The Trident Race

* From: Steven Blais

* Race Details
July 25: a busy day for New England obstacle course racing and the New England Spahtens. Multiple races at multiple venues – and The Trident Race attempted to take on all comers.

Located at the picturesque Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island, seemed destined for greatness – even providing a “double booked special” price to accommodate people running the BattleFrog race in Barre.

Unfortunately, the rest of the race wasn’t entirely geared to helped to accommodate multi – race – racers.

Scheduled to begin at 8 AM, the first heat of the Trident race began at 8:45 AM, promptly putting people up against the wall with the impending 90+ minute drive to Massachusetts. No announcement of this delay was made until 10 minutes after the scheduled start of the first heat.

Once the race began, unfortunately it was not all smooth sailing. The first obstacle, a pair of 8 foot walls, it was roughly 100 m from the starting line, creating an almost immediate bottleneck.

This was followed by a bungee-cord barbwire crawl for about 50 m. Despite traffic, it still made for an entertaining start to the race.

Once through the bottleneck, runners made their way to the seaside bike path through Colt State Park. Great views, but minimal challenge, especially for strong runners.

At this point, the big detractor for the run was that the course was very poorly marked. On at least four occasions, runners had to stop and try to figure out which way the course went, because volunteers and passed markings were minimal throughout the event. (At one point, I traveled at least a quarter mile in the wrong direction before encountering a volunteer who directed me in the appropriate path.)

Once we hit the woods, it became a little more OCR – based. A cargo net of tires greeted runners not long after and during the woods, which was followed by a log carry, a rope climb, and a stone carry.

The Trident race made great use of the rocky coastline of Rhode Island. In liu of the standard bucket brigade filled with rocks, runners filled 5 gallon bucket with water before beginning a trek about 200 m total before making their way down the beach. Once finished, runners made their way past dozens of fishermen along the beach, and back into the main part of the park.

Once off the beach, the first and only water stop made its appearance before we grabbed wreck bags for a cross-field run. The Trident Race made great use of the spaces available to them for this event, including the beautiful fields that Colt State Park has two offer

Next up, runners carried a hay bale 200m down and back, helping to make you feel like you’re back home on the farm.

A small slip and slide took runners down the hill back towards the finish line. It felt almost like an afterthought, however, and lacked both slipping and sliding.

The course reverted back towards the beginning for the best part of the race. Runners went underneath one of the bridges, and forded across a 40′ stream of ocean water, in some parts requiring a swim, before the final push to the finish line.

In addition to the race, The Trident Race offered a kids race for the tiny humans, and there were numerous vendors on site, including rides on the Remax hot air balloon.

Logistically, the race was a mess. 45 minutes late to start without explanation wasn’t the best idea, as the elites and early heat runners were pretty unhappy. The heat schedule did eventually get back on track.

The race billed 20+ obstacles – there were maybe a dozen. I’m unsure if Trident Race ran into any issues with the Town of Bristol, or the RI Dept of Environmental Management, but the lack of communication was pretty terrible.

I’m honestly unsure if this would be a race worth revisiting – it was nice that it was local, but in hindsight, two or more laps at BattleFrog would’ve been a better way to spend my Saturday.

On the Robb McCoy Biceps Scale, I would give this race 💪💪 of 5 possible McCoy Biceps. At least the medals were cool.

* Rating
Below Average

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* From: Kristen Liberty

* Event Details
Parking: free parking. This is a plus – free anything is good right?
Well- we were told to arrive an hour in advance per usual for any race. When I got to the venue there were no signs once you turned in to Colt State park indicating which direction to go. I parked at one spot and was told I may get blocked in but they didn’t know – so to be safe I moved. By then, there was a “parking attendant” who flagged us down a road. We got down the road to another attendant who led us down a bike path that circled right back to the first attendant. When I asked him where we were supposed to be parking his response was “I don’t know, I’m only 17 years old”. The I don’t know answer becomes a theme as this day continues. I parked in my own spot away from where we were supposed to park and I ended up being okay there.

