* From: Jamie Gillon
* Event: 100 Acres Challenge, Intervale, NH
* Event Details
The event took place on a public use trails system that appears to be owned by a non-profit that also runs a small theater, just beyond North Conway. It supported a very good cause: literacy programs in rural Northern NH and Western ME. This was my third (Samurai Sprint, Monster Mud Run at Loon), and my girlfriend’s first OCR. We both live in NH and hike a lot in the Whites, additionally, she is a librarian and has family connections to the north country, so the charity and location was a personal draw for us.
Parking was adequate, and I saw no problems. They had indoor bathrooms, but no showers at the theater, and a large check in tent. There was not much for vending, outside of one beer tent and food tent, with no vegetarian options. Schwag was a nice cotton t-shirt, and a choice of mug or water bottle. The mug got you a free beer if you were 21+. The beer was Moat Mountain, from North Conway, so it was nice to see a local company utilized. Everything ran pretty smoothly, and it was a nice and laid back atmosphere, not even 200 participants, they said they usually get a bigger turnout when not competing with bigger name races, as Tough Mudder, Rugged Maniac and another local race were all running in New England that weekend.
* Race Details
The course was very well marked and well manned along a trail with some up and down. The obstacles were not all that difficult, it was more of a fun run – which was great for her first one.
The started with a water slide into a mud pit, that was fun, but should not have been at the beginning, as it was a literal pile up. They did have several repeated obstacles: two sets of the following: two 8′ inverted ladder walls, balance walks on the steel supports for bridges they removed, dirt pile scrambles followed by dirt slides. They also had a wall with handholds, and a tree balance walk, so those felt almost like tripled up from a skill set perspective – but I do like those, so it worked out.
There were a number of natural “obstacles” including fallen tree “hurdles”, a pond swim, brook walk, boulder pile and a deep hole to go down and up out of – so in some ways the 23 obstacles advertised felt “padded”. Towards the end they had a covered crawl, followed immediately by three mud puddles you went right into and out of, followed immediately by a culvert crawl with shallow water – definitely the muddiest section of the race. They also had an inner tube rope traverse, that was no challenge, but definitely a fun little break. It would have been nice to have a grip obstacle like ropes or monkey bars, different heights on the wall climbs and/or a carry to add some variety.
All in all, it was a good fun race that is worth doing, especially for a beginner or a local, but its nothing too special to go out of your way for. If it works with my calendar, I’d go back, but its not one I will plan my 2016 race schedule around.
* Rating
Average
