Upcoming Events

I like to keep upon on events in the my area, and for those interested, I thought I post some that I've found through the fall of 2013.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, it's only a list of events near the Northern VA area, and it's only those that I've been able to find.

Super Spartan - 24 & 25 Aug, at the Wintergreen Ski Resort in Nelly's Ford, VA.  Unfortunately, the only event close to VA in 2014 is the Sprint event in North Carolina...no Beast anywhere near VA.

Rogue Runner - 14 Sept, 5+ miles, 20+ unique obstacles, at Graves Mountain in Syria, VA.

The Big Hooyah - 14 Sept 2013, Goochland, VA.  6+ miles, 20+ obstacles, this event is brought to you by the SEAL Team PT folks.  The web page shows folks shooting paintball guns...it appears that one obstacle involves marksmanship.

GoRuck Nasty - 6+ miles, 20+ obstacles at the Massanutten Ski Resort in Mcgaheysville, VA, 21 Sept 2013 (details available on Facebook).  This event is brought to you by the GoRuck cadre, and reportedly based on the US Army Special Forces Nasty Nick obstacle course.

Ruckus-DC - DC running of the 5K Ruckus Run, to be held at the Prince William County Fair in Manassas, VA, on 28 Sept 2013.

Tough Mudder - the Mid-Atlantic Fall event is in the Peacemaker Training area, 19 & 20 Oct 2013.  I ran the event in the same location this past spring, and it was tough.  The obstacles were great, and the rolling hills of the venue will keep you warm and wear you down a bit.  There's no Tough Mudder listed on the calendar yet for 2014.

Coming up in 2014:

Fugitive Mud Run - Seems to be fairly new, with two events this fall, and more scheduled for 2014.

Savage Race - My wife and I just ran the Mid-Atlantic event, and the 2014 event is already on the calendar!  Hopefully by then, the cooler weather will make for a longer course, and they'll have figured out what to do about the wash racks.

Make It YOUR Event

I posted previously regarding Event Flavors, and after running the recent Mid-Atlantic Savage Race, I wanted to follow up with some additional thoughts.  The mud/obstacle events are still fairly new, with respect to other types of events (such as straight road races, etc.), and the market is far from saturated, particularly when you have so many events with different course lengths, terrain, and locations.  There is a great deal of growing interest in these events...at this point, many folks have either run at least one event, or know someone who has.

We ran the Mid-Atlantic Savage Race recently.  The evening before the event, we stayed at a local B&B, and there just happened to be some event support folks staying there, as well.  During the course of the evening's conversations, we got something of a "peek up the skirt" look at what goes on behind the scenes with many of these events. One example is this...search for Savage Race images via Google, and you'll find images similar to the one to right.  Now, this is an older image, but it clearly shows that the Savage Race folks did not try to differentiate themselves from the Tough Mudder at the outset.  Since then, they've changed to a blue color scheme, and the obstacles at this weekend's event were all painted the same shade of blue.  However, some of the obstacles at the Savage Race were simply variations of those from the Tough Mudder.  While I did like the sawtooth in the middle of the monkey bars, there was the electric shock obstacle...not much of a challenge, per se, and it didn't require much in the way of teamwork to complete.  

So, my point is that while there are some things that every event needs to have that are common and necessary for all events, each event can also do quite a bit to differentiate themselves from others.  For example, every event needs a central area for registration, vendors, and to let participants gather.  Most events seem to recognize that this works best if suitable facilities are provided, there is a way to get questions answered, and there's a party atmosphere.  Bigger events tend to bring in vendors that keep spectators entertained and fed, and give participants a reason to hang around after the event.  After the Tough Mudder in Frederick, MD, in Sept, 2012, I stopped by the Marines tent and tried my hand at pullups. This is also a great place to make your event "merch" and swag available...hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.

The use of social media and the Internet also appears to be fairly common, and for the most part well understood, and the larger events really tend to exploit them, rather than simply use them.  Many of the smaller events don't really seem to understand how to really make use of and exploit social media to reach potential participants, but they seem to be trying.

Obstacles
OK, let's talk obstacles...the obstacles make the event, but people, really?   The electric shock "obstacles" are being overdone at this point.  The pit full of ice that you have to traverse seems to be a good one, particularly if the weather really begs for it, or if it's a longer event (keep moving to stay warm).

I've seen some pretty good obstacles at previous events, and some of those events are no longer running.  For example, the Rebel Race had an over-under obstacle, in muddy water, that was pretty good.  The now-defunct Jungle Cup had a combo obstacle, where you had to climb up to a platform, swing to another platform, do a rope traverse to a third platform, and then do a balance beam.  This one obstacle was like having four obstacles back-to-back, and was a lot of fun, in addition to being challenging.

