Down and Dirty

by Matt B. Davis

  The year 2012 moved along pretty quickly. Members of our community won the Spartan Winter Death Race, which is an ultra-endurance event in Vermont, in the dead of winter. After multiple days and nights in the snow, with our entire Facebook community hanging onto every single update, Josh Grant and Nele Schulze crossed the closest thing the Death Race has to a finish line in first place for men and women. We took biggest team awards at MuckFest MS, Foam Fest, Ruckus, Superhero Scramble (the biggest team they had ever had, with more than one hundred participants wearing Batman character costumes!), a Superhero Scramble in another state, Civilian Military Combine, and a few local races. After each race, new folks would come knocking on our Facebook “doors” on Monday, looking for information on how they could join this crazy group of people in their awesome shirts and asking how they could get more involved.

  We trained together at Harvard Stadium, the Stone Tower, and up in the Granite State. We did CrossFit workouts together at Reebok CrossFit One and hiked mountains together. We spent weekends racing together.

  No one is getting over this wall without a team.

  Racers will often wear costumes or team uniforms—but be prepared, they might get ruined.

  Importantly, we also let our hair down and socialized together. We let our spouses meet the newfound friends who had become such big parts of our lives. We also let our kids play (our little Spahtkins), and we engaged each other in a social setting that didn’t involve Spandex and compression gear.

  “I was that quiet and shy little fat girl kids picked last in school. I was never really good at sports or very outgoing. I found myself and then lost myself again. Life has been hard for me, and it still is at times. One day, my cousin decided to get a bunch of people into a race (Warrior Dash). I was bit by a mudbug. And then somehow along the way, I met some Spahtens who made me believe in myself again. Who made me see it was okay not to be the fastest or the strongest. Because as long as I was out there, trying, I was successful. I was something, somebody. And somewhere in all that mud, in all the bruises, cuts, pain, smiles, and laughter, I not only found myself again, I found a family—people who encourage me, support me, and I know are there for me! And I hope they know that I would do anything for them!”

  —Denise, Spahtens team member

  The Summer Death Race came around—right in our backyard. We had more people attending from the community than pretty much any other community. We had more people volunteering, too. After three days of racing, in brutal conditions, five people from our community came home with the trophy: finishers’ skulls. We threw them a party, and the entire community was caught up, once again, in the circus that was the Death Race.

  Closing in on our one-year anniversary event, the MA Spartan Race, we broke the 1,000 member milestone in our group. We already knew we were going to be biggest team at the race. In the end, we had more than 270 registrations for the Saturday race, and fifty-four for the Sunday race, which unofficially made us the biggest team the MA Spartan has ever seen.

  The logistics behind that were crazy. To save some sanity, I created a series of blog posts to answer all the common questions new folks would be asking. Many of those people were being ripped off of the couch for their first event, in true Spartan style. The blog posts answered questions about what to wear, what to pack, and what to expect, including silly little tips that made all the difference on race day, such as not to shave the day before and not to wear cotton undies. The blogs were a lifesaver, both for me as an admin, and for the Spartan crew that was helping me get everyone’s questions answered in a timely manner.

  The Crazy Muddy Muckers are another great OCR group. See Appendix A on page 214 to find a group like this near you.

  Today, our Facebook group has more than 1,100 members, and our core group is growing. More and more new members are finding that being a part of the core group is fun. It’s friendly, and it pushes you to be better and stay active.

  Race directors are seeing that we have a community with every level of athlete in it—from weekend warriors to obstacle course race experts. We’re talking with our members in wider capacities than ever before. In addition to bringing large numbers of people to events, we also consult, advise, and recommend. We have a fully stocked store, including stickers, shirts, decals, iPhone cases, and more. Our members are excited at the chance to represent the team and the community.

  This is Mud Run Fun from Florida. They usually live up to their name.

  “I ran my first official 5k in January, and, because of you guys, completed my first half [marathon] four months later. Even when I’m convinced I can’t do something, there are so many more of you who are convinced I can. The encouragement and faith in each other are endless, and when I need a swift kick to get my ass in gear, there’s someone more than happy to provide that as well. Never done a Spartan race? Oh, just drink some more Kool-Aid and complete your trifecta. You guys are amazing and never fail to inspire me.”

  —Heather, Spahtens team member

  Obstacle course racing as a sport is huge, but it would be boring to me if not for the community it’s forged. The friends I’ve made in the New England Spahtens are a huge, important factor in my life, and I see my role as an administrator to make the Spahtens a huge, rewarding, and important part of their lives. Everything I’ve done to date has been with this goal in mind: making the team a better part of people’s lives.

  If you love this sport, I highly recommend joining your own regional community group. It will only bring you good things.

  A word from the author:

  I trust what Paul Jones has written is enough to inspire you to not go it alone. Finding others in your community who share your mud-and-obstacle passion will bring you massive amounts of rewards and friendships that you could never achieve by yourself.

