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The Rugged Maniac Phoenix Race Recap & Review

Disclaimer: I received an entry to the Rugged Maniac Phoenix to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

After years of running the Rugged Maniac New England, I finally got to try a second location by running the Rugged Maniac Phoenix this past weekend!

The Rugged Maniac races are so fun that even my non-runner boyfriend loves them. They are currently the only race he actually asks me to sign him up for each year instead of just tolerating me dragging him along 🙈 So when I mentioned the race he jumped at the opportunity to join me!!

Pre Race

One great thing about most OCR (including the Rugged Maniac) is that the race goes off in small heats. These heats are usually throughout the day so runners have the chance to choose what time of day suits them best. We arrived the day before the race because I like time to adjust after travel so we could have run in the morning, but my boyfriend LOVES diners, cafes, and large breakfasts. Last time we were in Phoenix we found an AMAZING all gluten-free cafe, Jewel’s Cafe so we opted to go there first and took a later race time of 12:45 PM.

We are not a timely people though, so we ended up late to the race anyway.. But the process to fix our mess-up was painless and didn’t cost us anything (thanks Rugged!!).

On an unrelated note, (I’m not going to pretend like this was the reason we were late because it wasn’t) make sure you listen to their special instructions as to how to get to the race. The address was slightly off, but they gave you special instructions that I originally confidently ignore that corrected the issue.

We ended up with a little time before our new start time (we chose to) and quickly realized we weren’t prepared for a race in the desert (will I ever learn??). We ended up having to buy water because we couldn’t wait for the usual bottle you get at the finish. To us it seemed kind of cruel not to have free water beforehand, but I realize now that not only have I never run a race with that, but literally no one else seemed phased. I think it was just us being out of our element, but a note for other non-locals.

The Course

The race course was really similar to New England in many ways. Both are held at some kind of motocross park and use part of the park’s course and part of the natural land surrounding it. Both, when on the park’s course, are comprised of a very fine dirt and had twists, turns, rises, and dips. I would say New England’s motocross course portion featured more ups and downs, while Phoenix’s more twists and turns, but they were still pretty similar. The natural land was where they varied, New England’s wooded portion versus Phoenix’s desert. I was happy they did add some more up and down into the desert with man made dirt mounds and by making us run stadiums. (Wouldn’t want it to be TOO flat and easy 😜)

The Obstacles

I love how they always seem to find the perfect mix of challenging, doable, and just for fun obstacles! There are too many to mention them all, but here are some of my favorite/most memorable:

Barzan – This one’s a new, classic arm & grip strength obstacle where you need swing across bars facing different ways & angles. It’s definitely one of the more difficult ones and I was excited to try it. I didn’t make it across, but my boyfriend did. I’m very excited to try again at New England!

Antigravity – It’s got trampolines!! Plus it’s hilarious how many people don’t seem to know how to use a trampoline 😂

Off The Rails – You have to run at and grab a rope with enough forward momentum that you slide on it down a rail to the end where you ring a bell. We’ve had many renditions of this type of slide on a rope obstacle in ninja class. Also someone got the bell stuck up in the metal framework a couple of people before our turn and my boyfriend was able to dislodge it to become the hero and be cheered as he left the water pit!

destroying the bell 💪

Full Tilt – A teeter totter hanging ladder! It’s almost like my ninja gym knew I’d need to climb an inclined ladder because we did exactly that the week before in class! In my opinion this one was a good intermediate obstacle that was slightly easier than Barzan. The only weird thing I noticed was this was the only hanging obstacle I’ve ever seen them have without a water pit under it. One of the things I love about the Rugged Maniac is they always have water pits under their hanging obstacles so you can try them without fearing the fall. (I’ve seen someone fall and break their elbow at a different brand OCR.)

Iron Curtain – Didn’t know about this one but I LOVE IT! But telling you about it would ruin it so just trust me it’s a fun one! 😉

Feed The Beast – I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. Blowup obstacles aren’t generally my favorite (except the slide!), but I really enjoyed the blowup walls you have to bounce over!

Check out the full list of obstacles here if you want!

Overall

This race gave me confidence to continue recommending the Rugged Maniac to anyone who will listen because it seems they put on similarly AWESOME races no matter the venue! Rugged Maniac are friendly for all skill levels and make sure everyone has a blast! For Phoenix specifically, I would just recommend you bring water and sunscreen if you aren’t a crazy local who doesn’t seem to notice they’re out in the middle of the desert 😂 Also the parking lot situation gets a little crazy toward the end so I’d recommend an earlier time slot if you need to be out of there ASAP.

👍👍

Why the Rugged Maniac is My Favorite OCR

This weekend will be my second racecation of the year, the Rugged Maniac Phoenix! The Rugged Maniac and I go way back since 2010! I honestly don’t remember how we got signed up for that first one anymore (possibly a birthday gift because it was around her birthday), but it ended up being me and one of my best friends running the race with her family spectating. Since then it has become a tradition, with more and more people actually running it each year!

