sized t-shirts), which had really fun graphics. The medal was handed to you among finishing, which was a nice round medallion, and a funny animation. I appreciated the “fun-ness” the race projected through and through.

* Race Details
Check in:  Was a breeze! Lanes were set up depending on the first few letters of your last name. I was behind one other person, and was checked-in in under 5 minutes. With your bib came your shirt and 3 bracelets; one for food, one for drink, one to let others know you’re old enough to drink. The volunteer suggested to keep the bracelets aside for the race, so they don’t get dirty, which I did! My registration accidentally stated XL for shirt size, but the volunteer asked me if that was correct, and it was no problem to swap to the XS. The hubby, as a spectator, went off in a different direction to get into the race, a small table to the left manned by a nice lady, where he had to either pay $5 or donate 2 non-perishable food items (he chose the latter), and he got his bracelet, then we were in!
The course:  I don’t remember all the obstacles, or their order, so this is going to be a general overview with nods to obstacles that stand out to me. Overall, this course was not that difficult. I’m not saying it didn’t hold its challenges, but you got a vibe early on that this was more about FUN than being the hardest 5K challenge. That being said, there was an announcer over the speakers (usually playing music) giving heat times 15-10-5 minutes warnings. We got to the start line with a few minutes to spare. There was no MC pumping us up or anyone giving an overview of what to expect, but there was an older gentleman with a race gun, who others seemed to remember from previous runs. With a bang, we were off! This course consisted of a LOT of technical trails. I joked a few times throughout the race that I didn’t envy the guy who had to spray paint all the tripping hazards, and times wondered why the ground wasn’t just completely covered orange. It was a lot of detail, and truthfully appreciated. The course started off with mud, where there was a bit of slow down if you weren’t in the front, where we got to trail running. There were a lot of natural obstacles too (fallen trees, small brooks, etc). A few under or throughs from a barbed wire fence we passed a few times (where they protected the wires with tubing). Eventually we came to the first sandy hill climb, which led to another one, and I think another one. These types of hill were frequent throughout the race, pretty steep, often loose dirt. Eventually you were led into a muddy crawl, then into more liquidy mud pits (where I was looking behind me and completely missed the deeper second pit, which the small crowd got enjoyment from). Back through woods, more piles to climb, and eventually the dirt piles became rock piles, which are a bit more difficult, then the rock piles became boulder piles. The boulder piles REALLY slowed people down, with height and ankle breaking a serious scare. This was my biggest slow down point, as the path options are very narrow, and it was a slow trek over the top. Somewhere in these climbs you went up another sandy hill, into a mud bath, then had to climb a ~10ft metal wall, with varying lengths of rope. This wall and I were not friends.Thankfully, I found a foot hold and managed to get over without help after a few shots. Finish all of the boulders, and back to trails. There were a number of obstacles and trails in the next section, and because I can’t remember the order, to touch a few were pvc walls, mud pits, a version of log jumps, but on cement columns and about 6ft off the ground, a large cement cylinder with holes in it that had to be climbed over, another larger pvc wall with strap assistance. As you near the end, the obstacles became more frequent. More pvc walls into water mud, eventually onto a giant cargo net climb up to a platform, then down, but it tapered out, rather than stayed vertical (I found this more challenging to look behind me while going down, so I didn’t snag a foot or anything). There was a GIANT pvc A-wall to climb over, and there were sprinklers on top. Looked more challenging than it was. A set of monkey bars (also with sprinklers), where you could choose between a thin, frequent bar option or swinging bars (each end of the bar on chains). I opted for the straight bars, but found it slightly difficult because I couldn’t swing like I normally do due to their narrowness. I enjoyed the change in pace! Eventually you end up in waist-deep mud which leads to the pond (again, about waist deep), where I chose to free-style it to the other side. Walk out, and boom! You’re done! Got my medal, gave my bib number for time, and off to chat and food.

Rating:  It was a REALLY fun race. I didn’t push myself for time, and it took about 50 mintues to finish, but not attempting to get in the front of the heat, definitely added time in slow trekking with other people through tougher spots. I highly recommend this race for a newbie or for someone looking for a change of pace. I will be back to the October event!