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.
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