Sunday of a race weekend is always tough. You’re sore. You’re tired. You’re probably “hangry.” Perhaps you just want to get home and settle yourself on your coach under your cat with a book and some tea. And there’s one more day of racing.

The final day of the North American OCR Championships featured the team relay and the charity 7K events. The team relay allowed for groups of three, where participants specialized in the areas of speed (i.e. climbing the mountain), strength (i.e. doing some heavy carries), or technical (i.e. rigs and obstacles). This was my third year as a member of the team Tiny^2 + 1, which consisted of Niki on speed, Steve on strength, and me on technical. My body was one massive ache. This was going to be an interesting day. 

The co-ed team wave was scheduled to go off at 10:15 a.m., leaving us time to coordinate checking out of our rental and heading over to the venue. For the third day in a row we had some really nice weather. It was sunny with mild temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s.

At 10:15 a.m., Steve and I saw Niki to the starting chorral and cheered as she went out for her leg of the relay. Last year, the team relay had taken us around three hours, so I knew there was some time to kill. That being said, we anticipated being faster. Niki had recovered from her injury, plus the speed section was not quite as long. In fact, the team relay seemed to be much better balanced that last year. The speed section was a reasonable distance, the strength portion was beefed up with more obstacles than just one Wreck Bag carry, and the technical section — always the strongest design-wise in the past — remained much the same as past years and was a portion of the 3K course.

I used some of my free time at the venue to do some shopping. I have been talking a lot about having 2020 be all about training for OCR and, with no good OCR gym near my house, I wanted to get some gear. I ended up at the Force5 tent where I got a good deal on some rings, a t-grip, a pipe, and a short rope, all of which I can attach to a set of monkey bars at a playground near me for some quality grip and swinging training to keep up my obstacle fitness when I’m not at races. 

After dropping my purchases (seriously the most shopping I have done all year) in my car, Steve and I headed up to meet Niki. I made a quick detour to the restroom on the way and was below the transition when Steve zoomed by, Niki having arrived seconds before and ahead of her projected time. We were definitely on schedule to be faster than last year, if our non-competitive group cared about such things. Nevertheless, Niki ran an awesome race, and I was excited for her!

Steve was out on the course, which meant I was up next. I checked my bag for $5 and headed to the team exchange point where a bunch of NES folks were hanging out. We chatted as I waited for Steve. Niki spotted him as he set off for the Wreck Bag carry, the final portion of the strength section. She ran up the hill to wait. About 15 minutes later, they were charging down the hill. Steve handed me the timing chip. I attached it to my ankle and jogged off. 

Every step hurt as I ran. My quads were slabs of pain. My biceps and back ached with each impact. I arrived at La Gaffe. My body was so stiff from the last two days that I couldn’t really get my legs around the pole. I tried with all my might to climb high enough to ring the bell and kept sliding down. No go.

From there I made my way to Underdog, which had been adjusted again for the third day of racing, this time with a rope, to monkey bars, to a pair of vertical cargo nets (instead of just one). A bunch of NES folks were around cheering me on. With their encouragement, I hauled myself up and, using painful hands, made my way across the monkey bars and to one net and then the next. I rang the bell. I had made it. 

Skull Valley and Gibbon did not treat my aching body well, but I knew that after Stairway to Heaven, I might have a fighting chance. I made several attempts on Skull Valley, where I made it half way, and then on Gibbon before heading up the hill to do a low crawl and then examine Stairway to Heaven. In my tired state there was just no way, though I tried.

The rope wall with the oddly positioned rope was next. It took almost max effort, but I dragged myself up and over and ran down the hill to the next obstacle. I was starting to warm up a little and even though every step hurt, I was at least able to get some response from my body on the obstacles. 

I tackled the balance logs and ran down to Little Foot. A bunch of NES friends were hanging out at the obstacle and shouting for me. Having everyone there gave me such a mental boost. I love how supportive NES is for everyone. The camaraderie is great! With all this encouragement, there was no way that I was going to miss Little Foot. I sailed along, rang the bell, and hopped off at the end.

Over Under was next and, once again, happy to be enjoying the company of my team, I zipped through. 

Next up was Tricky Swiss. I made my way along, though my arms were feeling pretty beaten up. After finishing with a bell ring, Niki and Steve joined me for the last three obstacles that we were supposed to complete as a team.