  This begs the question: How do I find a group? In Appendix A, you’ll find contact information for several large OCR groups. If none of those are close to you, you can do Facebook and Internet searches to see if one exists near you. If not, you may just have to be the one who makes it happen. Here are my best tips to do that.

  CREATE A FACEBOOK GROUP. My suggestion is to create a Facebook group that is easy to find by name. Example: If you call the group “Tennessee Obstacle Racers,” then people searching for an obstacle group in Tennessee will be more likely to find you than if you call yourselves “Mud Lovers of the South.”

  LIST A BASIC DESCRIPTION AND POST A FEW PHOTOS. This will be enough to show someone who comes across the page that you are legitimate. People will start to find you. You should make it a “closed” group, which means members have to be approved before they can join. Otherwise, you will get fake accounts and lots of spam. Don’t make your group a “secret” Facebook group, though, because that means your group won’t come up in a search.

  INVITE PEOPLE TO JOIN. Whenever you are at a race, you will invariably make friends on the course or while enjoying a post-race beverage. Now, all you have to do is ask them, “Do you do these all the time?” Then add, “We have a Facebook group that I think you should join.” Most people’s reaction will be, “Great, I was looking for more people to do this with,” or “We already have a small group that does these all the time. We’d love to hook up with more people.”

  Leaving the start line, you may be more confident if you have friends racing with you.

  ENLIST HELP. Once you’ve made a few friends, give them access to the page as administrators so that you’re not doing all the workload yourself. They will start to add people, and those people will start to add people, and before you know it, you will have one hundred members.

  SHARE INFORMATION. One of the best things about a group like this is that you can create a race document. At the top of the group page, there is a link called “Files.” Inside of that, there is a button that says “Create doc.” You can then create a document that lists all the races coming up in your area. Everyone in the group has access and can add their names to races they plan
on attending, or they can add new races as they find them.

  When there’s a race coming up, people can quickly view the race document and find people to carpool with to the race or just meet up with. It is also a great place to leave discount codes for other members.

  There may already be a thriving group near you, but if not, now you have the tools to start one!

  DOWN AND DIRTY TAKEAWAYS

  • Research. Search Facebook for groups that already exist. There may be hundreds or thousands of people just like you waiting for you to join the fun.

  • Choose and use a name and logo. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. When people see your group name and logo on shirts, flags, and tents, they will come out of the woodwork.

  • Delegate. You can’t do it yourself. Many in the community will offer to help. Let them help with blog contributions, ideas, organizing training meet-ups, and everything else that the group wants to do.

  Paul Jones found obstacle racing in its infancy, running his first race in 2010 and immediately getting hooked and helping to build the New England Spahtens from a small group of fans into the huge OCR community it is today. He now gets to work with both race directors and runners to help improve the OCR scene in New England for everyone. Jones and his merry brand of pranksters are constantly updating www.newenglandspahtens.com with blogs, race reviews, and other fun stuff.

  The Corn Fed Spartans exemplified what it means to be a team as they carried this log through an entire course to honor a fallen comrade.

  5 CHOOSING YOUR FIRST RACE AND REGISTERING

  Commitment is doing the thing you said you were going to do, long after that feeling you had when you said you would do it has left you.

  Obstacles will test your mental and physical toughness.

  In the excitement of talking to friends and reading this book, you probably have committed in your mind to do your first race. It would be far too easy to let that feeling leave you and never actually sign up. The easiest way to keep that commitment is by “putting your money where your mouth is.” Once that credit card has been charged, and you get that first confirmation email, you’ll be fully committed to going. Sure, you could still back out on race day, but registering makes it so much easier to say to yourself, “I already paid for this thing. I may as well train and do it.”

  Choosing Your First Race

  After reading the previous chapters and/or hearing stories about races being a disappointment or cancelling, you may have some additional doubts that don’t have anything to do with your own abilities. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to choose your first race.

  Let’s start with the Big 3. They’re the most likely to be coming to your area soon, and they give you the best chance to experience a high-quality event from top to bottom.

  THE WARRIOR DASH

  The Warrior Dash (WD) really lives up to its name. It is merely a dash of 3 miles (4.8 km) or less, with little to no terrain changes, and relatively simple obstacles. Anyone of any fitness level, including someone who hasn’t gotten off the couch in a long time, could complete this event. It isn’t designed to test you physically; it’s designed to be a great time outside with your friends.

  The only difference between someone very fit doing the WD and someone not so fit is time. A very fit person can do a WD in somewhere between 28 and 35 minutes. A person who runs and works out a couple times a week could do a WD in about 45 minutes. If you exercise less than that, it will just take you a little longer. You will still enjoy yourself throughout the course, and you and your friends will still enjoy a beverage, giant turkey leg, and great music afterward. The Warrior Dash is truly an entry-level event. Some people have even called it the “gateway drug” of OCR because it’s most often the first experience that sucks them in and makes them want more. You can go to www.warriordash.com for more details and their complete schedule.