The Mid-Atlantic Spring Tough Mudder was my first experience with the cage crawl and the pirate's booty.  Both of these were new (to me) and innovative obstacles.

I think that the folks at Extreme Nation had the right idea, or at least a good one, by reducing the distance and having a lot of obstacles.  While I was saddened that the recent Savage Race in MD was shortened due to the heat and humidity, ultimately, I did enjoy having so many obstacles over the shorter distance.  It's easy to see that two ways that the various events can really innovate is to (a) develop new obstacles, and (b) have more obstacles.

I did my first mud/obstacle events during my initial military training about 25 years ago.  As such, I'm familiar with obstacles that can be tough, challenging, take a lot out of you, and at the same time, be very simple.  Admittedly, a lot of this can depend upon available terrain...staking a couple of knotted ropes at the top of a muddy hill and having folks climb up can be extremely challenging, but if you don't have a muddy hill with the right grade, then you have to build something.  Over-unders, multiple high wall climbs (straight up or inclined), etc., can all be very challenging and leave even the most fit competitor taxed.  And that's what these things are all about, aren't they...individuals or teams meeting and overcoming a challenge.

Brand Your Event
My advice to folks entering into or trying to distinguish themselves in the mud/obstacle event market...make your event YOUR event.  Having a shortened version of another event doesn't distinguish you from them.  It's all about brand and what sets you apart, and the formula for having a well-run event is pretty set, and all of the elements are the same (access to/from venue, ease of registration, available facilities, a band, beer, etc.)...but you can really set yourself apart from others by having different obstacles, so that your event is more than just a different logo and color scheme.

Here's a final thought...I was looking through my event memorabilia this past weekend, and I noticed that many of the events are following the same sort of format by providing finishers with a medal.  The Rebel Race had a dog tag, and of course, the Tough Mudder has a headband.  The Spartan Race has different colors for their events, reflected on their medals, and if you run a trifecta, you get a tri-color medal.  But it's getting to the point that almost every event has a medal...just sayin'...

Savage Race

The Mid-Atlantic Savage Race took place in Kennedyville, MD, this passed weekend, and I have to say, this one came the closest of all of the smaller (as opposed to Tough Mudder and Spartan) events to living up the hype.  The event was definitely one that I'd do again, if it were set up in Sept/Oct or May/June.

Lodging
We made reservations at the Crow Farm B&B on 18 July, and they have availability for one night, which worked out great, as it was within only a few minutes drive of the venue.  It turned out that several of the timing and videography staff also stayed at the venue, as well.

Finding lodging near an event venue is a great idea, and for the Virginia Beach Tough Mudder (which was cancelled) we'd stayed at a B&B about 150 yards from the venue entrance.  What I tend to do is type the venue address into Google Maps and search nearby for "bed and breakfast".

Venue
The event was held at the Hopkins Game Farm in Kennedyville, MD.  According to Google Maps, this is a 2 hr 15 min drive for us...way out in BFE...which is why we opted to drive up the night before.  However, the venue is easy to access, although I would think that for a much larger event (say, a Tough Mudder or Super Spartan), the ingress/egress would easily be overwhelmed.  There was one road going into and out of the venue, with the main drive split in half by cones.  The only real way to accommodate a larger event would be with buses running from another location, or if additional space were available with separate ingress and egress points.

I can easily see this venue being used again in the future.  As with many such events such as these, they tend to bring a good deal of traffic into the community, and as long as the volume is planned for, it becomes a great economic "shot in the arm" for the community.  It also opens up opportunities for future events, as the folks who own or manage the venue get to "work the kinks out".  The B&B where we stayed is also a winery with a tasting room, and they raise beef cattle.  As with other B&Bs we've stayed at for these events, the couple who manages it is plugged into the local community and chamber of commerce.  As such, we heard about all of the local folks who were able to work during the course setup, including someone locally who owns an excavator (for digging some of the water pits).  The afternoon after the event saw a lot of traffic stopping at a number of local restaurants.

Course
The course was well marked, without a great deal of open running between obstacles.  This worked out well, as the words "savage" and "bad*ss" were used throughout the course, and having a lot of open fields to run through to get to the next obstacle is...face it...kind of boring.  I think that most folks signing up for something like this appreciated the shorter running distances, as well as the difficulty of the obstacles.

The weather on the east coast had been very bad all week long. Temperatures had been in the mid- to high-'90s, and the heat index has pushed the temps into the triple digits.  Due to the heat and humidity, the course was (wisely) reduced and re-routed through shaded areas.  I felt that there were plenty of water stops, where chilled bottles of water were handed to participants...I would drink part of it, and pour the rest of it over my head.  At some points along the course, sprinklers were installed to provide some relief for participants.  There were also a number of water obstacles that provided some relief, albeit not the cleanest.

