Tag Archives: featured

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.

Having completed many Spartan races, things need a little spice once in a while. After completing my first Ultra Beast in the Great Garden State, I noticed that my piece of the pie looked a bit lonely. A black wedge just doesn't look right amongst the blues, reds, and greens of the Spartan World. I decided to start the journey to completing the proper Endurance Trifecta. With that in mind, I signed up for the Boston Hurricane Heat HH-088. Having never done a Hurricane Heat, I went into the event with little knowledge. Here is what I learned.

If you have ever registered for a race early in the season, or late in the season for that matter, you will undoubtedly have started your morning off with a bit of a chill in the air. You know you will heat up once you start running, but before is a different story. Outside of wearing layers of clothes and ditching them somewhere on the course, or freezing your butt off, there has really been no clear solution, until now. Enter the Sheddable Shell WeatherShield Jacket and Pants.

Somewhere around Independence Day, I saw these Patriotic, and absolutely Sexy, new shoes starting to raise their head like a gopher in your yard. The Shoe was the Acceleritas OCR in Red, White and Blue glory. Honestly, I knew I had to get my hands on a pair. They would look just fabulous with my THEE Lone Star Spartan Jersey.

Call me crazy, but for some reason, I get excited about shoes and hydration packs. I don't really know what it is about them. They don't come with a manual transmission, girls don't go gaga over them, and they don't come stuffed with wads of cash. When I got my first taste of Nathan, it was while shopping for the perfect pack for my Ultra Beast. Nathan VaporCloud seems to have all the features many of us are looking for on paper, but how does it fare in the real world.

We all know that there are a ton of people that travel for OCR, myself being one of them. The issue I typically have when traveling for a race is race day nutrition. Many of the early heats runs have me starting early in the morning and hungry. There aren't a lot of reliable options for food on the morning of race day if you are traveling, unless you pack your own. The last thing you want to have is stomach issues in the starting coral. CLIF thinks they have a solution for the weekend warrior that will get you battle ready and ensure that your morning will be a predictable one.

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.

Spartan has been holding their races in the Tri-State area since I first learned of their series. Through these years, the Super had been the primary focus with a Beast thrown in the mix later. This year, things would be different. This year, New Jersey would host its first Ultra …

When I signed up for the NJ Ultra Beast, I didn't have any idea what I was in for. I mean, you hear about the mileage and the number of obstacles, but you really won't get it until you try it. Also, I joined the best Facebook group on the planet and talked with everyone I could, but having attempted the race, none of that matters. With that said, I learned some valuable lessons that I feel I should share with you.

Face it; we all love gadgets. I love them more than most. I have been running a lot lately, training, competing, etc. While running with my phone is an option for training; running long distances with my phone isn't. Additionally, running through the muck and mud with a phone strapped to you is just asking for trouble. I set out on a path to find the OCRADDICT's dream companion, a GPS training watch that can handle all the things we throw at it... and more. That means it needs to be durable, waterproof, include GPS (duh), and provide the functionality to track and improve my training.