* From: Shaina Brooks
* Event Details
Elevated Training is located at Ski Ward Ski Center in Shrewsbury, MA, and is a pretty Central location and easy to get to. Parking is right up front so you can walk right up to their registration table, sign your waiver on your first visit, and pay your reasonable fee, then get right to racing. They offer a NE Spahten discount (make sure to wear your Spahten gear!), and also season passes and are currently open Wednesdays at 4:30- dusk and Saturdays 10-1, last day of the season on Saturday, 9/27/14.
When you’re done with your training day you can sit back and enjoy a beer and some food at the Slopeside Bar & Grill, which has a nice covered outdoor patio area.
* Race Details
I’m going to put it out there that I went to this facility with not very big expectations. I mean, you only get so much for the small fee they charge, right? I was pleasantly surprised at how well put together the course is and what an excellent workout I got, especially specific to OCR since, well, it’s an obstacle course!
When you start out they do offer to time you, which I have not yet partaken in. They have a course map you can check out, but the course is clearly marked throughout its’ 2.4 miles. Also important to note, you can go as many times as you can until they close. I’ve taken more advantage of using the time to practice obstacles like the rope climb, spear throw, and flipping the giant tire to feel like superwoman for .2 seconds.
The course designer makes great use of the ski slopes right away. You will visit these through most of the course- perfect OCR training! They do a good job of adding obstacles, even just little ones, to break up the up and downs.
A list of the obstacles that I went through in September 2014:
-Ladder push-ups
– Crawl
– Rope climb (2 knotted, 2 straight ropes about 15′)
– Small slanted wall with rope
– PVC pipe balance
-Under a-frame
– 8′ Wall, one side lots of steps
-Trail run
– over A-frame with uneven steps
-Sandbag carry with “beginner” and “advanced” weights (They make GREAT use of a steep hill on this one, with small walls to step over, one of my favorite obstacles here!)
– crawl under tarps
– Bucket carry with full or half full buckets
– Tires
– Large pipe crawl
– Tire flip (with an extra giant tire flip option)
– Tire carry and pull
-Mud pit
-Crawl under rope with water spraying
– rope wall
– Traverse wall with easy side and difficult side
– Spear throw
– balance beam
– I have probably forgotten an obstacle and am surprised I remembered this many
As popularity grows, so does the course. It seems they have added many since the last review. They are looking to offer a quality course that keeps people coming back and definitely take input regularly. I highly recommend this facility and plan on going regularly when they open again next year.
* Rating
Excellent
