OCR 15k World Championships 2016

Saturday, standard length course was held. 48 obstacles. Fastest times were around 1 hour 30 minutes. 15km race with 1120m of elevation gain. The same rules were as the short course, must complete all obstacles in order to keep the OCR Band. Some memorable obstacles that were added are:
Skull Valley - Rock-climbing wall grips to 4 ropes to wall grips and hit a bell
Platinum Rig 2 - Dwarf sized rig where you had to cross - basically being positioned horizontally
Weaver - Over and under an A frame weaving through it without touching the ground
Warped Wall - 14 foot warped wall with a nunchuck hanging on the edge to grab

OCR 3k World Championships 2016

Friday October 14, 2016 held in Blue Mountain Village, Ontario. 3k course Elevation gain of 175m. Super fast race! Top finishers completed in 15min. The great thing about ocrwc was mandatory obstacle completion. If someone gave up on an obstacle, a time penalty was added on in addition to a list of DNF. Some memorable obstacles in this race to list are:
Dragon's Back - precision jumps over 6 feet onto a horizontal bar 10 feet above ground
The Samurai - bear hugging 5 vertical logs from one end to the other without touching the tops.
Platinum Rig 1 - mixture of ropes, bars, and rings
Floating Boards - 5 boards that hang from a chain with some good hand and foot holds
Urban Sky - weight adjusting wheels and weight adjusting rings where where you go from one end to another.

World Championship Race for Charity

Mission: Raise $300 or more money for the World Championships Charity race October 16, 2016 in Ontario, Canada; and donate the remainder money equally amongst Make-A-Wish Canada and Third World Projects.
Learn more here Help Mike Fundraise

Spartan Race: Red Deer Super Aug 3, 2016

The race weekend in Red Deer, Alberta. I raced in the Super on Saturday. I felt the course was well-marked. I enjoyed the race, completed all the obstacles, well sort of. On the multi-rig I kicked the bell, the volunteer said that wasn't allowed so I ended up doing those 30 burpees. As long as the volunteer was telling all the racers that you shouldn't kick the bell - that would be fine. I wish they told us before, or said you can't kick ANY bells on any obstacles hence a burpee penalty. Anyways, the race didn't go as planned. My foot injury really slowed me down and my knees were giving up. So many races this summer, i got Plantar fiscitis which is a pulled tendon on the bottom of my foot. My suunto watch recorded 12.5km and 550m of elevation. Next race will probably be a sprint, and aiming to get my Spartan Championship coin. No great photos.

Laie Waterfall Hike

In the Hawaii island of Oahu, we decided to hike up a waterfall near the North Shore. It was a steady uphill all the way to the waterfall. It took me 55min to hike up 5.8km of clay terrain and 400m of elevation. It was worth it as the end point was 2 cold waterfalls and 1 waterfall above it where you can do a little bit of cliff diving. A great short intense hike post race.

Spartan Race: Hawaii Super August 14, 2016

The next day I did a recovery run, so I ran the Super on the latest heat as I volunteered before and after. I already ran this loop twice so I know what to expect. It was nice to see the Beast loop flag and not having to run that way, a sign of relief that I was already half done. I finished at a relaxing pace, under 2 hours.

Spartan Race: Hawaii Ultra Beast August 13, 2016

Hawaii was awesome! Race was located on the main island of Oahu at the Kualoa Ranch. The views were amazing! As soon as I found out that for the UltraBeast they were giving away the UB belt buckle, I registered myself. Prior to the race, Spartan coach training and the hurricane heat were held on friday. After the the 6 hour hurricane heat, there was a luau being held in the festival area. A luau is a traditional feast followed by some entertainment which in this case was fire dancing!
The UltraBeast heat was the first heat to hit the mountains, we started at 06:00am. I slept in a hammock at the venue so I should be prepared. As i stand by the gate with a couple minutes before the start time, i forgot to take any gels! Luckily a friend gave me a gel, which was enough for one lap. I didn't have a hydration pack but it was mandatory to take a personal hydration, so I ended up running with a water bottle. On the first lap I missed the spear toss and got to the transition tent just a couple minutes after 4 hours. At that time I was 13th. As I lay there relaxing for 20 minutes, one guy who was there just before me left - he ended up finishing 4th place! I put on sunscreen, took some gels, my water bottle, and also my glow sticks and headlamp even though it was only 11:00am! They said it was mandatory for the second lap. While running the second lap, I did realize there was a bloody mud bath the entire route on the beast portion of the race. I ended up losing grip on both rope climbs doing 60 burpees. Finished my second lap just under 5 hours. By the end, I can barely lift this hurcules hoist. I had to stand on the rope and give my hands a break. Pretty happy with my 16th place finish! My suunto watch recorded 40km and 3460m of elevation.