Race Recap: Terrain Race Oshkosh

Terrain Race 9/22/18 Oshkosh, WI

Weather: 40 degrees and sunny (up to 60 degrees by noon)
Terrain: Grassy campground/parks, mostly pancake flat

Distance: 5K, about 20 obstacles

For my last OCR of my 2018 season, I chose the brand-new Terrain Race Oshkosh, which is near family so my mom was able to come spectate! Arrived about 40 minutes before my wave started, which turned out to be plenty of time. Parking was $10 and extremely close to the festival area. Check-in went quickly and I got "unlimited laps" written on my bib so I could just keep going whenever I was ready to start up again - waves were sent off every 15 minutes but I would not be required to wait for another wave start before continuing. There was no chip timing, except for the competitive waves. There was a nice area for spectators with a tent over picnic tables, which is a great touch. I took off with the first open wave of the day at 8:15 AM, knowing that I had to finish all my laps by noon or my hotel wouldn't let me shower there anymore (my goal was 3 laps).

First obstacle was a 4' wall, easy enough to get over. Then after half mile of running through grassy field, we reached a marshy ditch with water above the ankles that we had to plod through for about 1/3 mile. Fun! At least the water wasn't freezing (...spoiler alert for later). There were two small cargo nets in the ditch to step through, also. Getting back out of the ditch (twice each lap, the way it was set up you had to get out of the ditch and get back in) got tougher on laps 2 and 3 as the slope eroded. After we were finally, for real, out of the ditch and I picked long grass out of my shoes, we came across a water stop, then a tire drag that is similar to a Spartan plate drag. Pull the tire on the rope, then drag it back with a loop. This was either tough or easy depending on which tire you chose. It was here that I first saw that there were no distinctions between male and female weights, and there would not be for any of the obstacles. For most of the obstacles in the race, this would make it approximately normal Spartan-type difficulty for women and easy as hell for men.

Next was a bag carry (not really a sandbag, but long like one) up and down a big landfill hill. It was so steep on the downslope and had such long grass that it was much easier to sit and slide down, so that's what everyone did. The bag maybe weighed 30 lb and was easy to carry. After a short run we hit this traverse wall that is hard to describe, but I will try. There are three tilted panels with rock holds for the feet, kind of like Olympus panels but you have tiny, super slippery rock holds to step on, and various grips for the hands (there was a small vertical pole on the first panel, a short rope with a loop on the second panel, and a larger rock hold on the last panel). At the final panel you had to reach out and boing a door stopper, which was a fun little bell alternative. But it was what was BETWEEN these three panels that made it interesting - a balance beam, and a series of high stationary pegs (maybe 10 pegs or so, about a foot apart) that you needed to move across using your grip strength. Depending on which side of the structure you were on, you'd experience either the pegs first or the balance beam first. On my first round I did the side with the balance beam first, which was a mistake because it meant I was leading the pegs on my non-dominant hand. It was hard. On rounds 2 and 3 I did pegs first so I could lead with my right hand, and that made a good difference. I traversed the pegs by reaching my hands so there was a peg between them, then moving my left hand to that center peg, then moving my right hand over another peg, etc. It was a great challenge because I am 1) not used to moving laterally with my grip strength at all and 2) not used to reaching that far laterally with my grip. It took me about a minute, maybe 75 seconds, to get across the pegs each time. You have to get your body swinging straight sideways, which isn't easy with the transitions off the tilted panels. This was just a fantastic obstacle. Definitely the hardest obstacle in any OCR I've done that I've been able to clear. And I cleared it all three times!

Shortly after that was a tire flip - 2 times out, then 2 times back. The tire was about 200 lb and easy to flip. A short run later we got to a 6' wall, which was very "walkable" so I was able to use the "grab the top, step up the feet, hook the ankle - calf - knee on the top, and sit on it" technique to great effect. I highly recommend this technique for women or for anyone with upper-body issues. I was still trying to take it easy on my shoulder since my rotator cuff was a little angry from a pre-Beast back problem. After the wall was a water stop next to an obstacle wherein we hit a regular car tire with a sledgehammer out about 25 feet and back. It was a fun way to let out aggression. On my first lap I yelled out "take THAT, Donald Trump!" and the college-age volunteers appreciated my sense of humor, at least. They remembered me on laps 2 and 3!

Another run through a field to a short rope climb. The ropes had knots at the bottoms that were about a foot off the ground, making it a bit tricky. I had to mount the rope by standing on the knot, then hold myself up on the rope to set my S-hook. But once I did, I only needed one scoot to reach the blessedly low bell. Next was a concrete block drag, with a 70-lb (or so) block attached to a chain that we had to drag about 50 feet. It wasn't hard, but the blocks tore up the ground so each subsequent loop was a bit choppier.

Next up was Tarzan Swing, which was four ropes with random knots that we were supposed to swing through. I attempted this on the first lap, got to the second rope, and got stuck. This seemed to be the universal experience among participants. I think the ropes were honestly just too far apart. You needed a massive swing to be able to get to the next rope, and you had to be pretty non-secure on the rope to reach for the next one. A bit of a design flaw, in my opinion. I skipped this obstacle completely on laps 2 and 3 because the line became too long. A major problem with this obstacle is that people don't just quickly fail it and move on, they swing there trying to get the next rope for several minutes. With only 4 lanes, this causes a log jam.

