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Rugged Maniac 2012 – Southwick MA

October 1, 2012 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS 7 Comments

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Last Updated on September 29, 2019 by Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS

A few weeks ago I reached out to the good people at Rugged Maniac asking if they would let me review their race.  I had a friend running, and really wanted to join her for her first obstacle course race.  And besides, a race promising you “Mud, Sweat, and Beer” always sounds like a good time!

After I registered (thank you Rugged Maniac!) I started talking to local mud run/obstacle course racing enthusiasts about this race series.   The responses were not all that positive.  Rumor was that 2010 was horrible, 2011 just slightly better. I was bummed to hear that, and needless to say,  I showed up to this race with less than stellar expectations.

Thankfully, my expectations were absolutely blown out of the (muddy) water.

The Rugged Maniac in Southwick MA was a flipping BLAST.  24 hours later, Geoff and I are still talking about how much fun we had yesterday on the course.  

Now, coming exactly one week off of the hardest race I’ve ever done in my life, I was very happy to run a down right muddy, easy (comparatively), fun race. The course did not disappoint, and I also feel it would be a FANTASTIC race for a first time mud-runner or someone looking to step out of their comfort (clean) zone.  

 But let’s get to the details, shall we?

PARKING: FREE.  And right on-site.   A very, very nice surprise.

REGISTRATION/PACKET PICKUP: Easy peasy.  Very well organized, great volunteers.

SHWAG:  ehhh….more on this at the end. 2/5.

THE COURSE: Fun level: 5/5.  Difficulty level: 2/5.
But let’s emphasize the FUN factor.  It was so much fun (have I said that yet?)

I’ll start from the beginning.

To get INTO the starting corral, you had to jump over a wall. I found this HILARIOUS, and totally appropriate.  I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I heard complaining.  OK maybe complaining isn’t the right word, but hesitant and not happy about this wall. I (and I’m assuming the race directors) think the point is this: you signed up for an obstacle course race to, in theory, challenge yourself. If you can’t hop the wall to the starting corral, maybe you shouldn’t be here.  Double high fives Rugged Maniac, that was priceless.

 
 
The start was pretty neat…you actually ran under the very LAST obstacle of the course.  So during our heat start (10:30) there were people crawling over the top of us on their way to the finish line.  
 
 The first few obstacles were incredibly crowded.  We did have to wait at the first few smaller walls and the first large one for our chance to climb over.  But soon after there was a good bit of trail running, and this thinned the crowd out enough that we didn’t have to wait at any other obstacles.  
 
 
 
The course itself was held on a BMX/Motorcross track.  I wondered how this would pan out, but I actually really liked it.  We ran a serpentine course that not only gave you lots of views of those in front of and behind you on the course, but also made for some fun hilly (small, but hilly) rolling, muddy terrain.    There was also a bit of forest/traditional trails. 

The obstacles we encountered were downright FUN.  Sure there were the traditional wall climbs, fire jump, barbed wire crawls and tons of mud.  But there were things I have never seen before at other obstacle course races, such as underground tunnels (pitch black..couldn’t see a thing in there!) and tunnel slides into FREEZING cold water (both face first down, and climbing back up).  As far as difficulty level goes: it wasn’t hard for an experienced obstacle course racer.  For a first timer or someone new to fitness, there certainly were some challenges.  Climbing, crawling, heights, etc certainly push people out of their comfort zone. However, I feel this course/series would be perfect for the first time obstacle course racer, or someone just looking to have a muddy good time.

Enjoy some pictures from the course (and a huge THANK YOU to my amazing Geoff, who never once complains when I ask him to run with the camera!)

 
Found a downed log on the trail…couldn’t resist a little balance work!
 
Mary B. *owning* a wall in her very first OCR! She kicked butt !
The hilarity of this picture is that it was pitch black in that tunnel.  Geoff’s camera flash captured my excitement in the dark!
Mary emerging from the tunnel
 
Nothing is more disappointing than an OCR that lacks water/mud. This course did NOT disappoint!
barbed wire crawls…no army/stomach crawl necessary, but you still had to crawl, and that water was cold!
 
I LOVE MUD!!!
Down the tunnel…
…through the freezing cold barbed wire crawl, and back up the other side.
 
 

 
So let’s talk about the one obstacle I was NOT a fan of: the water slide. Slip n slide.  Break a bone slide, whatever you want to call it.  So it seemed innocent enough. Four people slide down at one time into a pit of freezing cold water.  But the problem seemed to be that something about the slide forced all four people into the CENTER of the slide.  We got some SERIOUS speed going down that slide, so fast that you are completely out of control of what direction you are heading.  So imagine what happens when four people hit the water at the same time: massive collision.  I personally hit Geoff then proceeded to flip over the top of him and face plant in the water (I truly hope the photographer got an air-born photo of me!) I walked out unscathed, but Geoff banged up his elbow pretty bad.  I saw a bunch of people limp out of that pit, and heard from others who got hurt either crashing into someone else or having someone else crash into them.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stepping out of your comfort zone and trying things that may be dangerous.  But this was kind of stupid danger….no training, no balance, no type of fitness or strength what so ever can prevent you from getting hurt here. It’s kind of a game of luck as to whether or not you walk out of that obstacle in once piece. 
 
Mindi, Mary, and the rest of our team head down the slide

Unfortunately the camera died before we could capture the very last obstacle on the course, but it was a giant cargo net hung between two storage containers about two stories up.  It was fun , and probably the most difficult thing to navigate across during the course.   

 
So the shwag (or lack thereof) I mentioned earlier: I was disappointed.

