Last year Dean and Mark created Judgement Day, a 10 mile obstacle race that ended with a trip round and through a Cold War village. It was arguably 2014’s biggest newcomer and well received. We caught up with them to ask what was planned for this year. Before we go on, it’s well worth reading our 2014 review here too.
Tell us what’s new for this year’s event - obstacle wise?
Dean: Well as you know we like to keep everything top secret so that’s a hard question to answer, what we can say is that what we have planned is not huge, it doesn’t project fire and it probably won’t put a smile on your face whilst you’re taking part…. We do like to challenge people in ways that others don’t, for example one of our most talked about obstacles after the Bordon race were the rubber bands AKA ‘The Duck Hop’.
Mark: After the first race, we listened carefully to all the feedback we were given, and accepted that we could improve on the 10 mile course. We’ve focussed on this more than anything else.
We’re lucky to have the FIBUA Confidence Course, but this is right at the end of the race - so we need to ensure the rest of the race meets with our extremely high expectations.
Image credit wwww.mybibnumber.co.uk
Dean: Just to echo Mark’s point regarding the 10 mile course. Last year we had monkey bars built from scaffolding, now we’ve got cross-fit style rigs for monkey bars, rings and rope climbs. Our sandbags are probably as good as you’re going to find on the OCR circuit and overall the quality of our obstacles is 100% better than this time last year. We’ve invested everything back into the business to ensure we keep improving.
Will you be using more of the FIBUA village?
Dean: Yes and no. We would love to use much much more of the village - but due to much higher entry figures this year, and the fact most of it is single file - we wanted to be careful not to have too many bottle necks.
Have you changed anything based on feedback?
Dean: Personally, I’ve directed 24 events/ races now and a) nothing ever goes 100% to plan, and b) I learn from each one. So the answer to that is a big fat YES.
Mark: We’ve introduced chip timing this year as, from feedback and listening to our audience – we know this is very important to many of our runners.
However, as a result of this, we’ve also had to consider how we use the Confidence Course as we can’t have people racing or shoving past one another on some of the obstacles.
Image credit wwww.mybibnumber.co.uk
So, we’ve made the decision to finish the race - and therefore the timing - just before the start of the confidence course. People can then take their time on things like the parallel beams and infinity jump without worrying about their position in the race. We have a responsibility for the health & safety of our runners, above anything else. So we hope people appreciate why we’ve made this decision.
Image credit wwww.mybibnumber.co.uk
What can we expect?
Anger – Because you might not have trained hard enough
Fear – Because you will not know what to expect at the start line
Joy/Happiness – When you cross the finish line (and maybe a bit of relief!)
Surprise – That you can achieve things you didn’t think possible when you put your mind to it
Tears - Yes we had at least a handful of people crying last year…..(out of joy we add).
Motivation – To train harder for our next race at Pippingford Park and other OCR events
Sum it up on three words?
Mark: Better than Spartan!
What training should we do to get in shape?
Mark: Run. The main component of any obstacle race is running so get out and run.
Vary your distance covered, speed, and gradient.. Whilst running, try and mimic an obstacle race by stopping to perform some burpees, press ups, squat jumps or a bear crawl…basically anything that involves moving your own body weight. You can do this on the running machine in the gym, at home, or outdoors - so there’s no excuses. If you’re lucky enough to be able to train off road then that’s going to be of benefit too.
Image credit wwww.mybibnumber.co.uk
We’ve mentioned this before, but volunteering or spectating at an event is well worth it. Seeing the elite runners and their obstacle technique in practice, is of great value. They make it look effortless and it’s really inspiring to watch them.
What’s your best obstacle?
Dean: I love the monkey bars and knowing that Mark hates them due to his very poor technique makes them even better!
Mark: Walls - For a little fella I can get over 10′ walls quicker than most people…
What’s your favourite obstacle?
Dean: That’s like asking a father who his favourite child is - they are all my babies! But if you held me to ransom I would have to say, the new one we are bringing in to play for 2015.
Mark: For Copehill Down it has to be the entire Confidence Course. 99% of participants will have never experienced anything like it.
Find out more about Copehill Down on 4th Apr here - use code MUDDYRACE10 to save 10% on your entry.
Image credits to MyBibNumber