We slid over the parked cars for Car Jacked and then ran through the center of the Stratton village to Urban Sky. In order for a team to keep their bands, all athletes had to make it through the team obstacle. (Note: I have heard some back and forth on this. Some reports say that everyone loses their bands if the team doesn’t all get through Urban Sky; other reports say that if you have your band getting to Urban Sky and make it through as an individual that’s fine, even if other teammates fail.) I knew that with my hands and arms the way they were, I wasn’t going to make it far on Urban Sky; however, there was little pressure beyond the want to do one’s best as all three of us had already lost our bands earlier on the course. Niki and I gave Urban Sky a try and didn’t make it super far, but Steve nailed it 100%. 

The last obstacle was the giant slip wall. Unlike during the 3K and 15K, there were no ropes for you to pull yourself up. Instead, we had to make a pyramid of people. Steve and Niki sent me up to the top first. From there, Niki was able to grab my legs and climb up. Finally, I held onto Niki from over the top of the wall as Steve used her to climb up. It was probably the most efficient we’ve ever been on the final wall!

We crossed the finish in 2:12:21, our fasted team time yet.

NorAm Championships and OCRWC always finish the weekend with a charity 7K fun run to benefit a local non-profit, in this case the Stratton Foundation, which provides support for families challenged by poverty through efforts like food banks, educational support, and clothing. 

The truth is that by the time the charity run comes along, there’s next to no one on the NES interested in tackling a trip up the mountain again. This is true for many other athletes as well. The goal here is to give money to charity. Running the exact course is not important since the “7K” is not timed in any way. 

As with past years, we opted to stay at the bottom of the mountain and walked around 1.25 miles in just under an hour. This was a time to goof off. Niki, Steve, and I headed out with a fellow NES member, Adam, who had stayed at the same house in Stratton with us over the weekend. We were a motley crew, bumbling along, legs and arms not quite working right. 

The 7K course is basically the same as the team relay, and we more or less covered the same ground as I had just raced. It was a fun time to hang out and recap the weekend’s festivities.

NorAm Championships is one of the premiere events in our sport, only topped by OCRWC, in my opinion. It is such a privilege to get to race at this event. 2019’s NorAm races were not the athletic success that I had in 2018, but I think I learned a lot. I learned how I’m not the kind of athlete that can be ready for both ultras and OCR if I want to do well at the latter. I also was reminded of how OCR is my real passion. I cannot wait to begin training for 2020 so as to be more obstacle dominant. One of the first things I did upon returning home was to email my coach at Hart Strength & Endurance Coaching to chat about my 2020 training goals. What better can be said about an event than that it inspires you to train harder and with more specificity?

As of the writing of this post, the 2020 location for NorAm OCR Championships has yet to be announced. OCRWC tends to move every two years, and NorAm has been at Stratton for two years, which leaves me anticipating a change of venue. That being said, there’s no reason that NorAm has to follow any two year rule. I would love to race age group at NorAm in 2020, pending a location that doesn’t require lengthy travel — Stratton would be great. Either way, I will always watch how this event unfolds and will spend the next year training with the idea of addressing gaps I saw at this event. If NorAm OCR Championships is anywhere I can get to in 2020, I want compete and crush it!

(Note: NES photos credited to Vince Rhee.)

40 obstacles. 15 kilometers. Over 3,000 feet of elevation. The 2019 North American OCR Championships 15K beat me down like very few races have.

Saturday morning dawned perfect for racing. Temperatures were in the 50s and wouldn’t get out of the mid-60s. There was a mix of sun and clouds. I was sore from my efforts of the previous day, but I was determined that I would give the 15K race my all.

The women’s 30 – 34 age group had a great start time at 9:15 a.m. I headed to the NorAm venue at Stratton Mountain about half an hour before my wave start — I was staying a quick five minute drive away in a house with a bunch of my fellow NES teammates. Having half an hour free allowed for time for some pre-race mental focusing, bathroom usage, and to check my bag. I also purchased a pair of NorAm goodr sunglasses. I’ve been wanting to get prescription glasses with transition lenses for running but, at the moment, can’t justify the expense. These $25 running shades fit the bill.