I was given a generic t-shirt at registration. It was advertised that “each runner will receive a high quality Crons shirt with registration”, and well, that’s NOT what we got.  One of my friends got a kick butt V-neck, super soft, women’s specific T shirt with updated logos on the front and back (that I assume was the aforementioned Crons shirt).  I asked if I could trade mine for one of those, but it seemed they had run out (and we were first in line for registration Sunday morning).  I was super bummed, as that was one of the nicest race shirts I’ve ever seen.   I think they may have resorted to last years left overs or something, I’m not sure.

 And finishers item? Well there wasn’t one.  No medal, no sweatband, not a shirt that said “finisher”, nothing. I know some people don’t care about such things, but I think it’s a great touch to a race, for numerous reasons.  Call me sentimental, but I like these sorts of things.  Plus, when you have first timers (I ran with 4 of them), it means A LOT for them to bring home a finishers memento from their very first race.  Anyone can register, get their t-shirt, and **NOT** run the race. Only finishers get the bling (headband, whatever). 

 
Everyone over age 21, however, was given a free beer at the finish line.  And being back in New England and spoiled with good beer, I’m happy to announce it was provided by Harpoon Brewery (your choice of UFO, IPA, or Octoberfest. All really delicious beers!) 

A COOL ADDED TOUCH was the ability to reserve a point-of-view video camera from “POV Adventure”  from the race.  My pal Mindi chose to do so, and we let Geoff run with it on his head.  It was very easy to reserve, pick up, and drop off. The coolest part is that POV Adventure will do the editing, and set it to music, so in the end we will have a professional video of our race adventure. I can not WAIT to see it, and I’ll certainly share it with all of you when it is done!

 
All in all, it was a fantastically fun day.  Wonderfully organized race, great obstacles, lots of mud,  and other than the danger slide and lack of medals, I have zero complaints. We will certainly be back to race in 2013!
 
To find a Rugged Maniac 5k near you, visit www.ruggedmaniac.com 

***Entry fee for the Southwick Rugged Maniac was provided to me for free, however, all opinions expressed are my own.

Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS
Website | + posts

Heather Hart is an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), UESCA certified Ultrarunning Coach, RRCA certified Running Coach, co-founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and creator of this site, Relentless Forward Commotion.   She is a mom of two teen boys, and has been running and racing distances of 5K to 100+ miles for over a decade.  Heather has been writing and encouraging others to find a love for fitness and movement since 2009.

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Filed Under: Race Recaps Tagged With: Obstacle Course Racing

About Heather Hart, ACSM EP, CSCS

Heather Hart is an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), UESCA certified Ultrarunning Coach, RRCA certified Running Coach, co-founder of Hart Strength and Endurance Coaching, and creator of this site, Relentless Forward Commotion.   She is a mom of two teen boys, and has been running and racing distances of 5K to 100+ miles for over a decade.  Heather has been writing and encouraging others to find a love for fitness and movement since 2009.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Courtney from Journey of a Dreamer

    October 1, 2012 at 7:14 pm

    Looks like an awesome time! I ran warrior dash this weekend and was impressed with the way the race was organized and run. I’ll do another mud run for sure!

    Reply
  2. mustangsabby

    October 1, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    This one has several elements in it that I saw at Tough Mudder (Walls, tunnels, the Turd’s nest at the start). It looks like it was a fun, sloppy run! I agree with the idea of a momento at the end, it is really nice to have.

    Just as a curiosity, do you have a Tough Mudder event on the horizon to try? I think you might just love it, if not, and would so rock a good enough time to get into World’s Toughest Mudder.

    And FYI, because of you and your postings on mud/obstacle runs, I got curious, and am not going to run Tough Mudder up here in Toronto next May. My husband ran in August, but seeing your posts gave me the idea maybe I could do it too! 🙂

    Glad you had fun.

    Reply
  3. TwynMawrMom

    October 1, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    Looks like you got out of your post-race funk a little this weekend! So happy for you! That smile in the dark is priceless.
    And I totally agree about the finisher’s medal!! The bling is the thing.

    Reply
  4. absolute healthy eating

    October 5, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    That race was really awesome. I love those muddy thing and other obstacles. That looks really challenging.

    Reply
  5. Marcy

    October 6, 2012 at 3:54 pm

    I ran the Southwick race too. I really had a blast, but as a newbie, I found it challenging! I love your pictures! I agree about the wall at the entrance. We were hanging around after the race, and we saw a lot of runners walk around it and go through a gap in the barriers on the side. This peeved my husband (in an amused sort of way), and he moved the barrier back to block the short cut. People just moved it away again and walked through. C’mon, people! It’s the Rugged Maniac. 🙂 I blogged about it too. I wish I had more photos of myself on the course.

    Reply
  6. Maria

    October 15, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    The Rugged Maniac looks very fun, tons of mud and some fun obstacles. There’s not one near me but eventually I may travel a bit for races. My next race is the inaugural Rogue Runner, this coming Saturday. It looks exceptionally well organized for a first-time race. I’ll post a review afterwards.

    Reply
  7. breanna

    October 18, 2012 at 6:00 am

    Looks like everyone had a great time, the entire obstacle course seem to be very challenging.

    Reply

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Welcome to Relentless Forward Commotion. My name is Heather Hart, I'm an ACSM certified Exercise Physiologist, UESCA & RRCA certified coach, ultrarunner, adventure racer, mom to two teenagers, and cofounder of Hart Strength & Endurance Coaching. It is my passion to help every day athletes better understand exercise science, and to learn how to balance training for big athletic goals with “real life”.

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