Registration: they had ONE line. One for waivers. Then another line for number pick up. And lastly tee shirt pick up. No one seemed very organized by having their assigned station. People looked at me like they had no clue why I was even in line. While I appreciate volunteers 100 percent (I volunteer often) these people were bumps on a log. In fact when I got to tee shirt pick up I said small and the girl looked at me all confused and said oh this isn’t my station but I guess I can get you the shirt. What?

Facilities: THREE porta potties. 3!!!! Evidently the plumbing broke the evening before and they had to scramble. Regardless with plumbing working I think the bath house had 3 toilets. I had no problem with lines as I went off in the elite heat but when I finished the line was about 40 people long – I peed in the woods.

There was one tent AT the finish line that people were changing in. I don’t know if that was the intended use ? But if so it was unisex. No thanks ??? So I changed in my car after.

communication : zero. The race started 45 minutes late. The emcee at the start line was calling. The race director and couldn’t reach him. Said his phone was off and if she didn’t hear by 8:45 we’d start then. Also one of he other emcees was near registration announcing a bunch of stuff , couldn’t tell you what bc I could not hear him. The “festival” was so spread out with zero organization. Back to the communication piece – no one made an announcement saying sorry we are running late. It was all learned by word of mouth. While we waited all morning to start- several of us asked volunteers where the race started and finished. You can guess the answer “I don’t know”

* Race Details
The race itself: about 25 yards past the start line was an 8 foot wall. Not the best placement ? There was a lot of running which benefitted me largely but I went there for OCR not a 4.2 mile sprint with some walls and carries. The course was marked mediocre at best and volunteers were sparse. There were places where a volunteer was yelling at two different directions of people at once and you couldn’t understand. I’m sure all finishers have different distances.
The obstacles were few and far between. More on one of the RD’s later but apparently the night before the park stepped in and made them change and eliminate things. Why they waited to run this plan by the park so late is my question. They had carries- one was a log Carry in the woods. They had maybe 10 logs half of which were literally bloated twigs. The carry was short. They also had a super short rock carry. And these were thrown in a pile and any size from a pebble to a boulder. You could tell it was half assed. There was a wreck bag carry which was decent but also- short. A bucket full of ocean water carry( and every step you took water splashed out) A hay carry – creative but short, again. Everything was short.

There were two walls during the race. They had a rope climb and it was literally funny. There were 2 knots in it. No bell at the top. The one obstacle I actually liked was the tire cargo net. I told the volunteer it was awesome and her response was “yea it’s different they just put it together like 5 minutes ago” she was awesome and by her mannerism she was even annoyed with the lack of organization. She made me smile though! They had what I think was supposed to be a tyrolean traverse but you really couldn’t put that over knee deep water with rocks under it so basically you swam across or waded and held the rope. I didn’t mind it but it certainly wasn’t tyrolean traverse.

This OCR would be perfect for new comers to the sport who aren’t totally comfortable with the difficulty of say a Spartan race – but it should be advertised as such. The website said 20 plus obstacles and showed photos of obstacles that were not there nor even close to being there.

awards ? I’ll let you guess the answer when I asked at the finish line if there were awards. “I don’t know” I Finally place first in a race and I was hoping to have an awards recognition. Something. So some guy gets called over and starts chatting. He’s like “yea, the first 3 guys had to leave”. Ok? So that doesn’t tell me if there’s an awards ceremony. Th me RD kept answering my questions with questions. “Well do you have to leave?” I am left only to think they didn’t even think of that and they are trying to buy time.