I joined NES friend, Niki, in the starting corral. As I mentioned, we were a bit beat up from yesterday but we were going to get this done. In fact, Niki and I ran most of the race together, true battle buddies. While the first half we kept leap frogging each other, the second half we were in lock step.

The 2019 NorAm course was somewhat similar to last year. The race started by taking us up a short climb, after which we did some low hurdles. Then it was up, up, up. In fact, the first three kilometers (around two miles) was mostly climbing with only one obstacle, a ladder wall called Confidence Climb, to break it up. It was a slog, taking an hour to get from the base of Stratton to the summit. Like last year, I was not enthusiastic about starting the race in this way; however, listening to an interview with race organizer Adrian Bijanada has given me at least an understanding of how necessary this climb is so that obstacles can be effectively and safely placed.

Finally, after a grueling hour, I reached the summit and was brought face to face with Skitch, an obstacle where you had to take two hooks and move them along a horizontal pole to the end. I hadn’t worried too much about Skitch, which I got with limited problem at NorAm in 2018 on the 3K and 15K courses. Mistake. Skitch of 2019 had some slight adjustments that had an impact on my performance. Unlike the previous year when I had been easily able to slide my hooks along the horizontal pole, my hooks this year would not move an inch. I kept falling off and falling off. We were only 3 miles into a 9+ mile race and only at obstacle three of 40. I had to move on. As on Friday, I was displeased at losing my band so soon and renewed my commitment to adjust my training for next year to resume more OCR and decrease my ultra running.

I quickly tackled a slant wall before heading over to the Force5 rig from last year with a trapeze, t-grip, wheel, t-grip, and trapeze. I had nailed this last year. The reach to start seemed a bit more this year (or perhaps it was me) and already my arms were extremely pre-fatigued from the previous day. I didn’t have it in me. 

Up next was a low rig with monkey bars, a t-grip, and a pole. I was prepared to do well here, having 

done just fine on the low rig last year. But again I failed.

These early failures gave me a lot to think about as I headed back down the mountain. Training specificity matters, and I was not as prepared for this race physically as I thought I had been. I needed a plan for next year. I was composing an email in my head to my coaches and thinking about acquiring new tools — perhaps a set of rings to bring to the playground near my house? That being said, I remembered my mental training efforts and didn’t beat myself up or “live in the past.” The race was ongoing, and it was important to be focused on what was important now. Doing as well as I could do in the present.

Midway down the hill I made my way up and over the big ramp and over to the next rig. This rig was similar to last year but instead of having rings hanging from square monkey bars, you had to be able to kip up to the bars. Another failure. I headed over to the short farmer’s carry, which went off without incident. Then it was over to hi/low, a basic obstacle where we had to walk along with our hands on a pole and our feet on the other. We did some crawl jacks, and continued to head down the mountain to meet up with the beginning of the 3K course from the other day.

Racers crawled over the 8′ wall and were back at the a-frame with rings, Valkyrie. My luck was no better than the previous day, despite a few attempts. I was beat. After a 6′ wall, the Wreck Bag carry was next, longer than the previous day. Instead of terminating at the crawl, we had to continue up the mountain a stretch. I labored up, and it was agony. At the top, I sat down for a second and decided to drag my Wreck Bag back down — I couldn’t stand the idea of it on my shoulders for one more second. It was slow, but it worked. I made the carry in 15 minutes, not bad for someone as small as I am who traditionally takes ages on carries.

Next was La Gaffe with its set of three poles. I did a way better job here than the previous day and made it through on my first try, transitioning to to a high point on the wood post to make the last swing possible.

I jogged over to Underdog, which had been adjusted from the previous day, the cargo net now hanging vertically instead of being strung up horizontally. This actually worked to my advantage! I climbed the rope, made it across the monkey bars, and sat myself in the net to rest. I swung myself under and did the last monkey bar to hit the bell. Finally; a success!

Skull Valley followed, though, alas, my grip was toast at this point and I didn’t make it through like the previous day. I was, again, unable to get Gibbon, but after a few attempts knew to continue on. Niki and I made our way through the crawl jacks and jogged up the mountain a little bit. It was time for Stairway to Heaven, where I would not be any luckier than the previous day. I was, again, racking up obstacle failures, but I was getting so tired, it was hard to figure out how to be successful.

