June 8th 2013. Superhero Scramble Amesbury Sports Park, Amesbury MA.
Amesbury Sports Park currently hosts the big 5 in 5k plus Obstacle Course Races. The course is always varied even if the terrain is familiar. Super Hero Scramble has definitely secured its place in delivering a fun, challenging, entertaining race. It has taken some of the tried and true obstacles from other races, incorporated them as their own, and succeeded without a sense of knock off or copying. This was my first SHS. Personally I have done every level of Spartan Race, a Warrior dash and followed along with Run for Your Lives and Tough Mudder. I have also ran small knock off impostor races and some very well done local benefit/charity OCR’s.
With this in mind I tend to run these races with a slightly critical eye. Safety, entertainment, wow factor, price value. Im happy to say SHS did not disappoint. Especially on the safety and value end. The obstacles were well built, well planned, well positioned and well staffed (with moderate exceptions) weather of course is always a huge factor and it is understood that some obstacles were abandoned for safety concerns. A little signage would have gone a long way in this reagard but said obstacle was not entirely dangerous and those who did the climbing wall were perfectly fine.
I don’t write reviews of races on the courses themselves usually. Many people have better memories than me and like to calculate, compare and contrast. I live in the moment. If the race was fun. I’ll say so and probably do it again. If its awful I might write about why. I’ve done so on Rebel Race. A terrible company by the way. What I write about is how the race affected me. Did it inspire me, make me feel good. Did I enjoy the time I spent at the race. Was it worth it? Super Hero Scramble is all of those things. Its a great race, it delivers on its promises. It owns its faults and improves every chance it can. For what its worth I call SHS a must not miss race and I will certainly be looking forward to do it again in 2014 and longer distances as they are established.
So heres my take on how SHS was for me. This was my wife’s first obstacle course race. In all fairness she should be writing this. The above picture is near the end. So you can see that it all worked out. She’s still alive and we’re still together. Running a race with a first timer is not new to me. I encourage everyone I know to take up the sport. Or at least the challenge. Also I’m no elite runner. So I tend to pick a nice pace and enjoy every dollar I spent on the race. I’m a more for your money type of guy in that regard. So after almost 3 seasons of OCRs my wife finally showed an interest in a race. Thanks to Mudrunfun and to Super Hero Scramble we were able to attend the Amesbury race with our team the NE Spahtens. I believe we were the largest team they have ever had. And this is the heart of why I run these races. Community. Without the OCR community these would simply be another athletic pursuit. But the community of OCR is so much bigger than running through mud. Its life changing. It allows people to literally overcome obstacles on the course, which leads many to overcome personal obstacles off the course. Unique to OCR’s is that supportive community. And that community has everything. Access to other races, racers, people with other interests. A network of people with at least one thing in common that you can reach out to and lean on.
Where else can you log on and find a race almost anywhere you are, or are going to be, at any given time. Not only that you can find teams to join that will cover every ability. So you are really never alone. My wife got a taste of the community at the race. She had been starting a work out and diet routine and now well over a month later she is still at it! And motivated to continue everyday. She is looking forward to the up coming Spartan Sprint in Amesbury in August. My only concern is that I may have created a monster. She’s a bit more competitive than I am. So ladies look for her in the elite heats next year. I know I will be.
