Extreme Rampage - Clay City Race Recap

In my last post I mentioned that I had an upcoming race, the Extreme Rampage in Clay City, KY.  This race is an obstacle course race (OCR) that takes place on various terrains and has many different obstacles.

This was my third OCR; the first was the Warrior Dash in June 2012 and the second was the first Extreme Rampage race in September 2012.  I personally enjoy OCR's more than any other type of event.  There is a lot of unknown and it makes you make fast decisions on the fly.  To me, it feels like a chess game; you always have to know your next steps in advance or you will lose time or worse (like slip, trip, or get injured).  If you run an OCR, I can promise you that you will never get bored.

OK, on to the recap/review.  This was, by far, the most challenging race I have ever competed in.  I wore my Nike+ GPS so I could keep track of my pace and the mileage.  That was important to me since the course and obstacles are truly unknown.  Going into the race, we were told it was between 5 miles, it ended up being 6.01 miles.  That was fine with me, but knowing that in advance would have helped me pace myself better.  It's just another part of the unknown with OCR's.

The terrain was ridiculous.  We started out on a drag strip (raceway) which was unique.  I'd never been on one and you could see the burnt rubber on the track and it was sticky to run on.  I avoided it when possible.  Then there was grass, then creek, sheet rock, dirt, gravel, mixture of the two, mud, water, more mud, etc.  You get the idea.  With the exception of the track part of the race, it was all off road and a lot of trails.  Quite a bit was in the creek and on four wheeler paths with deep, deep ruts.  This made you have to really watch every step to not roll an ankle or fall, especially on the declines.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention in addition to the terrain, it was almost all up and down hills. In fact, there was one hill climb that they attached a rope to a tree to be used to pull yourself up.  Fun!

In comparison to the first ER I raced in back in September 2012, I would say that the race coordinator improved the organization of the race and overall experience a lot!  The parking was close to the start/finish line.  The venue was excellent and supplied the nicest bathrooms I have ever used at an OCR.  The course was marked well (for the most part) and there were volunteers at each obstacle and throughout the course.  My only complaint was that I would have liked more water available.  I didn't see the first water until around 3.5 miles and then at the end.  That being said, it is very possible that I just missed it if there were more.

So what were some of the obstacles?  Here is a list of the ones that I can remember that were scattered throughout the run:

• Constant sticks, stumps, twigs, etc. throughout the trails
• A four foot wall jump (I think)
• An eight foot wall (three of them throughout the course)
• A water obstacle (about waist deep water that you had to cross through/swim; I think there were three of these on the course)
• A tunnel crawl (two of them; they went under the parkway; the second one was very short, maybe 3.5 feet tall, so you had to either crawl or hunch over the whole way for about 200-250 feet I'd say)
• A bungee crawl (I made that name up; it's a bunch of bungee cords wrapped all around and up and down trees like a spiderweb to crawl through) 
• A 12 foot wall with a rope to pull yourself up
• The KY National Guard created a few obstacles in a row - a low mud crawl (best one of these I've yet to experience), a low net crawl, a mid level net crawl, and a short sand bag carry
• A dumpster swim (water filled dumpster that you have to swim through)
• A mud hill followed by a mud crawl with barbed wire above you

I think that covered all of them, but I probably missed some.  Overall, I thought the course was fantastic!  It was very challenging and I enjoyed every minute of it.  That sounds kind of sick...

Anyway, before I get to the results, here are some pics my mom took with her phone from the race.  Well, before I get to those, I have to say that spectators could only see the start/finish line.  I hope to get other pics from the course when they are posted online.

Before the race:

A pic of my shoes before the race.  This was going to be the last time to wear these shoes.  They took me over 475 miles:

Met up with two friends at the race.  Rodney (in orange) and Jeff (in the black tank top).  I had just finished praying for us:

Getting ready to take off:

Approaching the finish line:

Waving right before the finish line:

Right after I crossed the finish:

Another after the finish:

A picture with my good friend Jeff:

Here is the GPS readout from my watch:

Before I get into the results, I want to give a shout out to Jeff (pictured above).  He is a good friend and co-worker of mine.  He travels the nation running in OCR's, specifically Spartan Races.  I hope to run one in the near future, but none are very close to here.  He helped me get started in P90X and has given me countless tips and advice for obstacle course racing over the past year.  I always look forward to competing with Jeff at these races!

And now for the results...

Yep, you're reading that correctly.  I won the race!  First overall!  That was my first podium finish of any race, street or OCR.  I was honestly surprised at this result and am very proud of this accomplishment.  It makes the sore legs, cuts, scrapes, and bruises a little more bearable!

And before I close this post, here are some links to a few other reviews/videos about the race:

Read about Jeff's race experience here: http://onmywaytosparta.com/2013/06/15/how-i-won-the-extreme-rampage-kids-race/

Read Jeff's review of the race here: http://onmywaytosparta.com/2013/06/15/extreme-rampage-clay-city-race-review/

If you want to see the course from a person's POV, here is a link to someone who wore a Go-Pro camera:



And another Go-Pro video:



06/19/2013 - Here is an update to add a few more pics:

 Before the race:

Entering the first water obstacle:

In the first water obstacle:

Somewhere on the course:

Almost at the finish line: 

After the race:

That's all I have for now.  Until next time blogosphere...