After that disaster was a steep A-frame cargo net, and the steepness caused far more apex panic among my competitors than I see at Spartan races, but it was fine for me, anyway. The wall after that, though...I call it Giant Scary Wall. I don't know the actual name of it. It is about 15' high and has an easy ladder up one side, and you have to transition over the top to find a flat wall with 2x4s nailed to the side of it to make really narrow ledges to get down. But luckily, there is a rope to hold onto! But you have to already be getting down the wall to grab the rope! If I hadn't had my Salomon shoes on, I wouldn't have had the tread to feel even a bit secure on the small ledges. And I'm lucky I have really long legs so that I could get down to the second board and grab the rope as I was mounting the flat wall, instead of after I'd mounted it. It was scary all three times I did it. It was one of those obstacles I encounter from time to time where I think it's just not safe whatsoever (like Bender, which is in my humble opinion the worst obstacle ever). I'd say Giant Scary Wall had the greatest number of mid-obstacle NOPEs of the day, that I saw.

Another run through a field followed by what I will call Mud O-U-T. The basics: get into knee-deep, frigid water; climb over a small wood bridge; crawl under another small wood bridge through the knee-deep water; get out of water and climb over dirt pile; get back into waist-deep water; crawl through plastic tubes with water in them; get out into chest-deep water; climb out of the pit up a rapidly-eroding mud wall. The water was cold, you guys. It was maybe 60 degrees or so. People were screaming like a killer clown was chasing them. Keep in mind that I describe the water as chest-deep and I'm nearly 6 feet tall. Shorter women and children were screwed. The key for this obstacle is to not screech like a banshee and just try to have a positive mindset about the cold water. At least I wouldn't need an ice bath after this!

Unfortunately the next obstacle was poorly (or brilliantly?) planted: an elaborate multi-rig. Balls, bar grips, long poles, and rock holds all awaited our extremely wet, muddy hands. Even if I had the grip strength to do multi-rigs (I generally don't), the grips were soaking wet and muddy from prior attempts, and our hands were soaking wet (I had the foresight to wash off my hands in the frigid water after I'd climbed out of the mud, but most people didn't). This was an instant fail on all three rounds. But I tried!

Next was a big scary set of up and down monkey bars over a 4' deep swimming pool. On my first lap I heard participants saying that some of the bars spin a little bit. It was then I realized I would be taking another frigid bath very soon. Fortunately I was not nervous about it because I was still wet from Mud O-U-T! I got to the third bar and dropped in. It was definitely cold. On lap 2 I fell on the first bar because it was wet, and on lap 3 the line was SO LONG that I skipped the entire damn thing, felt bad about it, and did 15 random burpees by the obstacle exit while people looked at me like "that crazy lady knows that isn't required, right?" But the line was about 100 people long (NO JOKE) and would have taken 20-30 minutes or more to wait in (NO JOKE). It was not feasible, and it was not okay. They really should plan this out better. Or at least have a volunteer controlling traffic so that people were going through efficiently. Most folks didn't even start going until the other person was at the end (or in the water, most likely), and all 5 lanes were not being used most of the time.

The last obstacle was a big balance/cargo net rig. There was a balance beam ramp made with a 4x4 up about 4 feet to a big rectangular pit with a cargo net that we had to crawl across, then slide down a pole at the far side to get down and cross the nearby finish line. On lap 1 I couldn't get up the balance beam, on lap 2 I went straight for the ladder instead, and on lap 3 I tried the balance beam again and made it! The cargo net was easy - some folks rolled but I am not a fan, plus you could only roll for a bit, then you had to get back up the other side of the dip. I kept to the edge and used the edge of the net as a hand-hold while I walked across. Easy peasy. One thing I didn't like was on lap 2 some idiot kids ran out from the festival area onto the obstacle and were climbing on it while their equally-idiotic parents watched. No. Just no. This should have immediately been squashed.

After finishing lap 1 I got a medal, t-shirt, and water. That was the only thing available, water. On subsequent laps I got a pin for each lap I'd done, which I could put on my medal ribbon. Between laps I ate one Nutter Butter, had a bit of water, and went back out there. Don't take too much time between laps! The hype man was kind enough to solicit applause for me on each lap. "She is starting her THIRD LAP, make some noise!" I appreciated it! After the race it was an easy exit, although I could not hose down my shoes like I wanted to because the hose available was not functional. Dang. I also noticed that the change tents, which I thankfully did not need to utilize, had so many gaps in them that there was essentially zero privacy. Horrifying. But I wish I'd had more time, I would have been able to do at least one more lap, maybe 2. I felt really fit from a great season of racing and was having lots of fun!

Pros:

-Obstacles. They were diverse and for the most part well-designed. I appreciated the balance between strength, grip, power, and climbing obstacles.
-Terrain. After doing some insanely difficult races this year, it was nice to see straight-forward flat fast grassy terrain.
-Organized. They keep it simple, but it all ran very smoothly from what I could see.

Cons:

-Some obstacles were either nearly impossible, physics-wise, or dangerous.
-Zero photographers that I saw. Photos are a listed perk, so this was disappointing. Maybe I just didn't see them? On any of my three laps?
-Nothing but water at the finish. Would have liked some kind of calories or electrolytes. Fortunately I brought my own. If you do Terrain Race, bring your own nutrition!
-Pre-race communication was terrible. They had a "virtual event page" that had ZERO actual information on it. Also I would have liked to see a map, even at the race itself.

Race Grade: B. Bare bones, but a fast, flat course and some great obstacles.