I started taking more with this RD. his name was Ethan. I was being honest in saying that since I arrived at the race no one seemed to have a clue about anything and I would love to see this race be successful but they have to work these things out next time. I told him I am part of running clubs and NES and we all communicate about our experiences. I told him I am a seasoned OCR racer and I’ve never seen anything so unorganized. Instead of asking nicely for feedback he got defensive and said things like “you’re the only one to say this” “was there anything you did like?” “Our volunteers went over the course several times last night and they all know the answers ”
Just excuses and more excuses and extreme condescending manner with me. Anyways after going in circles and getting nowhere with him- he writes me a check for $200. That’s apparently the prize for winning which is cool because I didn’t expect that- but sadly I left the race feeling sour about it. Even with the 200$ in my pocket.

I think it’s important for the RD to respect the race and the participants. The athletes are what keeps these things going and makes them successful and this gentleman did not care to hear me out rather just try to shut me down. I honestly don’t know if I could do this one again.

Pros: free parking. Free spectator. Nice medal and shirt. The venue- it was absolutely gorgeous there.

Cons: I think you got the picture by now 🙂

* Rating
Below Average

———

From: Preston Hill

Event Details
Arrival:
We arrived at Colt State Park a little before 10 AM. There was no signage from the main gate to the parking area but we did see a few volunteers pointing the way. More signage and way finding would have been nice as I had never been to that park before and hate flying blind once GPS says “arrived” at the Main gate.

Parking:
When we got to the parking area, we had 3 – 4 volunteers handling parking. They were friendly, smiling and super efficient. Parking was free and ample room to park in a grass lot. There was a short walk to the main staging area that had to go over a small rock wall/rocky area. This was a problem for the elderly, people pushing strollers and carrying large bags. Not really anybody’s fault but I hope they can find a workaround next year.

Venue:
The main area was spread out and had a hot air balloon ride, bouncy houses, vendors, concession stand, live music, two separate announcers/PA systems, a kid’s obstacle course and a New England clam boil. The venue had swings, a playground, picnic tables, a small beach and restrooms. The registration area was on the far side of everything else in its own separate shelter. Again, signage was lacking but helpful volunteers were proactive in asking if I needed to register and pointed me in the right direction.

Reg:
Registration was quick & easy. A huge stack of waivers, lots of pens, no lines, it took all of 2 minutes from saying “hi” to walking away with my shirt.

Goodies:
Schwag included a t-shirt, wrist band & bumper sticker. T-shirt was gray, average quality with a simple design that I could see wearing out and about.

Start Line:
I was in the 11 AM wave. We left at around 11:10 to give the first wave time to clear the first obstacle. Since the race was timed by your ankle chip, it wasn’t a big deal. Overall:
Back at the main area, this is where I felt Trident Race really nailed it. They sold this (to me at least) as a fun day with the family with the bonus of me getting to run an OCR while they keep the kids entertained and we still get a family day out of it. They really delivered on that and I had a very happy family for the day.

Race Details:
Course:
The course was a flat 4.25 loop mostly on a paved bike path with grass fields, pedestrian paths, dirt trails and a rocky shoreline. If you are used to running/jogging/walking that distance, this was not a challenge. For first timers, newbies & people getting back into shape, it was ideal for that level of athlete.

Obstacles:
In the order I remember them (and I am probably wrong and may miss 1 or 2)
**NOTE ON OBSTACLES**
After many people noticing the lower than advertised number and quality of the obstacles, the RD posted this reply and it is only right I include it here:
Hello, my name is Ethan Tucker and I am the RD, thank you so much for attending the first Trident Race. Please keep the feedback and pointers coming. Feel free to shoot me a message any time.Two days before the race they State DEM asked us to not use a handful of obstacles. We worked 48 hours straight through the night to try and move things around and comply, but it did result in fewer obstacles and for that I am truly sorry. Working with the state can sometimes be difficult, but part of our vision was to be able to race in such a beautiful place. Our goal was to bring a family OCR event to Colt State Park and raise some funds for our 2 charities. Next year will be bigger and better all around. TY

