5K Obstacle Adventure
100 Acre Wood, Intervale, NH
Run, Swim, Crawl, Climb & then some!!
Competitors will run, swim, crawl and climb as this 5K challenge takes them into the mud, water, over walls, rock piles and through the wood. It’s all in fun and for a good cause with net proceeds benefiting the Believe in Books Literacy Foundation and our programs.
Individuals and teams of two or four are invited and for kids 12 and under there is the Mini Acre Challenge featuring mini obstacles.
Registration is limited to 250 participants.
This was my girlfriend and my third time running this event. In 2015, this was my third event, at that point, I’d only done local 5k OCRs. This year it was my 24th, and I’ve done many brands and distances. My girlfriend is less of an OCR enthusiast, and has only done this one and Wason Pond Pounder. This year I ran a lap individually in the first wave, then another with her. While not designated, the first wave is the de-facto “competitive” as all the individuals, and virtually all of the top ten finishers ended up there, while the rest of the day is all “teams” of two or four. There were a few competitive ones, but it was mostly locals in matching shirts designating clever team names and/or workplaces.
With my returning racer discount, I spent only $80.00 on three laps by signing up shortly after last year’s event. Even day of registration is only $60.00. The proceeds go to literacy programs in the area. I get the impression there are more locals than OCR enthusiasts in the field.
Communication:
We got an email of heat times a few days before, they responded almost instantly when I emailed to ask for my second heat to be shifted back, as I would have still been on course. There is not a ton of communication about the race beforehand, but that is to be expected for a small race.
Venue & Festival:
Its on a beautiful trail system surrounded by excellent mountain views abutting the theater owned by the foundation. They had access to the theater for changing, bathrooms, etc. There was a food truck, a beer tent, and activities for the kids from Home Depot. The kids’ race was actually first, so that kept them busy. They also had a used book swap – going along with the foundation. Kids were allowed to run the adult course with parents.
Check in was a breeze. I could see the area getting cramped if it were to have the limit of 250 racers, as there was only half that. They did lack bag check, which would have been nice. They had bag pipers sending off the runners, then staked out mid course, which was a cool touch. Post race they had a cover band playing. The race volunteers and everyone running was incredibly nice at both the festival area and on course
Course & Obstacles:
5k course on a really nice trail system. There were some short scrambles on loose rock and dirt slides, but mostly easy running. There were also several spots where a short swim was necessary. Obstacle wise, there were some simple local race standards such as inverted ladder walls, culvert and tunnel mud crawls. They also utilized the pond well with a pretty steep water slide and inner tube rope traverse. The also had some natural obstacles such as fallen trees used a balance beams, and low hurdles. They seem to shift the course clockwise/counter clockwise each year, and slightly modify it beyond that. I will say, they could probably use more obstacle lanes, as the course got a bit bottle-necked late in the day – though by then anyone running competitively was done. There were no penalties for failing an obstacle.
Swag & Awards:
Every participant got a t shirt, a buff and plastic mug with free beer ticket. I actually won my division, so I got the glass stein given to all top three finishers from the various categories, along with free passes to several local attractions – the value of which easily covered my entry. Given that this is inexpensive and a charity event, I don’t expect anything too fancy, so what they had was really good – no doubt thanks to donations.
If you are looking to have really tough obstacles, or a highly competitive field – this isn’t the race. If you go in expecting a small scale family friendly event with some people pushing the pace in the early heats, and mostly fun runners afterwards, you’ll probably have a good time. I would compare it to the Wason Pond Pounder in terms of the race itself, but much smaller in terms of people. The last two years I ran this the weekend after Killington – which was a nice change of pace. All in all, it was a fun day in a great area, and I recommend this event to anyone who wants to do a small scale fun event and support a great cause.