We started climbing again for yet another trip up the mountain, though — thank goodness — not to the summit. There was a basic through wall and then trapeze, a rig with trapezes and monkey bars. I was tired but determined and, somehow, made my way across. Obstacle complete!

Niki and I made our way to Top Shelf, a wall with a rope tied to a trust above it. We climbed our way up the wall and then over the very top of the obstacle. With our tired grip this was not an inconsequential obstacle. We ran up the mountain some more and by ran I mean walked and by walked I mean slogged. At the top of the slog was Triumph.

Triumph is the updated version of Dragon’s Back. If you read my recap of the 15K from 2018, you’ll know that Dragon’s Back sparked huge fear in me. I eventually made it last year. I wanted to keep my band, and I was determined to make it. This year, I was exhausted, and I could not bring myself emotionally to get up there. (I had also spent Sunday night cowered in fear as bats circled my house over Ben and my heads and that contributed to not being willing to be so fearful again.) While it is some kind of failure that I didn’t get up there, in my mental state it was all I could do to move on. Let me be clear: This race sounds like failure after failure, but I was, in fact, trying much harder than at most races where I have been more successful. It’s harder to keep focused, positive, and moving during a hard race than one where you’re cruising along. It took great mental and physical energy each time I came to an obstacle to try it with all the effort I had.

Next, I ran over to the rope climb, which was a quick vertical gain. Then it was over to another rig, starting with a horizontal pipe and then some monkey bars. I made it along the pipe but my grip was too trashed to move on — I kept falling off.

This was immediately followed by a 50 pound Wreck Bag hoist, which was, fortunately, not too tall. We then moved fairly immediately again to some metal ladders before starting to head down the hill. We hit an inverted wall, which took all I had to get over. From there, we continued down the mountain to meet up with the 3K course for the final part of the race. Before that was a gapped ladder wall, which Niki and I did in perfect sync, impressing passerbyers.

We met up with the 3K course at the rope wall. This wall had the rope at an awkward placement and took some effort the previous day. I tried but ended up coming back down. I almost never have problems with walls, but I was that drained. From there it was over to balance logs, which we crossed without much issue. At this point a brief rain shower started. It was cold and wet. We made our way to Little Foot. With the wet, I slipped off on the second traverse. I was almost ready to give up, but the volunteer on this obstacle was amazing. He gave me tips and told me that I could do it as I made my way through. With his encouragement, even in my super tired state, I made it. I was so grateful and happy. Kudos to that guy for his help. He assisted my race for sure.

We jogged to the over under obstacle, which was soaking wet metal. I had been able to make this obstacle the previous day. I dragged myself along the wet obstacle and transitioned to the under section and did alright. On the second transition to get back on top, right near the end of the obstacle, I slipped off the wet poles. I was too tired to try again.

Niki and I made our way to Tricky Swiss with it’s swinging walls with holes and rings. At this point, my body was so tired that it was shaking everywhere. I made it through the first set of walls, across the rings, and to the second set of walls. I was hanging from the last set of rings when my grip just entirely gave out. I could not try again even though I had been just one wall from the end.

We had only a few obstacles left — I had rarely been so relieved to almost be done. We ran over the car for Car Jacked. Then we made our way through the Stratton Villiage and to Urban Sky. I was still shaking from fatigue and was able to do not much more than hang and swing a tiny bit.

There was one obstacle left: the last slip wall. Niki and I jogged over. I made it over and cheered Niki on as she made a few attempts. The announcer called our names as we crossed the finish line. I was exhausted and beyond pleased to be finished.

NorAm’s 15K course challenged me like few other races have done. I was completely wiped out by this course. The elevation and the obstacles were hugely challenging. My training was not quite right to dominate this course — having been better aligned for ultra running this season — and I think that was a part of the difficulties of the day. To be honest, this was a bit inspiring. It reminded me of how fun it is to do OCR when you’ve trained for it. I am so ready to switch to training that is 100% (or nearly 100%) focused on OCR. I want to swing with a sense of flow, climb strong, and enjoy doing well at OCR competition. 2020. I think we have a goal!

(Note: A huge thanks to all my fellow NE Spahtens who provided awesome pictures for this post.)

