* From: Jonna Capecci
* Event Details
Parking was well marked with road signs along Rt 1.
I wish I picked up my packet to save money, but the biggest issue was waiting awhile in line.
The bag drop off and bathrooms were easily accessible.
Love the upgraded ROC shirt that came with the living social deal.
* Race Details
I was surprised it wasn’t actually at Gillette. I figured Spartan does the sprint at Fenway, so thought this was in the stadium itself. It wasn’t. It was in a parking lot across the street.
The course was easy. Running was either concrete or flat grounds with rocks. Most people walked or jogged. It wasn’t like a race.
Obstacles were a blast!
The first was the gorilla bars. Hard on the hands, but short and easy to finish.
It was nice that they had different size walls to climb for all skill levels. Getting ready for Spartan next week so it was nice to get over the big wall easily.
It truly felt like Wipe Out with the wrecking ball and Big Ball obstacles.
The slides with and without foam were fast and fun.
The weather was misty, but it didn’t matter as you got wet anyway.
The volunteers had a lot of energy and made it fun.
Only one problem was the long line by the Big Ball obstacle, but it was so fun to see others do it, it didn’t matter.
I had my two kids with me and it was a fun way to spend the day. Not sure I would do it again, but glad we did it today!
* Rating
Average
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* From: Lora Monachino
* Event Details
I need to preface my review by disclosing that I was sidelined by an injury that put me in the role of spectator. No doubt I’ll have a different viewpoint from those who ran the race.
Being at Gillette stadium was a big draw for this event, so it was disappointing to find that all of it took place across Rt.1 where you couldn’t even see the stadium. There seemed to be plenty of parking in reasonable proximity and there were a decently number of people helping direct the cars.
There were no venders to speak of beyond ROC merchandise which was steeply priced. The race didn’t include a medal, and the upgrade to a tek shirt was a whopping $20. Too much! It appeared that there was adequate porta-johns available. Not having used one I can’t speak to the cleanliness. The layout was awkward, with even the starting corral poorly marked.
* Race Details
Everyone I spoke with said the obstacles were a lot of fun. For that reason only I hope to see it return so I can take a stab at it. Beyond that, however, this event failed to make the grade. Perhaps because of the poor weather, the heats went out one after another, resulting in very extensive back-ups and lines at nearly every obstacle…or so I was told. I wouldn’t know myself because of the next HUGE problem. The obstacles, reminiscent of Wipe Out and ANW, are fabulous for spectators who love watching friends and family either succeed or get wet. However, this course was set up so poorly that only the final slide was viewable, and even that was set up side-on so if the people you were watching took the other slide, you saw nothing. If I was to say they couldn’t have set it up any worse for viewing than they did, I truly wouldn’t be stretching the truth. I feel that this race had so much potential to be a great, fun event for all but sadly it ending up being disappointing
almost all around. Lots of planning should be done if they hope to come back at a family fun event as they billed themselves to be.