Wall:
While it is nice to have that “big” obstacle all your friends and family can see you go over at the start, I’d rather have something that “thins the herd” first so people who are trying to crush the course can be out front and those of us who want to see every person do all the obstacles can get out of the way and try it a few times without feeling like we are holding people up.
Rope Crawl:
Believe it or not, this was the scariest obstacle I encountered in the whole race. The “rope” was some sort of bungee cord that had lots and lots of stretch to it and it was low to the ground. This meant that if you were crawling in the middle, the person in front of you would get the cord caught on them, it would stretch forward 8-10 feet then snap right back into your face or whip across your back.
Wall:
The 2nd (and last?) wall was a shorter version of the of the first one. By then the herd had thinned so to speak so it was a quick up and over. One note here, I heard people complaining about no foot hold on the opposite side to help people get down once they climbed over.
Log Carry:
Carry different size logs around a short loop. Not too heavy & they had a volunteer at the turnaround point to help people move the log to the other shoulder which was nice.
Lunges:
Short distance of lunges. Honestly, not sure if this was a spur of the moment decision to ease up the back up at the rope climb or planned. Either way, I actually no longer suck at lunges so I banged them out.
Rope Climb:
Numerous ropes with different numbers of knots. There were more ropes than volunteers but they did buddy you up on the spot to have someone hold the rope/spot you. No mats or padding under the rope climbs and you were given the option of 15 push ups as an alternative to climbing the rope.
Tire Wall:
Small tire wall to climb over.
Rock Carry:
See Log carry but replace the word “log” with “rock”
Bucket Carry:
This one was fun because it was different. Wade into the ocean, fill up your 5 gallon bucket and carry it around a loop. I ended up continuously sloshing water on my head as I balanced it on my shoulder. Others thought that was funny.
Wreck Bag Carry:
See Log or Rock carry but replace with “wreck bag”
Hay Bale:
See Log, Rock or Wreck Bag carry and replace with “hay bale” with the addition that by the time I got there most of the bales had disintegrated into flakes which made it hard to find an actual bale to carry. But the volunteer running that station was very upbeat, motivational and really made the best out of an unforeseen bad situation.
Slip N’ Slide:
Nothing special, honestly a huge let down from the promised “Poseidon’s Rogue Wave” It was fun to do (did it twice in a row) but not memorable at all.
Swim:
The last obstacle was a swim across a shallow body of water. 3 volunteers were there, there was a rope across for people who didn’t feel comfortable swimming. It was fun.

Final Thoughts:
As it is Trident Race is an Excellent OCR for first timers & beginners, especially those who brought their family along. For “serious” or “seasoned” OCR athletes, I would rate this Below Average. I just didn’t see the challenges there to actually challenge them.
That being said, I am in the group where being able to take the whole family to watch me run and not have them be bored to tears is a gem. If the race directors were to read this, I would suggest they ditch the elite waves with cash prizes, the “sizzle” of trying to be the biggest, baddest, hardest, toughest, etc. and focus on the family fun day aspect, the kid obstacle course, and the newbie/beginner/getting back into shape runner. Incorporate more unique ocean/sand/water obstacles to make your brand stand out, keep the clam boil because it was delicious and you have a winner.

 

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* From: Tarah Ryfa

* Event Details
I arrived to the race shortly before the 11am team wave.  I had already seen a couple of comments online about how things weren’t running so smoothly, so I was hoping that some of the problems I was seeing would be worked out.  They kind of were.

Key item: Signage, signage, signage.  I knew how to get to the Wedding that was being held there and the Baby-Que (?) but the signs for Trident Race upon entering the park were limited, as in none. It was more of, “I hope we are going the right way.”  It wasn’t until I saw two ladies holding signs, one said Trident Race & the other Parking, that I knew I was in the right area.  Parking was free, which is always a plus and a short walk to the festival area.  However, where the parking was located it brought you to the back of the festival area.  I couldn’t tell where we were. Near the start? Registration?  I actually had to ask where registration was.  Maybe there was a sign for it but being that parking brought us in behind it, I couldn’t see any.  Registration was one line with one person checking you in (around 10:30am) and another line to get your shirt.  There was only two others there when I checked in, so it wasn’t an issue for me.

