Race Reviews

Welcome to Jerry’s world for the second ever AT&T Spartan Stadium Sprint. I hope you like stairs because you’re about to get a heaping Texas size helping of them. This stadium is home to the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. It’s the largest and arguably the nicest stadium in the NFL. I know there are rumblings and rumors of nicer ones being built, but for now, this is the biggest. I ran this course last year at its inaugural debut, so I had a good idea of what to expect. It’s not like a trail where they can re-arrange the route very much. If you have never done a stadium race, it is very different than a regular Spartan race. On top of the usual iconic obstacles you see that are Spartan staples of the brand, there are many exercises included to make things interesting like ball slams, hand release push-ups, and jump rope. By far the hardest part of any stadium race is the endless, energy sapping, leg draining stairs. Even if you’re an extremely fast track runner, these stairs will slow you down considerably.

If you have done one, you have done them all. I have heard that plenty of times regarding Spartan Race. The difference between Sprint races isn't really its obstacles, it is the different courses. Palmerton has its own unique characteristics, as does Ohio, and the same goes for Tuxedo. Each year I come back to this mountain expecting something new and different. Each year builds on all the positives from the previous year, with one exception. More on that later.

Green Beret, I don’t know about you but when I hear that, I think All-American-Badass; brave individuals who sign a blank check to keep us free. All they want is to push their bodies to the limit, even the reigning Spartan World Champion is a Green Beret. So needless to …

It seems like there are too many of us dedicated to just one race series. Think about it, imagine eating vanilla ice cream your entire life but always hearing about how awesome chocolate was, and never trying it. That is what OCR seems like. Many of us know there are other races out there, what we don't know is that we just might like them. Some of us that run with the big boys (Spartan, Tough Mudder, etc) have a tendency to forget that there are plenty of other fish in this pond. Unfortunately, many of the smaller organizers don't have the capital or resources to put together 60+ events all over the country or spend a million dollars a month in advertising; if you happen to hear that they are coming to your town, you may want to seriously consider trying them out. Get your spoon out of the vanilla, and think about the chocolate...

"Are you ready?" is the question they ask you at Conquer the Gauntlet. CTG announced their pro team earlier this year and I was chomping at the bit to try one of their courses; I was like a bull looking for a red flag. CTG's Pro Team includes the likes of Matt Willis (whom you’ll be seeing soon on a certain Greek named show you may heard of), everyone’s favorite Death Racing Badger, Christina “HB” Armstrong, Nikki Call and Nathan “Napalm” Palmer to just name a few. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that action?

To be completely honest with you, I had been pretty siloed in OCR over the last few years. It wasn't until OCRAddict popped up that I was interested in anything other than Spartan Races; it was like wearing blinders the whole time. There had been the occasional hankering to try a Tough Mudder, just for comparison, but outside of that, there wasn't much interest. Recently, when the opportunity to run a Savage Race came along, I couldn't resist. I had to see what else was out there.

Most people who dabble into the crazy world of obstacle course racing in the U.S. have heard of at least the Big Three: Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, and Warrior Dash. While the first two are widely known for being gritty, competitive, challenging, difficult and not for the faint of heart, the last of these is known for being quite different. Warrior Dash is the mischievous little brother of OCR—a fun, short course that people do in order to get off a couch or shake off the monotony of daily life, get muddy, grab a celebratory beer and bottle opener medal and slap on a cool fuzzy Viking helmet, take questionable pics that end up on social media, and head back home with some bragging rights.

A few weeks ago, a bunch of us decided to run one of the hardest races that many of us have ever attempted, The Tri-State New Jersey Ultra Beast. That race truly did a number on some of us, especially me, my knees, and my feet. I decided to take the week after light and signed up for the Ohio Beast and Sprint races. I had done the Beast in 2014 (my third Spartan Race ever) and remember the course being... well... flat. I figured this would be a nice break from the grueling course we faced in NJ and would serve as a nice recovery run.