Props to BattleFrog for putting on an amazing event! The course was awesome, challenging both
physically and technically while still working plenty of good old trail running
into the mix. The mines added an aspect
all of their own and was a completely new experience for someone who has been
racing since they were a little kid! The course was perfectly marked, no way to
go wrong out there, and the volunteers were the best I have encountered even
rivaling my favorite aid station with just a few miles to go at The Endurance
Challenge in Bear Mountain! Well done on
all fronts! Now for the Story!
Often times the best adventures are the ones
that fall into your lap last minute. In
this case it started on Thursday afternoon when I found out about the
BattleFrog event in Pittsburgh just two days away. I am new to the sport of obstacle racing but
was confidant I could bring home some money, plus the event looked completely
epic. I committed and posted a promo for
the race with a 50% off code on my facebook and within minutes my solo
adventure had turned into a road trip with my brother Andrew and brother in-law
Doug who immediately signed up for the race as well. For them it would be their first OCR event
and only the third for me so we set off for Pittsburgh full of enthusiasm and
inexperience.
We
arrived at the venue race morning ready to go after a short night in a cheap
motel. It was chilly but quickly warming
up. We grabbed our packets and stood around a fire while we prepared to
go. Drew and I were in the Elite heat of
the 15k so the start came quickly. We
got to the front of the line on the left side and I looked up to right to see a
few familiar faces from the two other OCR events I had done as well as Ryan
Atkins, the obvious favorite fresh off his runner-up finish at the Spartan
World Championships. We had met earlier
in the year at a trail event and I was excited to see how I would stack up with
some obstacles thrown in. From what I
could tell it was a fast race with BIG obstacles. Walls, nets, pyramids, monkey bars, lots of
climbing and very little carrying and while I had been working on the carrying
since my Spartan race in VA this type of course definitely favored my strengths
more. I planned on taking the race out
FAST and gaining some great experience from watching Ryan take on the obstacles
and hopefully run fast enough that I could hang with him through the tougher
obstacles. That plan went out the window
the second the race started.
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| Following Ryan through the creek bed early on. |
The starter who stood a short
distance in front of the racers stepped directly into my path as soon as he set
us on our course and I collided with him.
Just like that I was behind 40 or so other runners. I sprinted through their midst and fought my
way through the first mud pit moving halfway through the crowd. I could now see Ryan clear of the field and
flying over and under the first set of walls.
I cruised over the walls and kept on the gas. As I came up to the next mud pit I could see
10 or so people struggling through it. I
jumped as far as I could and prayed I wouldn’t land on a rock. I cleared most of the pit and landed running,
Coach Jimmer my old steeple coach would have been proud! I came out of the water in around 10th. Then we hit the 12 foot ladder wall. There were several people on it already and I
scaled it as fast as I could. I reached
the top to see the competition climbing down the opposite side and I
jumped. I hit the ground hard but now
there were only 2 other people besides Ryan ahead of me. I passed one just before we entered the woods
and hit a rocky creek bed. The next ½ to
¾ of a mile were in the creek bed and it was gnarly! I got stuck behind one runner for a little
bit and Ryan disappeared out of sight.
As soon as I got a clear lane I flew into second and the sounds of pursuit
soon faded. Over the next couple of
miles I slowly gained on Ryan who looked to be moving comfortably as we
shredded some ATV trails scaled walls. I
gained a little bit on the big cargo and then lost what I gained on a 20 foot
tall pyramid shaped obstacle called The Delta Ladder. My goal
was to catch up before the Jerry can carry.
It didn’t look to be too heavy but I knew if it was the Ryan would
destroy me on it. Just as I had caught
up enough to be in almost constant visual contact we descended a hill and ran
straight into a mine cut into the side of the hill. A volunteer handed me a headlamp and I
entered into blackness.
 |
| The Delta Ladder |
Almost right away we scaled a short wall
before turning deeper into the mine. The
trail through here was well marked with cones and glo sticks but visibility was
still very low. I slowed a bit keeping Ryan’s
light in sight through the switchbacks for the next half mile or so. This part of the course was definitely the
most unique section of race I have ever run!
Then all of a sudden the tunnel was blocked completely by water. A volunteer gave me the option of swimming or
grabbing a tube. I plunged in and the
air was immediately knocked from my lungs by the frigid water. I struggled
through the chest deep water running and paddling with my arms, my warm breathe
contrasting with the cold water and throwing up a cloud of white in front of my
face. Just as I thought I was reaching
the end the tunnel turned 180 degrees and I saw I was only halfway done. At this point my shins had had enough of the
underwater obstacles they had been colliding with and I began to swim. The swimming actually felt much better and I
made it to the exit in no time. I
cambered out of the water and slogged my numb body through an entrance into a
dark room with glowing targets. A
volunteer told me to hit the ground and I saw a row of paintball guns at my
feet. I dropped to a prone position and
grabbed the gun. It was too dark to see
the sights but the paintballs glowed so I used my first shot to guide my second
and hit the target. I then moved to my
left and did the same thing from a kneeling position, then to my left again and
the final shots from a standing position.