There were 3 (4?) port-a-potties. Yea, I won’t say more about this.

Swag was nice.  Medal is really cool & I like how the date is on the ribbon!  You also got a bumper sticker and rubber bracelet. T-shirt is also really nice, probably one of my favorites.

There was a tent located near the start line (which had no identifying markers other than the time clock and a bunch of people standing in front of it) which held all of the vendors and a band.  Didn’t really get to check it out because I was in a rush but it seemed to offer quite a bit.  It had face painting for the kids, massages, etc.  There was also a tethered hot air balloon ride.  The race also advertised a post race clambake (for an additional charge).  I didn’t get to partake in that (again I was in a rush) but it looked yummy in photos.  The finish line was in a great spot. I hope you can see the ocean in the background in the photos. I only saw a portion of the kids course.  The kids playing on it seemed to be enjoying themselves.

All in all the festival area felt backwards.  All the stuff you do after the race, was near the start & registration near the finish. And nothing was clearly marked (which seemed to be the theme of the day).  And the parking leading to the back of the course was annoying.

* Race Details
The location of the course was beautiful.  Colt State Park is a great park, however, being a state park, I was wondering if they would run into trouble with obstacles & it appears they did.  That being said, some of the obstacles seemed a last minute thought.

Around 4 miles, the course took you on the bike paths/road, a bit in the woods, on the shoreline, in the water and on the grassy fields.  It is a busy park so at some points I felt it got a bit dangerous as there was park traffic.  I haven’t had to look before I cross the street in an OCR before, and I did, twice.  I also had to slow down as someone pulled their boat off the boat dock & another was getting ready to load theirs in (just before the finish).  This is a huge safety factor in my eyes.  I know there isn’t much to be done as it’s a public park but it’s something to think about in the future regarding venue despite how beautiful it is.  The course needs to be blocked off to public traffic.

The start of the course had an 8 foot wall.  Maybe they wanted to start off with a bang but all it caused was delays & bottle necking.  It was also only 1 of two walls.  I don’t remember the order of the obstacles so here’s what I remember:

Rope climb:  Need better rope.  That yellow plastic rope is horrible stuff.  Bell at top.
Wreck bag carry: Need marker where to go to and come back.  Also would be good to have 25lbs & 50lbs (had 25 and 35).
Hay bale carry:  I liked this. Maybe have it a big longer and more picnic table to climb over but overall I liked it.  Also, they need more bales on standby as they can fall apart quickly.
Log carry: Had to wait for log. Distance was too short.
Tire climb: Was falling apart when I got there. Good obstacle but needs tweaking.
Slip-n-slide: I could take it or leave it but it helped washed off some of the itchy hay.
Under rope crawl: Tweak it a bit & change location and it could be good.  The ropes were way too low when I got there (like 3″ off ground, I had to lift them) & I saw more challenging areas of the park to put it in.
Swim/Wade at end: Wasn’t really an obstacle (unless you hate water) but I still liked it. Helped me to cool off.
Rock carry: This wasn’t an obstacle, I’m sorry.  Needs to be longer, much longer. I think I carried the rock 25ft.

I believe that was all the obstacles as I can’t recall any more.  Also I had to stop and ask for directions as to where to go 3x, I’ve never had to do that in any race I’ve done.  Course wasn’t well marked.  There was also park goers on the course (in addition to the course going through traffic).

I see the potential in this race & like I previously stated I think they ran into issues with the park but if they figure out logistics it could be a really fun race.  I also think changing the time/date of the race would help.  The park was packed (though it was cool having the extra spectators). Maybe late April/early May or September?  We also seemed to run through people’s cookouts and unless they were there for the race, it seemed a bit rude.

I really hope the RDs fine tune this race & give it another go.  I am willing to give it another chance (it was their first event), however, if it falls on the same weekend as a bigger event I may bypass it.

