2015 Gladiator Rock N Run Recap

Saturday, September 26th I ran my second Gladiator Rock'N Run obstacle race. Like last year it was held in Export, Pa. at the Steel City Raceway.

Swag: T-shirt and finishers medal

The course: The course is a 5k course with roughly 16-20 obstacles. Some are designed to test your strength while some are designed to just get you a muddy mess.

Post Race: Beer, music, and food.... what else do you need!!! Oh ya, showers and a changing area.

My Race: I was registered for the competitive wave which started at 8:00 am. I arrived about twenty minutes early and did some stretching. Once in the shoot we were divided into 2 groups, this was done to make sure there would be no waiting at obstacles and your time would not be effected due to someone else. The first wave went and I stood waiting for Nitro (former American Gladiator) to send my wave.

From the start you headed down a hill made a turn and headed up the hill to the first obstacle. Burpees with a cinder block. The competitive wave had to do 30 while open waves did 10. My arms were already sore and the race had just begun. Once finished with the burpees you headed down the hill and back up and was handed a sand bag. You took your bag and continued up the hill and then turned back down the hill before handing it off. You then headed back up the hill to 2 huge inflatable
blobs is what I am going to call them. We were told it is possible to get over without help, but I didn't see anyone do it. Even in the video of them doing in online they are running down hill and jumping onto the 6 foot high blob. We were running up hill. What is nice about these types of races is most participants understand you may need help or may need to help someone. We took turns boosting each other over and then once up on the blob we would help pull others up. After helping a few people I headed across the top of the hill to the next obstacle, rope climb.  I had no worries about this obstacle and like last year I crushed it. After the rope climb you made your way across the field to a cargo net about a foot off the ground and had to climb under it on your back. It was a muddy mess and you really had to use your arms to pull you up the hill. I remember thinking I am not sure how much more my arms are going to be able to handle. There was a nice little break until the next obstacle except you still had to go up and down the hill. Once at the bottom of the hill you went over and under walls, and of course the under was in a muddy mess. Next you headed over to and empty dumpster and had to pull yourself up and in then up and out. You then head too 2 ten foot walls that you had to climb over. There was foot hills so it was pretty easy. Next you made it to the tire carry. You took a tire and had to do lunges up and down the hill. Not real hard but it killed your leg, and of course you had to run up the hill to the next obstacle, The slide. A huge water slide that was the length of hill and had you land in a pool of water. It was refreshing for me and I needed it for what was to come. The next obstacle was 50 squats with the cinder block and then carry the block up and back down the hill. This was the hardest thing I did. It took me so long and I had to take breaks going up the hill.

 Once finished with the blocks you ran back up the hill and had to crawl under a cargo net. Normally wouldn't be hard, but your legs were already beat. You then ran back down the hill and headed to 2 cargo nets.

After the nets you knew you were close to the finish. You just had to run up the hill toward the start. If you did the open waves and were on a team you had to lift a telephone pole and carry it, but since I was in competitive we skipped that and headed to barb wire mud crawl.

 

 If you were clean at this point you were a mess. My shirt kept getting snagged on the barb wire but I managed to make it through without any cuts. After the mud crawl you made your way to a slanted wall with a rope. This obstacle was very hard but could be done alone. However most of us once again were helping each other up and over. I took my turn helping others and then made my way to the final obstacle. Fire jump, A small fire you had to jump over before crossing the finish line.  After I finished I headed to the showers and then changed and watched some other runners make their way to the finish. I finished the course in 1 hour and 4 minutes. Not to shabby since it took me almost 2 hours last year.

If you ever want to try an obstacle race this is a good one to start out on. It's not to long and there isn't to many obstacles that will really beat you down. 

 



My Eyes Must Be Playing Tricks!!!!

     For all of you who are not into the OCR world (Obstacle Course Racing), let me try to explain a few things. First OCR is different than road races because unlike the road races that are in one city every year, the OCR races are more of a series that can go to a number of cities. Take Tough Mudder for instance, you can run this race in Pittsburgh or you can run in a number of cities. Like any other race these series have all come to have a following of loyal runners. You have the Spartans who only run the Spartan series, then you have the BattleFrogs, Tough Mudders, BoneFrogs, along with a few other big races. For most part the athletes who run these may have their favorite series but will still run in other series because they love the growing sport, and the competition differs at each event.
      As the sport has grown a lot of these races have sought out athletes to promote their race, along with even offering sponsorship to the top athletes. One of the best in the world and the number 1 ranked right now is Ryan Atkins, who is sponsored by BattleFrog. To say Ryan is good would be an understatement. The man is a monster, he has already won every BattleFrog event this season along with a few Spartan races. Earlier in the year he won the Worlds Toughest Mudder, and last season finished second at the Obstacle World Championships.  Since Ryan is a sponsored OCR racing is basically his job, almost every weekend you can find him doing a race. He is easy to spot usually because he is out in front and he is wearing his BattleFrog gear.
      One thing that we are seeing more and more is runners showing up to races wearing the gear of their favorite series. For the athletes it is more of  a trash talking thing and a way to brag about who's series is the best, but for the actual series is seems that it means a lot more.  This past weekend Ryan ran and won a Spartan race. After he finished he changed into jean shorts and his BattleFrog T-Shirt. The picture below is after he changed.

 

Like any other race they called the winners to the podium to receive their awards and take a picture of the winners. Now notice if you can see what is different with the picture below.