Last year, my one and only goal was to have 100% obstacle completion at one of the races of the NorAm OCR Championships. I did it on lasts year’s 3K, in what remains probably my happiest moment as an athlete. This year, going into NorAm, I knew things would be different.

Thus far, 2019 has been the year of the ultra. The bulk of my training has been focused on running long and slow. It’s taken a lot of time and, most importantly, energy. That means I have been less intentional about my OCR training, I’ve run fewer OCRs, and it shows. Where I used to feel fluid and light on obstacles, things now feel a bit more effortful. I’ve lost my sense of flow.

With a good sense of where my training has been, I knew I had to be realistic about NorAm OCR Championships. I wanted to have a strong showing, but 100% completion seemed to be a stretch for where my OCR-related fitness was relative to the obstacles that NorAm was promoting on their social media. I believe strongly in goal setting and having those goals drive your planning (and, naturally, the implementation of that plan). NorAm had been a goal for me, but it was a lesser goal, in some ways, to trying out new things in the ultra running world. So now I have, and I’ve realized that OCR is my true love. I am going back to it as my main focus next year and my training will change accordingly. But, of course, we are still left with this year. What was success at NorAm going to look like with my fitness focused more on running long over swinging with strong grip?

In race goal setting, I am a fan of having A, B, and C goals. Of course my A goal was to keep my band and complete 100% of obstacles, but I knew that was aspirational. For my B goal, I wanted to get through an obstacle I didn’t think I could. I have been focusing time on mental training this season and goal B would allow me to put that mental training to use. When you have to try an obstacle again and again, there can be pressure and you can get out of the zone. I wanted to stay focused. Goal C was to have a good time. We do sports for fun — I certainly don’t make my money this way. After 2019 NorAm in all likelihood will move from Stratton, Vermont to who-knows-where, and I wanted to enjoy the experience since I might not be able to afford travel costs next year.

NorAm OCR Championships has a qualification system where athletes have to compete in their age group at a qualifying event earlier in the year and place well. I had qualified at Bonefrog Boston back in September. (For athletes who are not as fast, there is a journeyman qualification that rewards people who race frequently.) My 3K age group was set to start at 9:45 a.m. with the heat being divided up with sets of eight athletes going off at a time to make sure the short course didn’t get overly crowded. I decided to come in for the race first thing in the morning since Stratton is only 1:45 from my home in Western Mass. Registration, where you get your bibs and t-shirts, is a snap at NorAm day-of, and I knew I would have time. Before my wave started, I was able to register, drop off stuff in my car, check my bag, and take a moment for one last mental training session before heading to the start line. As a note, the t-shirts for 2019’s NorAm event were tech shirts instead of the former Next Level cotton blend. I tend to prefer the latter, but I will try wearing the NorAm shirts to the gym once or twice to test them.

The women 30-39 wave was the second of the day. We were running about eight minutes behind schedule with the men 30-39 wave taking a bit of time to get out (probably due to its large size). I was hoping to not spend too long in the starting area, so when it opened up, I went and got in line right away, making it possible to be in the second group of eight ladies to cross the start line. I was joined by some of my favorite fellow NES members and even had the pleasure of both starting and finishing with Niki, a great Spahten buddy and fellow team relay member (of team Tiny ^2 + 1).

At 10:00 a.m. we crossed the starting line to tackle the 3K course. The course started with a brief  climb. The total elevation gain was around 515 feet, much of which I think we got in the first climb and the Wreck Bag carry (obstacle four). The initial climb spread us out a bit (and reminded me of how much running on flats I had been doing — I’ve done fewer hill repeats with my current training for sure). The first obstacle was a basic 8′ wall with some small steps to make things pretty manageable.

