After much cajoling from my best friend a decade ago I finally signed up for my first Obstacle Course Race (OCR). My best friend said “I would be good at it” but I still didn’t listen to him for the first year or two of his recommendation. Fast forward a decade to trips all across the world at distances from 100m to 24 hours and some self-created charity events, here are five lessons I learned that apply to anyone taking on the course from elite to open-waver that I’ve learned on my journey to 100x elite OCR podiums:
1. As a General Rule When Results Exceed Expectations Is When I’ve Been Most Excited When Racing: I’ve shown up to races expecting to podium and squeezed into 3rd. Other times I expected to win and ended up in 2nd. The greater the difference between expectation and results the more excited I was about the podium. This includes major events like 2nd place Pro Coed Team at North American OCR Championships 2018. It also includes smaller events like Rugged Maniac OKC 2023 when some of the best Midwest athletes all decided to show up and I managed to squeeze into 3rd with a really hard push in the last half mile.
2. It’s Anyone’s Day, Every Time You Line Up: For a decade I lined up at the starting line of World’s Toughest Mudder (WTM). Often filled with 1000+ athletes including OCR world champions, finishers of the Barkley Marathons, running legends and more. These are full-time athletes and people who did things in high school and college that were never in my range of capabilities. I’ve finished top ten as an individual 4 times, top 20 3 times and podiumed in the team twice at World’s Toughest. Whether it be WTM, Conquer The Gauntlet or the short-lived Battle of the Lions, if I looked at the caliber of athletes I could have easily counted myself out before the start. People get stuck at obstacles, poor nutrition derails race plans, and injuries or sometimes simply an off day can put anyone out of the running. With OCR there are so many variables, it can be anyone’s day. Remember that.
3. Some Days You Are the Hammer and Some Days You Are the Nail: I just talked about how it is anyone’s day and sometimes that means it is not your day. If you have a bad race, take a look at your training and performance. Conduct an honest assessment and evaluate if you need to adjust something to fix things for next time. In 2015, my goal was to rack up as many podiums as possible before the publication of my first book, “Strength & Speed’s Guide to Elite OCR”. It was nine years ago and I was just over 30 years old, 1.5 miles into Battlegrounds getting dusted by younger, faster athletes. I remember thinking, “Maybe this sport isn’t for me”. My pacing paid off and eventually, I finished 3rd. With 100 podiums I’ve had lots of good days, but plenty of bad days as well. I’ve come in 4th multiple times, I’ve run off course, seen people in front of me break the rules with no repercussions, had a disastrous performance on American Ninja Warrior and failed obstacles in mandatory completion courses (OCRWC & CTG KC 2015, CTG 2023, plus had to take the penalty in more Ultra-OCRs than I can count).
4. Sometimes Just Getting Past an Obstacle is a Victory: One of my favorite OCR moments didn’t give me a podium and it is barely a top ten finish. After being stuck at a rig at Conquer The Gauntlet Wichita for 45 minutes I finally made it across. The joy, excitement and feeling of accomplishment were better than almost all my podiums. Cherish the small victories when they come. They aren’t always present.
5. Don’t Let Results Dictate Your Happiness: This article is largely about results since it is focused on the elite athlete group. If you are like me: results driven, your happiness can sometimes be linked one-to-one with your placement. As a competitive athlete, I get it, however, don’t let it be inextricably linked. You can be happy about good results, but sometimes just running injury free is a win, sometimes just getting across an obstacle is a win and sometimes the opportunity to travel to a new event is a win like my two 4th places at Hannibal Race Kuwait 2023 and Tough Mudder Infinity Team Alula in Saudi Arabia in 2024.
If you are wondering how I can afford to travel and race all over the country and all over the world, that’s a question I answer in my book “The Sponsored Athlete“. In the book I talk about cutting costs, saving money on race entries and the value of sponsorships. While cash prizes have helped, the biggest benefits I have received were through sponsorship support sometimes all at once and sometimes by offsetting costs for large portions of my journey. Long story short, I wouldn’t have been able to reach this goal without support from family, friends, and brands providing various levels of benefit.
As elite athletes your time at the top is limited because father time is undefeated. I’ve been pushing hard for the last couple of years worried when I turned 40 I would somehow lose all my fitness. Some athletes get to stay at their peak a long time, some a short time and most will never get to stand on a podium regardless of the race size or depth of competition. Despite how everything feels 17 hours into a 24-hour race, I can tell you for a fact: things do go by quickly. I’ll steal a quote from my former MudGear-Hannibal Race Pro Teammate Amy Pajcic, “Enjoy the journey”.