Obstacles
There was a great deal of hype for this event, much like other events.  Facebook updates so a number of "here it comes" posts, pictures of some of the obstacles (one of which as unrecognizable), generating a good deal of excitement and anticipation.  One of the benefits of social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is that it's easy to generate this kind of excitement, but as many of us have seen with other events in the past, this can also be a major shortcoming if the event doesn't live up to the expectations that are created.

Some of the hype for the Savage Race included...

...more than 21 twisted obstacles scattered about a 5 mile rugged race course...

and...

...bring you the biggest and baddest Savage Race of all time...

I will say this...while many of the obstacles are reminiscent of other events, some were truly bad*ss.  For example, the Shriveled Richard was pretty much the Tough Mudder's Arctic Enema, but the Savage crew took the monkey bars and made it truly bad*ss by adding the sawtooth in the middle (take a look at the picture to the left), ramping up the level of difficulty of this obstacle.  The Colossus was also a great obstacle, with a rope climb up a quarter pipe on the front end (note to Savage crew - make the base at the top of the climb a little wider in the future), a climb to a higher platform and then a slide into a water pit.  This one obstacle provided a sense of accomplishment for all levels of participant, having to overcome a physically challenging obstacle through sheer force of will, or teamwork, to get there, and then having to overcome any fear of heights to get down.  The now-defunct Jungle Cup had a great combo obstacle that I'd love to see again...climb to a platform, rope swing to another platform, followed by a rope traverse (crawl, swing, whatever), and then finished by a balance beam.

I'll say this...the shock obstacles are a bit over-done.  The Tough Mudders I've been on have two of them on the course, and being shocked unconscious looses it's appeal after a while.  I'd rather have half a dozen obstacles that provide a physical challenge, such as multiple high walls or rope climbs up incline walls, or something that requires teamwork to accomplish.

Pros
The course was well laid out, well marked, and well staffed.  Due to the heat, the race was reduced in length (to just over 4 miles), with plenty of water stops, as well as water obstacles.  According to the email notice we received, only one obstacle was removed, which meant that there were plenty of obstacles without much in the way of running through open fields, which was good.  Part of the reduced course had been re-routed through the trees and shaded areas.  We didn't experience much in the way of backups at the obstacles at all.

Ingress into and egress from the venue was easy, smooth, and well managed.  As with most events, there was a fee for parking, and there was plenty of parking within an easy walk of venue.

Registration was smooth, and there was plenty of room to move around the main venue area.  There were a number of vendors available, as well as music and a band, lending to the party atmosphere. There was also a tent set up to shade participants and spectators, and a couple of fans were available to generate air flow.  For the most part, everything was well laid out and well marked, and there were plenty of toilet facilities (always a good thing).

Cons
The only real con I'd offer up about the event is that the wash racks for after the event were far too small for the number of participants.  It was strange that after having a smooth experience going through the course that the participants would have to traverse all the way across the venue, and stand in a line, unprotected from the sun, for more than half an hour.  Given the considerations for the heat and heat index of the day, there should have been more accommodations with respect to this aspect of the event.

Perhaps at future events, the course could be redone so that the obstacles with the really thick mud occur earlier in the course, and then put one with a water pit at the end.  That way, participants are muddy during the course, but not so much so at the end that wash racks or hoses are really required to the degree that they were for the Savage Race.

Overall
For an event that isn't as well known as Spartan or Tough Mudder, Savage did a lot of things right this passed weekend.  I grew up and have lived in the Northern Virginia area for a long time, so I can't really imagine anyone wanting to hold an event like this, in late July.  Had you asked anyone, I doubt you would have found someone who would've suggested that there would be a cold snap that would push temperatures down to the 70s with no humidity during July or August.  However, the staff planned and reacted well, and overall the event was one that I will definitely consider participating in again, in the future.

Finally, for the future...
Looking at the comments on the Savage Race Facebook page, it appears that I wasn't the only one who didn't receive an official notification email with my start time...even after I commented to that effect on the Savage Race Facebook page, there were still other comments coming in afterward, stating the same thing.

I tried several times to get information via the Facebook page about the number of water stops, etc., to no avail.  Pictures were posted of obstacles, but information pertinent to the weather for that day was noticeably absent, even after it was requested.  I received a comment back via Facebook that information would be available at the Savage Race web site...but I don't think that the event organizers have really thought this all through.  The fact that the heat and humidity was going to be an issue the day of the event was no surprise, as all of the local weather stations, as well as many of the national weather web sites, all had the same information the week prior to the event.  The folks setting up the obstacles had to deal with the weather, as well, so getting out information about weather accommodations prior to the evening before the event would've been a great idea.  Spend less time focused on the hype, folks, and put more time toward keeping your participants informed.