Valkyrie was up next. The obstacle was an a-frame with rings hanging underneath. I had seen this obstacle previewed on the NorAm website. I actually felt okay about my chances with this obstacle going into the race because the reach seemed reasonable, and, indeed, I could reach. On my first attempt, I made it to the penultimate ring basically doing one-handed pull-ups to make my way along. Unfortunately, I didn’t make the last ring, slipping off, and ended up down on the ground. (Note: Valkyrie goes up really quite high but the padding underneath the obstacle was top notch — much appreciated.) I was tired from my efforts but wanted to do my best and made a number of attempts on Valkyrie. Unfortunately, after about a half dozen tries I decided it was best at this point to move onto my B goal and cut my losses with the idea that I could do more obstacles if I didn’t entirely gas myself on this one. I was also not feeling entirely 100%. I was sluggish and a bit heavy. I gave up my band, and, while last year I would have been devastated, this year I felt okay. My mental training had given me the ability to be present about focusing on the next task, and my self-awareness about my training allowed me to realize that my A goal might not be a 2019 option.

The course had racers tackle a 6′ wall before heading over to the Wreck Bag carry. Athletes of all sexes were required to take a 50 pound bag. It was heavy. It was a sufferfest. It hurt. I was glad to take the bag off my shoulders and drag it under the Wreck Bag crawl. Getting it back up was another story but after a while I got it up and made my way down the hill to drop off the bag with relief.

Next up was La Gaffe, an obstacle that featured a set of pipes you had a to climb and made lean from pipe to pipe. I like this obstacle, having enjoyed it at OCR World Championships in 2017 and at NorAm last year. It is challenging and unique. As long a it’s not wet it’s something I can usually accomplish. It took a few shots, but I made my way through.

We went from La Gaffe to Underdog. I was feeling pretty ‘bleh’ at this point in the race. Underdog was a rig that started with a rope to a hanging cargo net to some monkey bars. The reach from the net to the higher-up bars was a bit more than I could handle at the moment. This was a rig that I should have been able to nail no problem (and in fact did the next two days), but I was a little out of it. I walked away and took a moment to catch my breath. I wanted to get rid of the slightly nauseated feeling I had. I took a breather and headed over to Skull Valley.

I took some breaths and started to feel a bit better; things were not going great, and I wanted to reset. Next up was Skull Valley. The set-up had you starting on some skull-shaped grips before moving to a set of pipes and then along another set of skull hand grips. I actually got a good sense of flow on this obstacle — perhaps some of the best so far this season — and made it through on my first pass. I was pleased. Things were turning around, though only for a little bit. I made my way to the next obstacle.

Gibbon was a highly technical obstacle and arguably the hardest of the day if you hadn’t encountered it before. The obstacle required racers to take a peg and in insert it into a grip to make your way along — think moving monkey bars. Again, I had watched this on the NorAm social media channel. This obstacle was hard though. I had no success with getting beyond the first grip and was still feeling a bit unwell. After several minutes, I moved along.

The course headed back uphill through a set of crawl jacks. I think all racers were pleased that the wire between the jacks wasn’t barbed. At the top of the mountain was Stairway to Heaven, an a-frame with stairs racers had to climb from underneath using only their fingers. I lost my band on Stairway at NorAm last year, though I had no problem with it at OCRWC in 2017. The first step started extremely high up and getting started was a struggle. My grip was fairly tired at this point and my work on Stairway was not ideal. Like I said, I had nailed Stairway at OCRWC in 2017 when I felt like it had stairs a little lower down to get you started, and I can reliably do the obstacle at some other races. The exact details matter.

For the last eight obstacles (42%) of the course I had no failed obstacles. I tackled the Rope Wall, which was actually a bit slippery with an oddly placed rope but do-able. Next were the balance logs where racers had to walk a set of up and down balance beams then doing a rope traverse-style move under a log and a final flat beam. It was, in the end, easier than it looked.

Little Foot was the next obstacle. It was somewhat like a traverse wall where you had to move your way along foot holds. Instead of a wall, there were beams that were angled toward the racers, which you could wrap you legs. This obstacle seemed fun enough and didn’t offer too much trouble.

Toward the end of the race the obstacle density was high. I jogged over to the obstacle over under. This obstacle had racers slide a long a metal pipe then switch to going below a pipe with hand and foot grips before again transitioning to being above a pipe. It was a bit awkward going from below to above but, again, totally do-able. The best part of almost all of these obstacles is that they were quite different from what a racer might see at their standard weekend event. The variety, difficulty-level, and innovation displayed in the obstacles at NorAm really sets it apart and challenges racers.