* Rating
Below Average
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* From: michael downey
* Event Details
being that this was there first time to the region we wernt exactly sure to expect but were optimistic and hopeful. there were some positive and some negative things to this event ill get to them later. first off parking was easy as it was at gillette stadium and once you got about 1/4 mile away the electronic signs pointed you to where to park and oce in the lot there were plenty of signs to direct you to the race area. once on sight though is where things fell flat on there face for a bit. the “festival ” was as baron and uninviting as they come and had the weather been sunny and in the 80’s would have been a ugly scene. no real place to hang out before hand, no vendors, no food, no drinks ( although by about 10am there was a 10×10 tent selling bottles of water and cliff protine bars ) and really nothing to do untill time to race. bag check as free and running well so thats a plus. one good thing was the color coded bibs to prevent wave jumping. back to some of the positi
ve and negative. a big negative for me was the fact when registering they informed you that if you couldent make the friday night bib pick up there would be a $5.00 fee to pick up on site that left a sour taste in my mouth but i figure i would wait and see when and where the pick up would be, thats where the sour taste stuck for good. there ONLY pick up as on friday im mansfield mass from 11am-7 pm meaning anyone who lived and worked north of the mass pike had just about ZERO chance of making it but thankfuly they did allow others to pick up so that saved quiet a few of us
* Race Details
the course itself it followed the map released rather well and the mile markings were a lil short ( by about .15 miles) but close enough. the course itself was just about as flat as you can get and on a mix of either asphault or hard packed dirt and gravel.there were 2 water stops on the course but they were using water from a garden hose and filling up giant plastic containers so it had a real odd taste. the obstacles themself are VERY well put together and staffed and quiet fun and most of us wish we could have gone down them a few times. difficulty i would place on as low of a scale as you could the only real degree of difficulty was the gorilla bars other than that it was like a day at a water park. two places where R.O.C. really dropped the ball the utter lack of spectator access to the course and the lack of any staff picture takers at some of the obstacles and being that this race is really being sold to the first timers i think having a few pics of there first ever e
vent would be a good add. i think this is a very fun series and would do it again next year if they come around. overall there were a few downsides but overall i think there issues that could easily be fixed
* Rating
Above Average
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* From: Maureen MacGregor
* Event Details
The day was a bit drizzly and we had picked a pm heat due to the travel distance.
Parking was free and the race was actually across the street from Gillette Stadium. There was plenty of signage for parking and where to go for registration. I was disappointed it wasn’t actually at Gillette though.
We had to pay for race packet pickup ($5) since we live too far to pick up day beforehand. That being said, I didn’t see anyone asking for money when you picked up your bib. A short line for pickup where you were handed your pins and bib, then made your way over to pick up a T-shirt. Normal t-shirts were a light cotton shirt. I had signed up via Living Social which added a free tech shirt. They ran big-even the small swims on me but nice to have. Since my husband had signed up directly when they first opened registration I took the chance and emailed them about a free upgrade tech for him too. They agreed and were really nice about it. ( It was his first OCR and worth a try, right?)
Bag check: free and they wrapped your bag in a large clear plastic garbage bag to keep it dry.
Bibs were color coded by time so there was no way to get in an earlier heat. I did see several people who had arrived late jump into a later heat though.
Spectator area:
This is where I feel the biggest pitfall was. Hardly any vendors were around-I believe Boston Sports Club, the Marines were there doing a pull-up challenge, I think Cliff bars were handing something out and a tent for ROC purchase merchandise. There were no vendors for food/drink afterwards and not much to see while you waited for your heat to start. There were plenty of bathrooms available and the ones I used appeared clean.
* Race Details
The race was untimed and our heat went out right on time. However we were in the front of the race group; if we were in the back they were letting people out a little bit at a time so I’m sure we would’ve had to wait a while to start the race.
There were 2 water stops along the way and bathrooms along the course itself in case you needed it.
The obstacles were a blast! They were all inflatables which added a fun twist to this for me. I particularly enjoyed the giant moon-bounce where I was jumping up and down like a kid again. The obstacles were easy and fun except for the swinging balls and 4 red balls. Some other noteworthy obstacles included:
Monkey bars
Tarzan rope swing
Several slides-one with an inner tube and some with water/foam throughout
3 heights of walls to climb over-all of them had a 2×4 nailed upright to the front face to make it easier
4 large red balls you had to jump on. According to the volunteers only a few made it all the way through
Wrecking ball swing at you as you walked across over a pool. We had to wear lifejackets for the 40” of water
we might fall into.
Traverse rope
The last obstacle was a large slide and afterwards you could play in the foam. Unfortunately there were no photographers around and my cell was safely packed away due to the rain.
They had MCs at some of the larger obstacles where there was a wait to help keep things upbeat. We never had to wait more than I’d say 5-6 minutes for the obstacles in the afternoon but I did hear that there were longer lines in the am.
BONUS: Even though we didn’t run with NES we did meet up with some of them (prerace for us; postrace for them) for a bite to eat after they posted on the event page where they were going. Thanks guys!
Overall a fun 5K event.
* Rating
Average