Don’t get me wrong, I have really enjoyed every OCR I’ve run so far, but the Rugged Maniac is the most well rounded, caters to all skill levels, and makes sure absolutely everyone has a freaking blast!

They have the Best Mud

The amount of mud and it’s placement is PERFECT at the Rugged Maniac. While there are TONS of opporunities to get dirty (so you’ll end up just as muddy as a Spartan/other mudders), the parts of the course between obstacles aren’t just miles of mud for you to trudge through. This allows you to actually be able to run (unlike at some of the other mudder’s I’ve run)! They also have more water/mud pits, which I am a super fan of!

Mud pit that started off really shallow so I ran right into it
😂😂😂
Mid race mud fights are required!
They have the Best Obstacles

I really like their variety of obstacles! Not only do they have obstacles for all levels of skill, but the types of obstacles varies more than at other OCR as well. They have the standard climbing and arm strength obstacles, but also include a decent amount of balance ones too. This aligns more with my ninja warrior class and it seems overal ninja warrior. It also allows for more people with different skills to shine during the race! As for difficulty, they still have obstacles that take all that upper body strength and a high level of skill, but others that are easier, and some just completely for how insanely fun they are, like the giant slide! I feel like the mix of obstacles makes everyone able to leave feeling accomplished. I know both friends and I have left other OCR feeling kinda bummed about not being able to do obstacles, but no one I’ve run with has had this issue with the Rugged Maniac.

One of my fav obstacles!
THE SLIIIIIDE 👽

Another one of my favorite things about their obstacles are they put water pits under any that you could fall from. With the guarentee of a soft fall, I have tried many obstacles at Rugged Maniacs that I wouldn’t have tried at other OCR for fear of injury.

They have the Best Course

Again, the Rugged Maniac found the pefect balance. With their courses being actually runnable mud-wise, they seemed to know they could throw in a bit more challenge during the running sections. I LOVE that the course isn’t just pancake flat like most other fun races. Not so much vert that non-runners can’t do it, but enough to make it fun for actual runners too! In New England (not sure about other locations since woods isn’t always a local terrain) they also added in a wooded trail section! It was great to get to run through the woods, but also be on an actual trail (unlike another OCR we ran lol).

Oh also AMAZING and HILARIOUS free race photos!!! ❤

Overall the Rugged Maniac is excellent at being challenging, but never discouraging to all levels of runner/obstacle course racer. I love that I have a race that currently has a 100% success rate at sucking my non-running and running friends in year after year. It’s great to run an OCR and feel accomplished, but it’s even better to get to share that with friends and family and participate in all their accomplishments as well!

Why All Runners Should Try An Obstacle Course Race

I’ve actually been meaning to write this post for awhile now.. Like since I ran the Spartan Beast at Killington last year 😅.. But I figure since I currently have discount codes for two locations of my favorite brand of OCR there’s no better time than now!

  1. They are INSANELY FUN – OCR have all the positives of a rainy run without any of the negatives, mud and puddles but no wind and rain, heck yes! And the obstacles are just playground equipment for adults! The whole race is basically letting out your inner child!
  2. It’s Easy to Take Easy – If you have never run one you don’t have a PR to stress about beating (and you’ll get one automatically 😉), but even if you have, they are similar to trail races where the course is always different so you can’t really compare times and can take it easy instead. Also they are pretty much always on dirt so they’re easier on your legs!
  3. Branching Out is Fun – It’s really fun to be good at more things than just running. But OCRs do involve running so you’re already halfway to being good at it from the start!
  4. It’s a Gateway Exercise to Running – I’ve found most people don’t start these for the running, they just tolerate running between the obstacles at first. Once they’re hooked though and looking to get better, guess what they have to do? It’s start running! So many of my non-runner friends have been converted to at least part-time runners because of OCRs 😈
  5. The Adrenaline of Running will Make You a BEAST – While the running parts tire out non-runners, I find it pumps me up CRAZY amounts. During the Spartan Super, and especially the Beast (since there were more runnable bits and it was UP A MOUNTAIN) I was able to complete obstacles I wouldn’t normally dream of completing in ninja class. ‘The Bend’ obstacle was at the top of a big incline and I literally climbed the obstacle only using my arms like instantly, when I’m not sure I could normally make it even with the help of my legs. After I got down multiple strangers came up to me like, “THAT WAS INSANE!!”.

So have I convinced you yet? And for the record I was no way inclined toward OCR besides the running parts beforehand. Before I started ninja classes (years after I ran my first and many other OCRs) I literally could never even open a pickle jar on my own 😂 but still had a blast at the races!!

Anyway, soon I’ll be writing another extremely overdue post up on The Rugged Maniac and why it’s my favorite OCR but for now, just know it is and if you want to give the Phoenix, AZ (I’ll be there!!) or Dade City, FL race a try use the code RUN10 for 10% off!