  TOUGH MUDDER

  A Tough Mudder (TM) is a very different event from the Warrior Dash, and it should be taken more seriously. For starters, Tough Mudders are 10 to 12 miles (16.1 to 19.3 km) long. For some racers, the hardest part of the race is just covering that distance. You can walk a majority of this if you like, but I would recommend that you’re able to run at least 5 miles (8.1 km) with little trouble to get the maximum benefit. The obstacles in a TM will also be more challenging than those in a Warrior Dash.

  Some of the obstacles in a TM are more mentally challenging. Jumping off a 12-foot (3.7 m) platform into a lake isn’t hard physically, per se. However, if you’re afraid of heights, it can be terrifying. Similarly is crawling through black drainage pipes. You’re simply crawling on your hands and knees, which almost anyone can do. But to some people, not seeing light on the other side is a huge barrier for them to get through.

  I’ll take a moment here to mention electric shock obstacles. These are the ones that seem to frighten people the most because of the fear of the unknown. Here’s what I can tell you, having done at least six obstacle races that have had electric shocks. Sometimes you feel nothing, sometimes it’s a little sting, and other times it’s a big sting, which can in fact knock you unconscious for a moment. I have had all of those experiences, and I didn’t die. At the end of the day, electric obstacles are more of a mental challenge than a physical one for most people. That said, speak with a medical professional first, especially if you have any heart issues.

  Sometimes the walls will have ropes to help; other times they won’t.

  One of the biggest themes in a TM is teamwork. In the pledge at the start of the race, you and your fellow Mudders will recite, “I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.” This is the biggest reason why I believe even a first-timer can complete a TM. Friends, and quite often, complete strangers, will assist you in completing the obstacles. They’ll put a knee or back out for you to stand on, hold down a cargo net for you to climb over, and hold barbed wire up for you to crawl under.

  “I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.”

  The more challenging obstacles at TM, which you are on your own for, are things such as hanging rings, called “Hangin’ Tough,” or the inverted monkey bars, which they call “Funky Monkey.” As a newbie, you may not be able to complete these obstacles. (I personally have gotten farther each time I have tried, but I have yet to complete either one myself.) There’s no penalty for not completing them. For the two I just mentioned, you simply fall into the water and continue on with your race. Now, if it’s really cold out, it’s an additional burden to be wet and cold. But at least you won’t have to do burpees or some other punishment for not completing the obstacle.

  It always helps to smile.

  A fit athlete will likely complete a TM in 2 to 3 hours. The average person will complete one in 3 to 5 hours. Other people will take considerably longer. If you’re not concerned about setting speed records at your first TM, I would say put on a backpack, fill it with food and nutrition gels, and have a go at it. TMs have plenty of water stations to keep you hydrated, but they may not have bananas or other food at every stop.

  I believe that you can train for three to four months and have Tough Mudder be your virgin mission into OCR land, but if you have a Warrior Dash or something easier coming into town sooner than the TM, go ahead and get your feet wet that way. Go to www.toughmudder.com for more information and schedules.

  SPARTAN RACE

  Spartan Race has three core types of distances in their race series: the Sprint, the Super, and the Beast. If you want a fun day in the mud, do not sign up for a Super or Beast as your first mud run/obstacle course race.

  Having said that, their entry-level race, a Spartan Sprint, is an awesome way to introduce yourself to the world of obstacle course racing. You’ll be challenged, you’ll have fun, and you can push yourself in a big way. This may not make sense at first, but a 5- to 7-mile (8.1 to 11.3 km) Spartan Sprint can be as physically challenging as a 10-mile (16.1 km) Tough Mudder. You’ll also experience as much camaraderie a
s you will in a TM. At a Spartan Race, the runners next to you are just as likely to help you over a wall, through an obstacle, or share their last Power Bar with you even though they are wearing timing chips on their sneakers.

  Typically, Spartan Sprints’ obstacles require you to carry heavy things, which work your upper body harder than Warrior Dashes or even Tough Mudders. There are typically sandbag carries, bucket carries, or large cement stone carries. I have seen people of all fitness levels complete these obstacles, though. You may have to stop and rest several times during one of these “carries,” but you can still get it done.

  Raise your hand if you are ready to race.

  Elite athletes typically finish a Spartan Sprint in 38 to 45 minutes. The average person will take somewhere between 1:15 and 2 hours. Because Spartan Race distances and terrain vary greatly, your times may or may not fall within those ranges, whether it is your first race or your tenth.

  The Spartan Race’s second type of race, the Super Races, are advertised as 8-plus miles (12.9-plus km), and the Beasts are advertised as 12-plus miles (19.3-plus km). I qualified that by “advertised as” because Spartan has been known to play with these mileages and make the races longer.