* Rating
Below Average

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* From: James Rathbun

* Event Details
Arrival:
I was racing Elite and arrived at the park at about 6:45am, well ahead of the scheduled 8:00am start time, as instructed. There was no signage and no staff. I drove around in circles until I ran into a guy with a van who also looked lost. He said he was doing the timing and had no idea where to go either. Ha! I ended up following him and a couple other guys who thought they knew where the race actually started. We found it in the end but only due to persistence. The race website had no actual directions and only listed one address, which was in downtown Bristol and nowhere near the race.

Parking/Facilities:
Parking was free. Awesome! Once we found it, parking was super easy and right next to registration and a bathroom. Very nice. I heard the bathroom broke shortly thereafter, and it was definitely closed down before I left, but that’s on the Parks Department, not the race directors. There were only three portables which was nowhere near enough, even for a small race like this.

Registration:
Registration was quick & easy but wasn’t organized for a large crowd. When I arrived, there was no crowd so I breezed through but it was essentially a single line. They had plenty of waivers, pens and all that. It was only $10 to run a second timed lap which was awesome. I did it and had fun. Kids race was also super cheap at $25 and my kid loved it.

Venue/Spectators:
Lovely! The venue was a big plus, especially for people watching as it was really just a nice place to be whether there was a race going on or not. The main area was pretty spread out with some tents for vendors near the start, a hot air balloon ride and the clam boil lunch.

When I arrived, nothing, and I mean nothing, was set up. There was no start or finish line, no tents, just a bunch of confused people milling around. I asked where the start was and nobody knew. As with every other minor inconvenience, this worked itself out, but like the other reviewers have noted, there was zero communication and answers were virtually impossible to come by without just figuring it out yourself.

Swag:
The t-shirt is nice. The medal is very nice. We also got a sticker, wristband, and bib number. All pretty standard fare but also nicer looking than most. I have a stack of stuff like this a mile high by now but for people who don’t do these all the time and for the kids race the swag was above average. I had a kid do the race and he loved the stuff he got.

Start Line:
I was in the 8:00am Competitive wave. It started at 8:45am. That was pretty annoying, particularly given the lack of communication regarding what was going on. Nobody had any answers. The RD was unavailable by phone. I wasn’t one of the many folks trying to do Battlefrog afterward but they were all pretty pissed and I suppose rightfully so. We eventually just walked up to the start line to try and force their hand because it seemed like the thing would never begin. The woman MCing was clueless but apologetic. I don’t know if we had an official go-ahead to start or not but at 8:45 they finally blew the horn and we were off.

* Race Details
Course:
The course was nice and flat. It was a roughly 4.2mi loop on trails, paved roads and paths, and some rocky shoreline. Very pretty and, for those of us used to running up a ski slope for Spartan, very fast and refreshingly easy. A lot of people have been critical of this but the more I think about it the more I liked it. It was different and a lot of these races are pretty much the same thing.

The organization of the course, like everything else, was virtually non-existent. I took multiple wrong turns for lack of arrows and volunteers. I also carried my rock like four times as far as I needed to because the turnaround wasn’t marked and the volunteer spaced on telling me to turn back. I wasn’t going to podium so I can only get so upset about this but I took 10th place and 2nd in my age group. If I’d stayed on course that would’ve easily been 7th or 8th, maybe even better than that, and 1st in my age group. Again, hardly matters because I was out of the money regardless but it’s vexing to lose time due to a poorly marked course. I ran the race a second time at 11:00am and by then they had remarked all the rough spots and had volunteers directing everyone. That was great, but it should have happened for the people who were racing for money and taking it seriously, not the folks racing midday for fun.