Disclaimer: I received entry to The Rugged Maniac Phoenix to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

Spartan Beast Mount Killington 2018

After the Spartan Super and UA Killington I was actually starting to get kind of nervous for the Beast at Killington. During the super, some fellow sufferers were talking up the beast to me and my friend. Saying how it was impossible to run up the mountain, you couldn’t possibly do it without a hydration pack, how you needed to bring actual food since you’d be out there ALL DAY LONG, there’s a rule you need to bring a headlamp because you might end up still out there past dark, and that something along the lines of only 40% of the people who start the race actually finish it. At the time that really didn’t get to me much. I love the Spartan community, but most of them don’t do the races for the running bits so I figured a tougher running terrain like a mountain would affect them more than myself and that’s what most of the big deal was. Then the UA Killington 25k happened and most of my confidence was lost. Not only was it a BRUTAL race (that I wasn’t sure I could complete again with obstacles thrown in too) but someone also overheard me talking about the beast mid-race and said the UA course was a cake walk in comparison. Hearing that from someone participating in a full running race definitely made their comment hit a little harder.. Was I actually going to be able to complete this race?

Race day came and it was a strange feeling to be unsure if I was going to be physically capable of finishing a race. After reading about the large amount of water aid stations provided I had opted to just bring my FitKicks FitZip Waist Pack (with my 11oz FlipBelt Water Bottle, just in case) and Skratch Labs Energy Chews and Betty Lou’s Bars for fuel. This time (versus UA Killington) I was happy I was able to eat my whole pre-race breakfast of an English muffin and a Honey Stinger Gluten Free Waffle.

As we waited at the start I became slightly nervous at my hydration choice since everyone and their mother seemed to be wearing full out hydration packs, but I figured it was too late now and I’d just have to make the best of it. (In the end my bottle ended up working perfectly! There were plenty of water stations, but some were cup-less so it was handy to have something to store the water in.) I was also really happy with my fuel choices: to have light race fuel I could eat on the go, as well as something more substantial for “lunch”.

The start was pretty intimidating and straight up one of the largest/steepest inclines on the course. It was so immediate that you had to brace yourself at an angle in the starting corral (which I wasn’t a fan of. If I’m on a hill I want to be moving). Having run Killington for UA I wasn’t exactly surprised by the incline and was able to charge up it (not running, but speed hiking for sure). I’m not sure if it was just having seen the mountain before, taking it significantly slower, or that dude totally lied, but I felt like other than the start and the Death March, the Spartan course was actually significantly flatter. I felt really good the entire time and was my usual too-cheery-on-the-running-sections self. Compared to the other Spartan races there was absolutely no mud. The course was all field or wooded trails. The trails were really awesome (and actually may have been where all the elevation was that I was just having too much fun to notice)! They were definitely the choke points though so if you want to actually run the trails I’d recommend signing up for an age group heat, which is what I’ll probably be doing next year.

It was another good day for me and I was able to crush all the walls and obstacles I previously completed again. This time I made it fully through the Twister like it was nothing! I also feel I can count the multi-rig as completed since I was able to do the full thing except the final rope, which I was only unable because it was defective and half the length of all other ropes on the obstacle.

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Killington is unique and has a swim as well as an obstacle under the bridge across the water! You have to wear life jackets so the swim isn’t really a big deal except for getting all your gear soaked. The under-bridge obstacle was a rope ladder and then 4 hand ropes. I was really proud to be able to successfully complete that one as well!

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How pretty are those mountains though?!

Another highlight of my race was the Bender. It’s another favorite of mine, like the Twister. But this time I think the extra adrenaline of being able to actually run (the Super was too muddy to run) kicked in because not only was I able to complete it with no help, but I also climbed it using only my arms! Two guys actually came up to me after and were like, “THAT WAS INSANE!” 😁

Honestly I’m really glad Killington is my local Beast because the Death March there is ungodly but boy do you feel AMAZING for having accomplished it! It is straight from the bottom of the mountain up to Killington peak going the most direct route, right beside the gondolas. I know a lot of what killed me during the Under Armour race was thinking too hopefully that the incline was over, just to be proven wrong again and again; So I decided to pretend like it was NEVER going to end and then I’d be pleasantly surprised when it did. IT WORKED! I basically FLEW up the mountain. I only stopped about 5 times for a max of about 4 seconds. I passed an insane amount of people and didn’t get passed once. I felt like a true beast after the Death March!

Other than the Death March I think I felt much better during this race than both of the others. I think being able to actually run was extremely helpful. It was still an insanely intense challenge, I just think this type of climbing-a-mountain challenge is more what I’m used to versus wading through mud. I was REALLY excited at the end to see we got special medals that specified we did our beast up a mountain!

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Mountain Series!!

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TRIFECTA COMPLETE!!!!!