Twisted Swiss was next. This obstacle reminded me of one from Savage Race, though this version was from City Challenge. There were hanging metal boards with holes cut in them, much like Swiss cheese. You would transition from board to board with some sets of rings in between. I finished the obstacle and saw a racer fall off it hard onto her arm. Fortunately she was okay and the end was in sight.

Here I would like to add a bit of feedback I received from some volunteers when I posted on the NES Facebook page mentioning I was doing a review. I came upon a fellow Spahten at Tricky Swiss, and he was doing A+ work. It sounds like being a volunteer on-course had some challenges. Two experienced volunteer mentioned that they were not given as much instruction as would have been helpful for their volunteer roles. Here is a quotation from a volunteer working at the farmer’s carry on Sunday.

I arrive to find a bunch of sandbags and no instructions. Didn’t look like there was a difference between M / F, presumed 1 bag each hand (it is a farmer’s carry after all); so far I could make assumptions based on my experience. Then there was the camera guy, set up (in his words) to get people coming down the hill. This assumed a clockwise rotation but again – nobody told me. I had to ask and eventually got it confirmed that the camera guy was in the wrong place; that they were going counterclockwise.

A similar story was echoed by my teammate at Tricky Swiss.

I was at Tricky Swiss, and there was some confusion as to what parts of the rig the athletes were allowed to use. Originally we were told that any surface on the boards were in play, but when approached by [a race official], he told us they could only use the holes, not the tops or sides of the boards. We called out a few athletes for this, and made them reattempt the obstacle for grabbing sides and/or tops of the boards. NorAm staff came by later and then said that all surfaces of the boards were in play. I am not sure if this affected the outcome of the results at all, but I can see how it could.

I mention these two bits of feedback for one reason — NorAm cares about the experience of everyone who engages with their brand. My experience as an athlete at the 3K was top notch. I am always so appreciative of our volunteers, so I’d like to think that anything we can do to make their experience top notch too should be encouraged. I also know NorAm is very diligent about making sure that everyone has the same chances on each obstacle. Clarifications for volunteers sounds like a key piece of that.

Back to the race.

We ran toward the main area of the ski resort village, taking time to slide across two cars for Car Jacked. The last main obstacle loomed, Urban Sky. The current configuration featured two side ways trapezes, which rocked side-to-side, to three wheels at various angles and then a final set of two sideways trapezes. I failed this obstacle quite a few times but was determined to keep trying. I had made this obstacle sometimes in the past and not others. I wanted to make it now. I was focused on my B goal and doing well with as many obstacle as I could. I was finally feeling more like myself and was not dizzy at all. I had a bit of a rhythm going. My friend, Niki, met me at Urban Sky. “One more time,” I said, “Then we go to cross the finish line together.” This time, I made it all the way through. I actually missed ringing the final bell by an inch but for someone who lost their band making it through was good enough.

Niki and I ran over to The Wall, a last slip wall with a rope at the top. In wet weather this obstacle is killer but in the dry weather it was a snap. We made it in our first try and then ran across the finish line to collect our medals.

The 3K NorAm race was a challenging course. I didn’t feel my best the entire time and didn’t hit all my goals but I had fun and tried things again and again, challenging myself even after I lost my band because I wanted to. I played. I saw Adrian Bijanada, the creator of OCRWC and NorAm Championships at Urban Sky. “Are you having fun?” he asked. And you know what? I was.

Do I wish I had done better at NorAm 2019? Of course! That being said, I am glad to have had some back-up goals that I was able to attain. I’d love to have access to a good OCR gym, which I don’t have so super close to me, so that I can train for races like this instead of encountering new obstacle on race day. In the meantime, I’ve purchased some Force5 grips to bring to a playground near me for training. As I’ve mentioned, my training this year has moved away from OCR to endurance running. It’s been an adventure, but, if anything, NorAm reminded me that I want to return to focusing on OCR as my main sport. It’s what I love doing.

NorAm and OCRWC are the Olympics of our sport, certainly OCRWC is. It’s a great privilege to complete at these races and try your best. I am not sure where NorAm will be in 2020. If it’s close, I would love to go again and try my hand with a season of OCR-specific training behind me. That goal alone is a testament to the fantastic event that Adrian and team put on. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s 15K with curiosity and expectation.

(Note: A huge thanks to all my fellow NE Spahtens who provided awesome pictures for this post.)