Obstacles:
I’ve heard there was last-minute trouble with the Parks Dept. and a bunch of stuff got shut down. Fair enough. However, they probably should have had everything approved (and in writing so there are no take-backs) more than 48hrs before the event. The overall number of obstacles was lower than advertised and the signature obstacles (Poseidon’s Rogue Wave and the Anchor Drag) didn’t happen. The Wave was supposed to be a 150ft slide but it was like a 20ft slip-and-slide in the middle of a field. The Anchor Drag was simply not there. Not the end of the world but if you advertise one thing and deliver another people get annoyed. It’s a shame this happened on year one because it seemed like quite a few people won’t return. I’m certainly going to give them the benefit of the doubt and come back next year.

As far as the obstacles they did have go, they had two different walls (an 8ft at the start and a 6 or 7ft later on), a picnic table you jumped over, a log carry, a rock carry, a wreck bag carry, a bucket carry, a hay bale carry, (lots of carries!), a very short rope climb, a tire cargo net climb, a low crawl under bungee, and a little swim with a rope to help right before the finish; that swim was a lot of fun. Again, heavy on the carries and light on everything else but it wasn’t bad. I would have loved to see some monkey bars or rings and a better rope climb but outside of that it was cool. A slip wall or inverted wall would’ve been nice. Really, anything that someone could fail on would’ve thinned the crowd and made it feel like you’d succeeded at a challenge. As it was, the obstacles were all something anyone could do. Family-friendly, for sure, but not as satisfying. Outside of that, it was a sprint. As before, people have been pretty rough on this but a straight-up run was nic
e for a change. I’ve never run so fast for such long stretches at an OCR event and it definitely made it feel like a race, which was pretty cool.

Final Thoughts:
Fun for the family and kids. Definitely a beautiful venue and a great way to spend a weekend morning. For people who do a lot of OCR, which is what was advertised, it was sadly sub-par and I’m forced to rate it “Below Average.” Fun for what it was but lackluster at the same time. I think if they have some time to work out the kinks this could be a really great race and I plan to be back next year. I have high hopes they’ll pull it together, learn from their mistakes, and put on the even they clearly intended. However, if next year goes like this year, I’ll say “fool me twice, shame on me” and won’t be back for a third year.

* Rating
Below Average

———–

* From: James Rathbun

* Event Details
Arrival:
I was racing Elite and arrived at the park at about 6:45am, well ahead of the scheduled 8:00am start time, as instructed. There was no signage and no staff. I drove around in circles until I ran into a guy with a van who also looked lost. He said he was doing the timing and had no idea where to go either. Ha! I ended up following him and a couple other guys who thought they knew where the race actually started. We found it in the end but only due to persistence. The race website had no actual directions and only listed one address, which was in downtown Bristol and nowhere near the race.

Parking/Facilities:
Parking was free. Awesome! Once we found it, parking was super easy and right next to registration and a bathroom. Very nice. I heard the bathroom broke shortly thereafter, and it was definitely closed down before I left, but that’s on the Parks Department, not the race directors. There were only three portables which was nowhere near enough, even for a small race like this.

Registration:
Registration was quick & easy but wasn’t organized for a large crowd. When I arrived, there was no crowd so I breezed through but it was essentially a single line. They had plenty of waivers, pens and all that. It was only $10 to run a second timed lap which was awesome. I did it and had fun. Kids race was also super cheap at $25 and my kid loved it.

Venue/Spectators:
Lovely! The venue was a big plus, especially for people watching as it was really just a nice place to be whether there was a race going on or not. The main area was pretty spread out with some tents for vendors near the start, a hot air balloon ride and the clam boil lunch.

When I arrived, nothing, and I mean nothing, was set up. There was no start or finish line, no tents, just a bunch of confused people milling around. I asked where the start was and nobody knew. As with every other minor inconvenience, this worked itself out, but like the other reviewers have noted, there was zero communication and answers were virtually impossible to come by without just figuring it out yourself.

Swag:
The t-shirt is nice. The medal is very nice. We also got a sticker, wristband, and bib number. All pretty standard fare but also nicer looking than most. I have a stack of stuff like this a mile high by now but for people who don’t do these all the time and for the kids race the swag was above average. I had a kid do the race and he loved the stuff he got.

