RAID Series

3 thoughts on “RAID Series”

  1. Ryan

    I will preface this review with the fact that this was my first OCR.

    From a communication point of view there wasn’t really much until a day or two before the race when I got 3 emails all with the same content in it. However the emails did have all the relevant information about the race I needed so the content of the emails was useful, just wish they communicated details a little earlier.

    The venue being in downtown Boston was nice. You could easily do the race in the morning and then spend the day in downtown Boston doing touristy things. I noticed the line for packet pickup got really long later on in the morning as others had mentioned but I got there early and it wasn’t a problem.

    While the venue being in downtown Boston was nice this was also a negative when it came to the course. There was one street they could not close traffic on so I had to stop running for about 30-45 seconds and wait for traffic. They did stop the timer on your chip when you had to cross the street so it didnt count against you but I didnt like how I had to stop running. All the obstacles were pretty standard and they had volunteers there to explain them if you didnt know what to do. The cargo net crawl up to government center was the most unique obstacle but again there was a line of people waiting to clime up. This did count against your overall time which was kind of disappointing.

    Overall I feel like this is a good beginners OCR. It was the first OCR I have ever done and I felt a little disappointed in how challenging it was overall. However if you are not someone who is in excellent shape (not that I am but by no means am I out of shape either) you might find it a little underwhelming as well. I would recommend this race for and beginner looking to get their feet wet.

  2. Alissa

    This was a 5k OCR however it had more of a road race feel – a runner’s course through the streets of Downtown Boston with a handful of obstacles. It’s not a particularly challenging course, however it was a good course for beginners or for those who prefer a runner’s course as opposed to an obstacle-heavy one. I personally liked being in Downtown Boston, with the traffic, the tourists, the police detail, and the feeling of being in the center of it all in a city setting. I think the course maximized its use of space, with winding running paths that looped around Boston landmarks such as City Hall Plaza, Faneuil Hall, and the Waterfront. Obstacles included about 15-20 running hurdles (about knee high), a short rope wall, climbing down a rope instead of up, a few tire flips, a small tunnel crawl over grass, a tire pull, a sandbag carry with two weight options, a giant cargo net and finally a wall climb with several foothold options for all levels of expertise. There was one water stop but you hit it going to and from the Waterfront, so we actually had two water breaks which was nice. Volunteers were friendly and helpful. Wave times were released every 5mins and little to no backup during the run. It was a quick race and by the time I finished it at 9:30am, the last wave had gone out, and cleanup of the course was beginning! The festival area included a live band and several food vendors, however the beer didn’t particularly appeal to me at 9:30am so I opted out of that. There was a nice tech-shirt but no medals except for the top 3 winners, which was a bit of a disappointment however the race was at the affordable price point of around $35-40 so I was ok without the medal. Discounted parking was offered nearby for $11, but we didn’t print out our ticket and we were able to find another parking garage right across the street for $14. One of the most impressive features of the race was that everyone received a timing chip, and our times were available virtually immediately! By the time I got back to my car, I had a text and email on my phone with my finish time, which was really cool! It was a fun, low-pressure kind of race and I really enjoyed it.

  3. Ann

    This one is actually kind of hard to rate. The race is what is it – a 5k through Boston with some obstacles thrown in. Nothing too exciting apart form the massive cargo net going up City Hall. But I had a lot of fun running along the streets and doing obstacles with pedestrians cheering me on, and will likely sign up again next year.

    A few more points:
    I got there a half hour before the first wave and the registration line was short, but by the time I ran it looked very long. They could have used a few more volunteers.

    I like how they do frequent small waves. I never encountered the slightest backup.

    Swag and awards – This field in particular is hard to give a score to. There are no medals and t-shirts cost extra, though there was free beer (but note the next paragraph). But the race was comparatively cheap – around $40 when I registered (not super early). Personally I’m ok with the t-shirt not being wrapped into the price since most race shirts don’t end up fitting me very well and just go into a box.

    Beer – The first wave went off at 8 AM so I’m guessing there were a decent number of people done by 8:30. According to a picture on their facebook page the beer garden didn’t open until 10:00 AM (it was definitely not open around 9 AM when I left). Maybe it’s a city rule but they could at least have let people know that the free beer wouldn’t necessarily be available as soon as they finished.

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