 

 

If you haven't noticed it let me point it out for you. The Spartan series did a little editing with the photo and now Ryan isn't wearing his BattleFrog shirt. Here is my problem with this....I understand Spartan doesn't want to promote another race in a picture, but you have to remember that as the sport grows more and more runners will be sponsored by other races. If you do not want them to win then do not allow them to run in your race, but I can assure you that your race will lose interest very quickly. People want to race the best in the world, and they will go to a different race to do it. The funny thing about this is Spartan has done this before. For me it shows that they do not have a lot of faith in their series and are worried that runners are going to go else where.  For the athletes though it is not about who wins and what shirt he is wearing. The athletes all are on the same team and want to push each other to be the best even when competing against each other.  Come to one BattleFrog event and before every race you will be blessed to hear some encouraging words from a great man who goes by the name of Coach Dewayne Pain. He not only gets you pumped up but he lets you know that we are all on the same team and if you see a fellow runner that needs help, then help them. Ya, we want to see one of our teammates win the race but if they don't we don't get all upset and tell the race make sure that guy isn't wearing a shirt that supports another race. We will stand there and clap and congratulate him like we should. 

 

here is a link to Coach Pain giving some emotional words before one of the races. He was privileged enough to know a 12 year old girl, who lost her battle with cancer.  Hopefully the link works for you to see what these races are all about, not the politics about what series is better.

 

https://www.facebook.com/imabfab2010/videos/10153383019668530/





BattleFrog Season Is Here

The snow should be melting soon and warm weather should be upon us shortly. With the change of the weather also brings the start of the OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) season. One race that I am very close with is the BattleFrog Series. Last year I ran my first Battle Frog race and was instantly hooked with the race and the brand. BattleFrog is ran by former Navy Seals, who designed the course to be one of the toughest and challenging courses out. As each year passes more and more races are trying to make a name for themselves. BattleFrog’s field team members do a great job of promoting and getting people to sign up for races, but they have decided to add some other things to make sure they stay on top. For the first time ever 16 college schools made up of 64 athletes will compete for college championship. You will be able to watch this over the summer on ESPN. Where was this when I was in college? In my mind I would have destroyed everyone. In reality I graduated high school weighing in at a whopping 150lbs and was 5’4”. For some reason I didn’t hit a second growth spurt until my first year of college, but I digress. Secondly BattleFrog has brought in some of the best athletes in the world to be part of their team. Ryan Atkins who came in second at the Obstacle World Championships and first at the World’s Toughest Mudder is a BattleFrog team member. If you have ever been to a BattleFrog race you would know that the elite runners take the course first, so if you get there early you can watch some of these great competitors compete for the cash prize. If you think you are up for it, you too can pay the entry fee and run in the elite heat. This year BattleFrog announced that they would be giving over 1 million dollars in cash prizes. No other race has yet to put up that amount. The main event will be a championship event held at the end of the season. In order to be eligible you must compete and do well in five different city races.  With this race getting bigger and better more cities have been added just check out the BattleFrog website. Using my Code BFByrne will get you 15 percent any race except the elite heat and the tadpole.  Tadpole is a race designed for young kids. Battle Frog wants to encourage the youth to be active. They even added Cross-Fit champ Shawn Ramirez to the team to talk to children about the importance of being fit.

If you have ever wanted to try an obstacle race this is one you would want to do. Last weekend was the kick-off to the season in Miami. Ryan Atkins once again proved he is a force to be reckon with. Miami already has another date set for November. If you use my code you will get 30 percent that race. Next weekend is Central Florida and my code is good for 20 percent of that race.  

Do yourself a favor and take a look at the BattleFrog webpage and see why they are so great. I hope to see you at a race. I will be doing the Battle Frog Extreme Race in Pittsburgh Aug. 8th.  6 hours to see who can do the most laps.. HOOYAH!!

Giving back for the holidays

I have always said runners are some of the greatest people. We motivate each other, push each other to limits we thought none of us could get to, and when one of us is in need of help the running community comes out in full force to help. 

Recently I have started to cross over into obstacle racing and I have found that these people are no different than our running community. Maybe it’s because they are also runners. Running is still a huge part of the races. Or maybe it’s because like us runners these people are in a sport that sometimes will beat you down. Occasionally you find yourself on a course that is very challenging, and you find yourself in front of an obstacle that seems impossible. More often than not you will get help from other participants who will help you over the obstacle. That is the beauty of obstacle racing, unless you are racing in the elite race you can have assistance. When I ran the Battle Frog race I came up to a cargo net and saw people holding it from each side. I asked what was going on, and was told the net was very loose and if we pulled from all sides we could make it tight and let each other go over one at a time. It was great we all took our turns holding the net and helping each other over, and as more runners came to it they just waited until it was there turn to hold the net.

The Obstacle Course Racing World Championships (OCRWR) has done a small tradition in NYC and has now gone international. The tradition is known as Rucksgiving. Rucksgiving is when obstacle racers and runners from all over will do a run and hand out holiday leftovers or sandwiches to people less fortunate. There is already 19 cities that are currently taking place in this, but if a city is not on board yet, you can nominate your city and start one there. So on Saturday, November 29th I will be doing this with other racers in Pittsburgh. Chris Proctor and Brent Dames are the people in charge of the Pittsburgh run and are currently trying to finalize a time and location for the run. From looking at other cities it looks like it will be 3-5 miles.

A lot of obstacle races have really got on board with this and will be giving free entry to races, swag and other things to participants. Obviously not everyone will get things since there is so many people, it is basically a random thing. Who cares though if you don’t get anything, this is a great thing and it just shows what awesome people the running and obstacle community really is. If you would like to check and see if your city is one of the ones doing it you can click here. Remember you don’t have to be an obstacle racer to do this. You just have to want to help someone less fortunate, and be able to run a few short miles.