This gun Jammed and wasn’t shooting paintballs. The volunteer cleared me anyway and I
sprinted off, knowing that I had lost at least 20 seconds on the last gun. I exited the mine into what now felt like
warm air and took off sprinting. I had
been careful to keep a moderate pace early on and not push myself but now I
knew that if I was going to see Ryan again, and the chances were slim I had to
MOVE.
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| The swimming section of the mine. It was pitch black when we raced through it. |
There was a quick
climb and descent that I hammered and then we climbed up some trusses and into
a barn. In the barn there was a rope
climb and once I rung the bell I dropped and jumped out the opposite side of
the barn. As I exited I caught a glimpse
of Ryan dropping off of the monkey bars about 30-45 seconds ahead of me. Maybe I did still have a shot. I took off and reached the monkey bars to see
that the bars had been mostly replaced by rock climbing holds. I grabbed the first hold and swung out. After the first hold which was easy to grab
the holds got smaller. I made it to the
first set of bars to see one measly rock hold between me and the next set. I was not too confidant in my ability to hang
onto it so I decided to swing and jump for the platform. I didn’t fully commit though with the last
second fear of smashing into the platform and I missed and landed in the
water. I tried again and almost made it
but again failed, then a third time. As
I came out of the water for the fourth time third place showed up at the “bars”. He failed too. Soon there were 20 men from the elite trying
and falling into the water. A kid with a fit rock climber’s body finally passed
and moved into second. An official announced that after 10 tries you
were done and had to surrender your arm band.
I had already tried at least ten times but he gave me one more. It didn’t matter. After being in and out of
the water so many times I was shaking with cold and had lost any of the already
insufficient grip strength I had. Battle
Frog has a “must pass” policy to obstacles for elites. If you can’t complete and obstacle you
surrender you arm band. You can still
finish the race and be in the results but you are no longer racing for a cash
purse. I heard a bit of grumbling about
this policy at the time and later on in the day. Obviously an alternate
punishment would have benefitted me on this day but I support either
approach. Either way the failure is on
me. After almost succeeding the first
couple of times I approached the obstacle the same way each time instead of
trying to find a different approach to get through. I spent the rest of the day thinking about
this obstacle and have come up with several different techniques that I am sure
would have gotten me through, mainly facing sideways and using my feet on the parallel
rock grips. I also enjoy the challenge
of the harder obstacles as they expose weaknesses in my training and force me
to add different exercises to my routine making me a fitter and more well
rounded athlete, and I would like to see more obstacles like this replacing
monkey bars and traverse walls. I will
be ready for them next time!
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| The monkey bars. Don't know how Ryan got through so fast. |
I surrendered my band just as a third guy made it through. I started off towards the inverted wall disappointed
but also ready to take that anger out on the rest of the course. But then I stopped. I was no longer in the money and wasn’t sure
I wanted to interfere with the racers who were competing for a check. I also looked back to see my brother on the
bars. He doesn’t run but had still
decided to tackle the challenge, and on top of that was killing it! I realized that this was probably the only
chance I would have to race and finish with him so I hung out until he was done
with the bars and then we took off together.
Over the next several miles we tackled hills and obstacles
together. Neither one of us running hard
just moving steadily and enjoying the adventure. We moved steadily though and soon popped out
of the woods and into the finishing straight.
This finishing straight was epic!
First there was the tsunami! A 20
foot half pipe with roped to aide in the climb and a slide down the backside,
then out of the water and straight into 12 foot wall with a rope aid and
another slide straight into the Normandy Jacks and the finish. Drew and I cruised through side by side
passing a few people who couldn’t get up the walls on the first try. We crossed the line together capping off a day
that was far different than what I had come for yet rewarding in other way’s
than I had originally intended it to be.
We hosed off, grabbed some fire time and then headed to the tsunami to
see Doug finish up his 5k. By this time
people were piling up on the two walls and we had a good time cheering them
on. Doug got over the tsunami on his
first try and then hit the last wall. He
had more trouble on this one but once he got over we met him at the finish,
grabbed our beers and T-shirts, and watched more people tackle the finishing
straight as we told battle stories of our day out on the course.
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| Sliding down the backside of the tsunami! |
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