Start Line:
I was in the 8:00am Competitive wave. It started at 8:45am. That was pretty annoying, particularly given the lack of communication regarding what was going on. Nobody had any answers. The RD was unavailable by phone. I wasn’t one of the many folks trying to do Battlefrog afterward but they were all pretty pissed and I suppose rightfully so. We eventually just walked up to the start line to try and force their hand because it seemed like the thing would never begin. The woman MCing was clueless but apologetic. I don’t know if we had an official go-ahead to start or not but at 8:45 they finally blew the horn and we were off.

* Race Details
Course:
The course was nice and flat. It was a roughly 4.2mi loop on trails, paved roads and paths, and some rocky shoreline. Very pretty and, for those of us used to running up a ski slope for Spartan, very fast and refreshingly easy. A lot of people have been critical of this but the more I think about it the more I liked it. It was different and a lot of these races are pretty much the same thing.

The organization of the course, like everything else, was virtually non-existent. I took multiple wrong turns for lack of arrows and volunteers. I also carried my rock like four times as far as I needed to because the turnaround wasn’t marked and the volunteer spaced on telling me to turn back. I wasn’t going to podium so I can only get so upset about this but I took 10th place and 2nd in my age group. If I’d stayed on course that would’ve easily been 7th or 8th, maybe even better than that, and 1st in my age group. Again, hardly matters because I was out of the money regardless but it’s vexing to lose time due to a poorly marked course. I ran the race a second time at 11:00am and by then they had remarked all the rough spots and had volunteers directing everyone. That was great, but it should have happened for the people who were racing for money and taking it seriously, not the folks racing midday for fun.

Obstacles:
I’ve heard there was last-minute trouble with the Parks Dept. and a bunch of stuff got shut down. Fair enough. However, they probably should have had everything approved (and in writing so there are no take-backs) more than 48hrs before the event. The overall number of obstacles was lower than advertised and the signature obstacles (Poseidon’s Rogue Wave and the Anchor Drag) didn’t happen. The Wave was supposed to be a 150ft slide but it was like a 20ft slip-and-slide in the middle of a field. The Anchor Drag was simply not there. Not the end of the world but if you advertise one thing and deliver another people get annoyed. It’s a shame this happened on year one because it seemed like quite a few people won’t return. I’m certainly going to give them the benefit of the doubt and come back next year.

As far as the obstacles they did have go, they had two different walls (an 8ft at the start and a 6 or 7ft later on), a picnic table you jumped over, a log carry, a rock carry, a wreck bag carry, a bucket carry, a hay bale carry, (lots of carries!), a very short rope climb, a tire cargo net climb, a low crawl under bungee, and a little swim with a rope to help right before the finish; that swim was a lot of fun. Again, heavy on the carries and light on everything else but it wasn’t bad. I would have loved to see some monkey bars or rings and a better rope climb but outside of that it was cool. A slip wall or inverted wall would’ve been nice. Really, anything that someone could fail on would’ve thinned the crowd and made it feel like you’d succeeded at a challenge. As it was, the obstacles were all something anyone could do. Family-friendly, for sure, but not as satisfying. Outside of that, it was a sprint. As before, people have been pretty rough on this but a straight-up run was nice for a change. I’ve never run so fast for such long stretches at an OCR event and it definitely made it feel like a race, which was pretty cool.

Final Thoughts:
Fun for the family and kids. Definitely a beautiful venue and a great way to spend a weekend morning. For people who do a lot of OCR, which is what was advertised, it was sadly sub-par and I’m forced to rate it “Below Average.” Fun for what it was but lackluster at the same time. I think if they have some time to work out the kinks this could be a really great race and I plan to be back next year. I have high hopes they’ll pull it together, learn from their mistakes, and put on the even they clearly intended. However, if next year goes like this year, I’ll say “fool me twice, shame on me” and won’t be back for a third year.

* Rating
Below Average